President’s Message

Cost Escalation and how the STA is fighting for Relief

I don’t need to tell any of our members that cost escalation is putting one of the hardest burdens on subcontractors in recent history. New York City construction costs have risen 8% in the last year alone. It is an unsustainable fact of doing business right now. This is the one issue that leadership has constantly been hearing about from our members in the past year.

What are we at the STA doing about it?

First and foremost, the association spent much of the first half of 2022 supporting the Material Price Escalation Bill (S.8844 Reichlin-Melnick/A.10109 Zebrowski) in conjunction with other industry association partners. This bill passed in both legislative chambers on June 3, and awaits Governor Hochul’s signature. If passed, this will enable contractors holding construction contracts as awarded by the State of New York or a public benefit corporation upon bids submitted prior to April 1, 2020 but only for which materials were purchased or invoiced after March 1, 2020, that experienced an increase in the cost of acquisition of such materials in excess of five percent (5%) be able to apply for an adjustment to their contract in order to recoup the increased material costs. We are now working on making sure the Governor’s office understands how vital this bill is to the livelihood of our industry.

Additionally, STA continues to meet with New York City public agencies on a quarterly basis, with cost escalation being one of the major agenda items at these meetings. We have upcoming meetings with the School Construction Authority and New York City Housing Authority this fall – if you are interested in joining these committees, please contact Samantha Sweeney-Annarumma at ssweeney@stanyc.com. This is one of the major benefits of being an STA member, access to the top leadership at public agencies to talk through issues, and I hope anyone dealing with problems at these agencies takes advantage of it.

If you would like to get involved with STA’s efforts on this front, or simply need an outlet to talk about this major issue, please contact the association office at ssweeney@stanyc.com or via phone to 212-398-6220.

STA is also looking for members to participate in the following other committees: Young Professionals Group, Insurance, Legislative, Surety, Technology, as well as all others.

There are many ways to contribute to our fight against cost escalation, and we must work together as one subcontractor community to improve this economic environment we are currently in.

Thank you, Anthony Acerra

President, STA Board of Directors