WAILUKU - It's no secret that construction on Maui is slow, but a look at county permit records gives an idea of why the downturn has been so devastating to workers in the building trades.
The county issued 866 building permits from January to July, a 38 percent drop from the same period last year. But the dollar value of construction projects went down much more steeply.
Total valuation of building permits was down by 58 percent from last year, to $158.7 million. That indicates that it's major construction projects at the high end of the spectrum - the kind that generate the most jobs - that are leading the slowdown.
"We're banking on those big projects," said Bill Kamai, senior field representative for the Hawaii Carpenters Union. Union members rely on major construction projects like new condominiums, subdivisions and resorts for their bread and butter. With that part of the market nearly at a standstill, Kamai said, 75 percent of the union's Maui membership is now on the bench, with workers relying on credit cards and even tapping into their retirement accounts to get by.
"A lot of the projects that were approved, they've decided to put them on hold and hang onto their money," he said.
Darryl Banks, vice president of construction for Betsill Brothers, said the company had seen contracts for large projects dry up. For one residential project, the company was building homes only as they were sold. In the meantime, Betsill is relying on smaller commercial projects to survive, he said.
"Those things are keeping us afloat, those little ones, but on the big projects, if somebody had a permit, they've pulled it," Banks said.
A closer look at building permit data shows that new residential construction has seen the steepest drop, while declines in nonresidential construction and in home renovations are not as dramatic.
The county issued 152 building permits for single-family homes this year through July, a 64 percent drop from the same period last year.
Construction of multifamily housing projects declined even more: Only 12 permits for multifamily buildings were issued this year, a decline of 87 percent.
Nonresidential construction was not hit nearly so hard. Building permits for projects like offices, commercial space, school buildings or medical facilities numbered 57 so far this year, a drop of just 11 percent from the same time last year.
And the county issued 260 permits for home renovations and additions, off 19 percent from last year.
Those kinds of jobs might keep the self-employed handyman busy, but they don't put big construction crews to work.
"We've had to lay a lot of people off," said Ray Skelton, Goodfellow Brothers' regional manager for Maui. "We're fortunate that we do have some work, and we are able to keep some people working, the ones that we can."
He said the drop-off in construction was dramatic and seemed to touch all sectors.
"I would say everything is taking a hit," he said. "It's all the way across."
The lack of available financing is a major issue holding up private development, he added.
"Money has been very difficult to get for these developers," he said. "So now we're at the mercy of financing."
"There's no private work going on," said Jackie Haraguchi, executive director of the Maui Contractors Association. "Everybody's struggling in a really bad way."
She said she surveyed 40 of the association's 240 member businesses, and found that cumulatively the group had laid off about 500 employees.
Haraguchi and others in the industry said they were eager to see the state and county start releasing money for projects in the federal economic stimulus program, and wondering why the funds were being held up.
"Now is the time for government to bring out work," she said. "We've been waiting for the stimulus to trickle down to Maui."
Kamai agreed, saying he'd seen a few small civic projects, like minor school repairs, but was eager for the large, job-generating public works projects to go out to bid.
"This is the kind of time where we rely on government to pick up the slack," he said.
* Ilima Loomis can be reached at iloomis@mauinews.com.
