2021 Year in Review: April Intrabartola, Eastman Cooke Construction

Name: April Intrabartola

Job Title: Vice President

Company Name: Eastman Cooke Construction

How has your working environment changed over the last year?
Our staff has become increasingly proficient at being flexible. Necessity is the unequivocal mother of invention and we learned how to do more with less. Earlier this year, when facing material delays due to supply chain issues, we found alternatives that were equally efficient and within the parameters of the original budgets. Virtual meetings multiple times a daily are a new reality that, in some cases, have produced better time management, eliminating travel hours between meetings. Over the past year, we have repeatedly found positive solutions without compromising standards and completed projects on time and within budget.

What are your predictions for your industry in 2022?
Inevitably, we will continue to be impacted by supply chain issues, including some that may last past 2022. But I strongly believe the building industry will stay strong despite certain shortages. Just look at the growth in healthcare and automotive to identify how businesses are already using available resources more efficiently. I predict there will be a lot more adaptive reuse projects, bringing new purpose to existing structures. For the foreseeable future, we should see sustained growth in such sectors as healthcare, automotive, and certain types of retail such as food and hospitality.