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Cleveland's Green Cred
Seattle-based Grist, a leading independent green media outlet, plainly loves Cleveland. In the two months since I added that source to my RSS feed, it has run three major features on our central city. Last month's issue of this e-newsletter included a link to an article about Cleveland's ability to endure climate change. This month, Grist published this article discussing Ted Howard and the Cleveland Model for sustainability in business evidenced by the Evergreen Cooperatives, one of which is a leading local installer of solar panels. Two days later came this article on how Cleveland is one of the nation's top three cities in making the transition from grimy to green. |
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Retainage Reform is in the Air
Keep your eyes open for continued developments in the area of retainage reform. On November 22, a group interested in enacting legislation that will cap retainage on private projects at 2% met with a member of the Ohio House of Representatives. Nationally, certain trade groups are working to repeal a measure enacted in 2005 that will add an additional 3% withholding on federal projects beginning in 2013. |
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News In Brief
The Engineering News-Record has published its list of the top 425 owners (publicly held companies measured by construction in progress), including an article summarizing developments revealed from a related survey. Locals of note include Cliffs Natural Resources and Parker-Hannifin in Cleveland, J.M. Smucker Corp. in Orville, Materion Corp. in Mayfield Heights, Graftech in Parma, FirstEnergy and Goodyear in Akron, and STERIS in Mentor.
The City of Cleveland recently passed Complete and Green Streets legislation, which requires that 20% of project funding for street improvements be dedicated to enhance access for bikes and pedestrians and improve the roadway's impact on the environment.
A victory for Andy Natale and Nora Loftus in the Ohio Court of Claims caught the attention of The Columbus Dispatch, which reported on the set-back for ODOT and how it chose to treat a joint venture that bid on one of its projects.
News is also getting out about how Frantz Ward has received Medical Mutual's Pillar Award for Community Service. |
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Frantz Ward in Person and in the Media
My colleagues do a lot of writing and public speaking in order to keep businesses updated on legal developments. Here are this month's publications and upcoming speaking engagements.
This month in the Ohio Environmental Law Blog, Joe Koncelik discusses developments in the law relating to brownfields, wetlands, and carbon dioxide.
On December 7 and 8, Joe will be delivering a presentation on Navigating Local Land Use Laws. Click here for more information.
In the Labor & Employment Law Navigator, Rebecca Bennett and Keith Ashmus reference Keith's appearance in an article in the Plain Dealer about labor relations in the context of the NBA lock-out. |
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The Original Source
Growth in Green Energy
The Solar Energy Industries Association ("SEIA") publishes a quarterly update, with a free Executive Summary available here. The American Wind Energy Assocaiation ("AWEA") publishes its quarterly updates here.
Residential Construction and Sales
Data from the Census Bureau on housing permits, starts, and completions is available here. The NAHB's web site provides a wealth of other data from its research here. The monthly S&P/Case Shiller Housing Price Indices are available here. And, the National Association of Realtor's Pending Home Sales Index is here.
Industry-wide Construction Data
Data from the Census Bureau on construction spending is available here. It will cost you a few bucks, but McGraw Hill's forward-looking market research is available here. It will not cost you a penny to review the Associated Builders & Contractors' forward-looking Construction Backlog Indicator, here, which measures non-residential work under contract but not yet under construction.
The American Institute of Architects' Leading Indicator
Ask architects if their non-residential construction billings are improving, and you get a pretty good idea of where non-residential construction spending will go in nine to twelve months. The AIA publishes frequent press releases summarizing its subscriber-based Architecture Billings Index here. |
