等待今年的最高承包商名单是like watching a train wreck in slow motion. It was a foregone conclusion that Southwest contractors would report precipitous revenue declines. But the damage, based on 2010 revenue, was worse than many expected.

This year's 90 survey participants earned $8.1 billion in total revenue in 2010 across Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico, down more than 42% from the level reported by the top 90 firms in the year-ago period and nearly 60% below the peak market in 2008.

All three states were down in 2010 by double digits. Contractors performing work in Nevada suffered the worst decline: down almost 53% year-over-year.

“The Southern Nevada market is still in a slump,” says Brian Chesnut, vice president and Las Vegas branch manager with ValleyCrest Landscape Development, which debuted as the 12th-largest Nevada contractor on this year's ranking. With tourism finally showing signs of recovery, Chesnut says he's starting to see more design and planning activity. “But it's going to take several positive quarters of growth before the business climate in Southern Nevada can start to breathe easier and we start to see some of the larger projects and expansion plans begin to take shape.”

While many firms continue to make structural adjustments in response to economic conditions, it appears the tide has turned on staffing reductions. “Our staff has shrunk since the beginning of the recession, but is holding steady at this point,” says Robert W. Smith, owner and managing member of Glendale, Ariz.-based Smith Construction Management LLC, a midsize firm that performed nearly $16 million of government work in 2010.

Tony Dazzio, senior vice president at Las Vegas-based Burke Construction Group, says that as the recession continued, the firm had to reduce staff for the first time in its 27-year history. “It was an extremely difficult decision to lay off staff members that have been part of our company for years,” Dazzio says. “However, I am proud of how Burke has not changed in many ways, such as our corporate mind-set that 'it's all about relationships.'”

伯克（Burke）通过最近在拉斯维加斯的特殊项目/租户改善部门和华盛顿州斯波坎的新太平洋西北办事处开业，为明年的增长做出了准备。18luck官网扩大我们的公司以及建设我们的卫星办公室。”达齐奥说。

史密斯采取了较少的方法。他说：“我们已经学会了有效的业务发展支出。”“我们对目标的选择更加有选择性，然后将更多的努力投入更少的回报率的项目中。”18luck官网

一些公司希望随着需求的增加而雇用。总部位于凤凰城的Kitchell Corp.总裁兼首席执行官James T. Swanson说：“ Kitchell不过是我们在可预见的未来所看到的。“我们估计的预测是在明年的过程中增加人员配备10％至12％，以适应我们的增长。”

很少有市场领域在2010年取得了收益 - 甚至像运输之类的坚定者都在下降，并继续在2011年停滞不前。作品。”奥斯汀桥与路凤凰城的西南地区经理蒂姆·穆勒（Tim Muller）说，该办公室在该地区在该地区进行了5600万美元的运输工程。

“The number of bidders continues to grow while the available margin continues to fade,” he says. “There is more and more pressure for us to find the advantage—if there is one—to help win a hard bid job and decide to concentrate only on the ones where we can find this winning formula.”

商业和酒店行业的下降幅度最高。内华达州亨德森的佩里尼建筑公司副主席迪克·里佐（Dick Rizzo）说：“私营部门确实干燥了，谈判的工作已经干dried了。转发项目。18luck官网尽管如此，该公司再次登陆西南排名的首位，这是自2005年以来一直担任的职位。