The industrial and manufacturing sector, already care-worn with decades of ‘hollowing out’ as plants moved overseas, continued its slow spiral downward in the last year. The economic crisis that hit in fall 2008 further sapped capital expenditures across the board, and the bankruptcy of two of America’s Big Three automakers this spring contributed to the decline.

Solar-cell manufacturing facilities, like this 45,000-sq-ft design-build plant for Suniva, are a rare bright spot in manufacturing.
Photo: DPR Construction
Solar-cell manufacturing facilities, like this 45,000-sq-ft design-build plant for Suniva, are a rare bright spot in manufacturing.
Kia is finishing its first auto-assembly plant in the U.S.
Photo: Kia
Kia is finishing its first auto-assembly plant in the U.S.

There are some bright spots, however. New starts have ramped up for polysilicon manufacturing plants as demand for photovoltaics increases and the demand for new battery technology to power hybrid vehicles has created a mini-boom in battery plants in the U. S. A recent injection of accelerated tax credits for plant and equipment for alternative-energy manufacturing, announced by the Obama administration in August, should provide even more stimulus for that sector.

消息人士称，短期前景仍然是能力降低的一种，更多地强调改造而不是新的工厂建设，并且由于缺乏信用和稀疏消费者的需求而陷入困境。总部位于底特律的沃尔布里奇（Walbridge）首席执行官理查德·哈勒（Richard Haller）说：“一切都悬而未决。”“制造业的弧线，如果您想称其为弧线，则更多是双曲线曲线。”

Key manufacturing sectors like auto and steel production were doing well enough last year, Haller says, with work on the boards, particularly plans for retrofits to adapt to new types of demand. “Then August hit,” he says, referring to the global economic meltdown. “Then everything just stopped. It just really decimated manufacturing,” he says.

The resulting lack of credit has stalled projects and led to what Haller says is a major reduction in capital construction spending in those sectors. Other major contractors agree. “Certainly, we have seen a marked decline in the last 12 months in demand for construction in the manufacturing sector,” says Gavin Keith, project executive for DPR Construction, San Jose, Calif. “The collapse of access to capital/financing, the low demand for products and the uncertainty of the timing for recovery, have all stifled manufacturing production and ensuing capital construction programs.”

DPR says its best growth potential is in computer-chip fabrication plants, battery plants and solar-panel manufacturing. One example is a new solar-cell plant manufacturing facility in Norcross, Ga, built for Suniva Inc. The 45,000-sq-ft design-build facility—one of the first of its kind in the U.S.—was completed in 16 weeks earlier this year and includes advanced elements such as high-purity water systems, onsite waste-treatment systems, chemical-delivery systems, chemical bunker and high-purity piping.

行业消息来源说，太阳能面板制造非常热。总部位于休斯顿的研究公司工业信息资源公司（Industrial Info Resources Inc.目前正在进行的最大的是由总部位于奥斯汀的太阳能阵列风险投资公司附近的2.1亿美元的工厂。该项目在6月破土动工。DPR Construction是工厂的主要承包商。

不t Gloomy

“这并不全是忧郁和厄运，”工业信息资源营销副总裁迈克尔·伯根（Michael Bergen）说。例如，在美国英特尔计划或正在建设正在建设的半导体芯片工厂大约有100亿美元的筹码工厂正在花费30亿美元在钱德勒亚利桑那州扩大芯片工厂。

Global Foundries Inc., Sunnyvale, Calif., began site preparation earlier this year for a new $4.2-billion greenfield semiconductor manufacturing plant in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Delaney Construction Corp., Mayfield, N.Y., is providing civil/site prep for the project.

波特兰矿石霍夫曼公司（Hoffman Co.“我们看到采购策略的转变，” Eberwein说。“它正在成为超级成本的驱动。”

Some manufacturers are even moving away from preferred providers, Eberwein says. “They are saying, ‘This is going to be all about costs, this is all about fees.’” Hoffman has seen a 30% drop in manufacturing...