• When the recession trashed development, some companies cut people to cut costs and hunkered down, but others turned to business development efforts – building client relationships, publicizing their capabilities and accomplishments and learning a new way to make and keep business.
• When Hoar Construction's Houston office lost $240 million in backlogged commercial and multifamily business, it turned to healthcare, higher education and government jobs for work and, in the process, reinvented its culture to make business development, marketing and gaining new clients mainstream efforts.
• The lessons are not new, just newly learned under duress. Ray Shortino of RADEC Corp. in Rochester, N.Y., said he had noticed long before what makes for successful construction companies. “Management focuses on customers and their employees; making money is almost an afterthought. Magically, though, money ends up being the primary result of all the other efforts.”

From the article:

Business in the construction industry has changed dramatically since the bottom dropped out in 2008, yet many companies successfully forged ahead by strengthening their business development tactics. Whether it’s forming a department to specifically address business development, creating a cutting-edge website, or placing more emphasis on client relationships and networking, construction companies are learning how to prosper with less work and more competition....