Scott Schoenherr

Parnter, Rafanelli & Nahas and ULI Idaho Developers Product Council Chair 

How has COVID-19 affected your day to day business?
On a day-to-day basis, our business hasn’t really changed much. Construction of our new building at 11th & Idaho continues to move forward. At some point, our ability to procure materials may be impeded. All our existing buildings are open and we continue to focus on providing great property management. We have always focused on staying really close to our tenants and COVID-19 has made this even more important. There is so much uncertainty and many small businesses are scared of how long this could last. 

What new policies have you implemented as a result social distancing and stay-at-home order for non-essential workers?
All of our employees who can work from home have been doing so.  In reality, it’s tough to get much work done from home and most of our employees show up to the office for at least a couple hours every day.  I’ve been trying to set a good example of how to work from home, without much success. Most of our meetings have been moved to conference calls or Zoom. 

How has COVID-19 affected your plans for 2020 and future forecasted business in your pipeline?
Our plans for 2020 and beyond have not yet been affected by the virus.  We continue to move forward on all our initiatives.  Of course, this could change as we move into the summer.  The big question now is, how do we get the economy moving again and what does that new-normal look like?

What opportunities have you identified, if any, as a result of COVID-19? 
Since there aren’t many new deals coming across our desks right now, the virus has allowed us to focus on some strategic initiatives that have been pushed to the back burner.  Also, we have been able to tackle some of the maintenance issues that are difficult to do when our buildings are fully occupied.  On the personal side, working from home has been a blessing in that it has allowed me to spend more time with my 18 year-old daughter who will be flying the nest soon. 

Matt Blandford

Operations Manager – Idaho, Andersen Construction and ULI Idaho Chair for Mission Advancement

How has COVID-19 affected your day to day business?
COVID-19 has had a great effect on our day to day business as a general contractor. With construction being deemed an essential business, maintaining the health and welfare of our employees, trade partners and industry partners is our foremost priority. Our job sites remain active and open for business. To say it’s business as usual is a stretch. 

What new policies have you implemented as a result social distancing and stay-at-home order for non-essential workers?
We instituted a COVID-19 Task Force, which includes our executive management team. This group meets daily to discuss policies or adjustments that are needed in the response to the ever-changing information:

• We instituted flexible work arrangements whereby many employees are working from home but maintaining productivity levels to keep projects running smoothly.
• We mandated “Social Distancing” and environmental cleaning practices at job sites and our regional offices to mitigate the spread of the virus.
• We are providing tools and resources for our employees related to physical, mental and emotional health.
• Job site safety policies have been updated specific to COVID-19 prevention. Adjustments / changes to hand-washing and sanitization protocol, meeting etiquette, and task specific work practices aimed at maintaining 6ft between tradesmen are just a few of the additional measures put in place. 

How has COVID-19 affected your plans for 2020 and future forecasted business in your pipeline?
We have certainly had project starts postponed due to the pandemic. Additionally, there is fear that the full effect of COVID-19’s impact on the supply chain won’t be witnessed until months down the road. On a lighter note we do have clients that are marching forward with projects to get ahead of future uncertainty related to COVID-19’s direct impact on the economy as a whole. In general, the uncertainty COVID-19 brings is hard to pinpoint in the deal making stage of a project as there are more questions than answers right now. 

What opportunities have you identified, if any, as a result of COVID-19? 
It’s hard to define opportunities from a business sense related to COVID-19. The innovation witnessed amongst our project teams in implementing COVID-19 site best practices has been a bright spot. I do believe there are many protocols that will remain in place once we are on the other side of this pandemic.

Collaboration within the industry has been strong. Whether it’s contractors sharing best practice information, municipalities finding innovative solutions for permitting / site inspections or contractors working together to donate PPE to local hospitals. The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) has been a great resource as well.

It has been well documented that as an industry we were already faced with trade labor shortages prior to COVID-19. Is there a scenario where an increase in unemployment across the board drives more individuals to the construction industry seeking employment? Maybe. It really comes down to the safety of our tradesmen, if we can’t provide a safe environment to send workers home healthy to their families the impact will be far worse.