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[caption id="" align="alignright" width="360"] JAY-K Lumber Vice President Jonas Kelly shows some of their light fixtures for sale at the store in New Hartford Monday, Jan. 26, 2015. (Tina Russell / OBSERVER-DISPATCH)[/caption]

What is the status of the construction industry in the Utica-Rome area for 2015?

The answer depends on who you talk to.

Those invested in the residential building industry, such as Jonas Kelly at Jay-K Lumber and Luke Lewis of Lewis Custom Homes Inc., see minimal gains to be made after enduring a half decade or so of recession.

Fred Burrows Jr. of Fred Burrows Trucking and Excavating in Whitesboro, which specializes in heavy construction projects, said he’s is in the early phases of making plans for 2015. He said he sees more reason for optimism this year, and he’ll know more about where the chips will fall in the coming weeks and months.

Tracy Page, executive director of the Mohawk Valley Builders Exchange, is more definitive. She said the regional industry outlook for the year is definitely looking up.

“There are a lot of good things in the Mohawk Valley,” Page said. “The huge project at SUNY Polytechnic Institute with everything going on at the campus, and at the industrial campus up the road, then when you think about the peripheral work associated. You’re going to need more housing, more dining and retail.”

Numbers from the New York State Department of Labor support Page’s optimism.

By Anne Delaney, Utica Observer-Dispatch

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