The boost in construction is good not just for builders, but for electricians, roofers, installation companies and countless other contractors.

“It’s a domino effect,” says Mary Dougherty-Slapp, Gulf Coast Builders Exchange (GCBX) executive director. “As contractors do better, they need plumbers and electricians, plus there is just more business to go around.” But those companies still standing after the biggest recession in generations remain cautious about the future. The recession, they all agree, is over and right now is a period of long-missed growth, but much of that is pent-up demand, commercial projects that business owners wanted to embark on during the recession but could not until lending and capital finally freed up. That reserve of ambition will only last so far, and most companies who suffered through the downturn have no interest in reliving the shrinking pains of the past.

Jeff Jackson, president of PGT Industries, says the business environment for his company has been good for the past 24 to 36 months. PGT, a Venice-based manufacturer of storm-proof glass, relies on the construction of commercial business for revenue; you may spot the logo on glass panes being installed in several hotel and condominium projects in Downtown Sarasota right now. Jackson recalls business truly started hopping in the fourth quarter of 2012, when orders started streaming in and a somewhat dormant network of outside dealers suddenly started placing an abundance of calls again. “The industry in general is still going well, and most homebuilders tell us the same thing—that this is a solid market,” Jackson says. He notes many of the larger developers are acquiring land, which eventually should translate into orders to PGT whether the land is for urban development or subdivisions filled with new homes.

Of course, the buildings also need roofs, and Chris Rajala, SPEC Building Materials’ commercial sales representative in Bradenton-Sarasota area, says sheet metal and roofing companies saw a great 2015 all around. “Out of the Bradenton market, we saw the best year ever,” he says. “I’m not sure if that can be attributed to our sales force or just the upturn in the economy, but we are doing a lot more business with our customer base.” For Rajala, that base is primarily commercial contractors and a smaller portion of residential work, but the growth seems to be across the board. He also sits on the board for the Sarasota Manatee Roofing and Sheet Metal Contractors Association, and says professionals in both large and small companies seem to be in positive shape right now.

CJ Fishman, founder of Fishman and Associates, says certain industries like health care have been particularly active. Fishman’s company includes a commercial kitchen division that works with everyone from restaurateurs to nursing homes, and confidence in all sectors has picked up, in his view. “New construction now is pretty much all we do,” Fishman says. “Obviously, either money is freeing up or people are just spending money opening new restaurants.” Fishman is especially encouraged by the number of new country clubhouses and amenities coming in, primarily because that translates to confidence both in commercial construction and in residential growth.

But while Fishman is optimistic about the health of the economy today, he remains prudent. He also served as chairman of the Economic Development Corporation of Sarasota County during the worst downturn in memory, certainly the worst of Fishman’s professional life. During that time, businesses were shuttering faster than anyone could keep track. “That was the worst of times, but when it finally ended, we did come out of it very fast,” he says.

As far as his own company, Fishman avoided laying off a single employee, a source of pride for the entrepreneur, but that was because he was braced for the recession, and he warns all business owners to plan for the next downturn whether they can see it coming or not. “Put some money away,” he says. “Still celebrate the good times and treat your people as well as you can. When times are good, we share the wealth with associates, but remember we might not have this wealth next year.”

That’s something Jackson is aware of. “As president, I try to be more optimistic and think about how to handle this growth,” Jackson says. “But my prior role was as chief financial officer, so I remember how in the downturn we had to cut costs.” PGT in 2007 opened a new factory in North Carolina, its first major venture in opening a plant outside the state, and then saw the construction industry implode in 2008. The decision was made to close the North Carolina facility in 2009 and consolidate all operations in Venice.

Last year, PGT was back in expansion mode, buying a Miami-based competitor for $110 million while still showing growth every consecutive quarter since 2011. That sort of growth, by acquisition of companies with portfolios of work in hand or by organic expansion of the existing workforce, will be the type PGT focuses on near-term. Slapp says the savviest GCBX members survived the recession, but plenty of members who seemed to have plenty of savvy did not, and saw their companies go under. Today, she cautions members that there appears to be plenty of work in the pipeline, but it won’t always be there.

And good times bring problems as well. Today, the labor force for contractors and subcontractors to cull is more depleted. “Florida was one of the hardest hit states in the recession, and these workers had families to support. Things were not as bad in Texas, so they moved to there and to places like that, then they settled in there,” Slapp says. Her organization is working now with educational institutions in the region to rebuild a workforce of skilled labor, but even that is being done with a degree of measure.

“Nobody wants to repeat the same mistakes again,”she says. “We still want to see what we can do to diversify and create an economy that is not quite as cyclical. I want to make sure we learned lessons from the recession.” SRQ