The Georgia Construction Outlook Survey indicates that 86 percent of the state’s privately held construction companies project a revenue increase over the prior year. The survey, released on Tuesday, was conducted by Kennesaw State University’s Construction Management Department in cooperation with Bennett Thrasher, one of the country’s largest full-service certified public accounting and consulting firms.
 
The results were presented by Khalid Siddiqi, Chair of Kennesaw State University’s College of Construction Management, along with Tom Jollay and Scott Hazy, Bennett Thrasher’s Construction Practice Co-Leaders. Eighty-one companies responded to the online survey, the purpose of which is to provide specific benchmarking data of the state’s general contractors and subcontractors.
 
Other major takeaways from the survey include:
 
Respondents reported an average gross profit margin of 11 percent. By comparison, the return on assets figure for a typical respondent in the 2016 Construction Financial Management Association’s national study was 9.0 percent.
 
Respondents reported an average gross profit per full-time equivalent employee of $30,747.
 
87 percent of the companies surveyed said recruiting and retaining qualified individuals was their biggest business challenge.
 
73 percent of the 2,368 privately held construction companies in Georgia are located in metro Atlanta.
 
64 percent of the companies surveyed said they are a family-owned business and 66 percent of surveyed participants said they have a succession plan in place.
 
The average ratio of Human Resources Directors per full-time employee is 1:51.
 
The survey also compiled data on compensation, including average salaries for all contractors:
 
President/CEO: $177,435

CFO: $156,333

Controller: $85,947

IT Manager: $95,714

Project Manager: $80,286

Sales/Marketing Manager: $81,100

HR Manager: $67,313

Estimator: $70,522

Superintendent: $79,160

Cost Engineer: $67,500

Foreman: $52,621