I would like to start by wishing everybody a happy and healthy holiday season. The holidays are a time to enjoy family and reflect on the past year. Hopefully, many of you will also have an opportunity to take a break prior to heading into 2009.

I would like to start by wishing everybody a happy and healthy holiday season. The holidays are a time to enjoy family and reflect on the past year. Hopefully, many of you will also have an opportunity to take a break prior to heading into 2009.

This past year has been challenging for many businesses. The construction industry has been hit extremely hard by the slowdown in the housing market and the financial crisis we are now intertwined in. Material prices escalated as the price of oil soared to all-time highs. All of these issues have had an impact (mostly negative) on all sectors of the industry. Some of the economic experts are predicting a slow rebound, so buckle up for ’09 because we are in for another wild ride.

Looking ahead to ’09, we can probably expect an increase in environmental regulations. The percentage of the industry that prepared for these changes will have a distinct advantage. The cost of doing business will also increase, which will ultimately lead to more cutbacks.

The businesses that service their clients, watch the overhead and keep their top employees will succeed in 2009.