By JONDI GUMZ
Alan Alexander, Jesse Garcia, Medardo Gonzalez and Martin Ribera are among the lucky ones. They work in construction and they have jobs, building a hotel on 41st Avenue.
This Labor Day, a holiday created in 1882 by the labor movement, hundreds of Santa Cruz County residents who made a living in construction are out of work.
Four years ago, before the economy crashed, the county had 6,500 jobs in construction, mining and logging, with the largest share in construction. As of last September, that number had plummeted to 3,500, a drop of 46 percent. Figures for this month will not be available until October, but the number declined to 2,900 in July, and no one is predicting a rebound.
"We're just riding the bottom," said Ned Van Valkenburgh of the Carpenters Union Local 505 in Aptos. "I don't think anybody knows when things will turn around. If I could tell you, I'd go to Vegas."
The contraction in construction has a domino effect, triggering contraction in other sectors of the economy.
Those who supply sand and gravel, lumber and cement for building projects see their sales decline. So do stores selling appliances, carpeting, cabinets and furniture. Painters, plumbers and landscapers get less work. Store owners and tradespeople have less money to spend, which cuts into sales for other goods and services.
Last month, CoreLogic, a company that collects and analyzes mortgage data, reported 20 percent of mortgage-holders in Santa Cruz County were "underwater."
That means 10,500 homeowners are in financial difficulty, owing more than what their home is worth. If those homeowners fail to make mortgage payments and are foreclosed, the downward spiral continues, lowering values on comparable homes.
Four years ago, Ron Chesshire predicted the economy would begin to turn around in 2011. Now homebuilders are saying it will be 2013.
"It's a very tenuous time for the construction industry, said Chesshire, who has been watching trends since 1964 and currently heads the Monterey and Santa Cruz Building and Construction Trades Council.
"There's not a lot of lending going on," Van Valkenburgh said. "Everything's at a lull."
The number of public works projects in Santa Cruz and Monterey County was cut in half between 2008 and 2009, and halved again between 2009 and 2010, he added.
Though federal stimulus money is being used for paving projects locally, it hasn't put a lot of people to work.
With technological advances, "it doesn't take as many people to do things as it used to," Chesshire said.
Yet the work is rewarding.
"You're creating a lot of value as a construction worker," said Chesshire, describing the Crossroads Shopping Village in Carmel as one of his most memorable jobs. "I was the first guy on the project. It was a field of grass."
Van Valkenburgh recalls helping rebuild the steeple at Holy Cross Church after the 1989 earthquake.
"It's pretty neat driving around and seeing projects you've worked on," he said.
The hotel on 41st Avenue, a Fairfield Inn the Aspromonte family plans to open next May, is one of the larger construction projects under way in the county. It's estimated to be a $10 million to $12 million project.
About 40 people are at the job site each day, according to Sid Slatter of Santa Cruz-based Slatter Construction, a company founded by his parents in 1984.
Though the economy is slow now, Slatter expects a big increase in demand for construction workers in the future.
"The average age of a construction worker is 55," he said.
Added Van Valkenburgh, "You can't outsource construction to India."
Construction jobs disappear
Santa Cruz County had 6,500 jobs in construction, mining and logging four years ago before the economy crashed. As of last September, that number had plummeted to 3,500, a drop of 46 percent. The county unemployment figure for September 2010 will be released Oct. 22; it was 11.4 percent in July.
Year No. OF Construction jobs County jobless rate
September 2006 6,500 4.2%
September 2007 5,500 4.6%
September 2008 4,600 6.1%
September 2009 3,500 10.3%
SOURCE: California Employment Development Department
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