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Four years have passed since the Great Recession put the construction industry in a stranglehold. Data shows that local firms are still gasping for breath.

This year, the Associated General Contractors’ Oregon-Columbia chapter saw its highest number of membership resignations since 2009. In 70 percent of those cases, firms closed their doors for good, according to Mike Salsgiver, executive director of the chapter.

鈥淚t’s part of a continuum of constant shocks to the industry that have continued on for the last four or five years,鈥� Salsgiver said. 鈥淢any (firms) have tried to weather the storm, but some of them have decided to just cash it in.鈥�

Additionally, in September, firms’ license renewal rate with the Oregon Construction Contractors Board was 56.6 percent 鈥� the lowest in four years. Comparatively, 61.7 percent of firms renewed in September 2011 and 83.5 percent renewed in September 2010.

听Firms are still struggling to get back on their feet, said Tony Tigli, who works for A&A Drilling in Milwaukie. Most expected the recession to be over by now and have operated on slim margins for a long time, he said.

鈥淲e thought things would taper off and were going to get better finally,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here have been some guys that have been around 40 years that I know of that have closed their doors.鈥�

The main reason firms are struggling, Salsgiver said, is a persistent lack of private development. Home construction is on the rise; however, the metro area is producing few private projects in the $15 million to $100 million range, he said.

Plus, some construction material costs, such as diesel gas, are at a four-year high.

鈥淚t’s kind of hard to keep up with it,鈥� said Curtis Cooksey, an estimator at Eagle-Elsner Inc., a local highway construction company. 鈥淚t’s a continuation of the last two years. Owners are having a really hard time with it lately.鈥�

It also doesn’t look like the situation is going to improve soon. Nonresidential construction is not expected to grow significantly in 2013. Multifamily construction, for example, is expected to grow only 6 percent in 2013, according to data released by the American Institute of Architects. Comparatively, it grew by 56 percent in 2011.

Institutional construction, for health care, education, public safety and other sectors, is supposed to rise only 3 percent. And commercial construction overall is expected to rise only around 4 percent.

Construction costs are on the rise too: gypsum board makers have announced a 25 to 35 percent price increase for January. And lumber prices, which hit a two-month high last week, will continue to rise if residential construction (the one segment expected to improve substantially next year) continues to grow, said Ken Simonson, chief economist for the national AGC.

That means companies like American Steel Products, a local metal fabricator that has had to increase its prices to stay open, could face even more challenges ahead.

鈥淵ou have to absorb (less profit) or pass it to the customer; either way, it is a negative impact,鈥� company president Natasha Hendricks said. 鈥淵ou can become less competitive or have less margins.鈥�

Hendricks believes that multiple companies could go out of business during the winter.

鈥淣obody expected the sluggish economy to last four years,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 would anticipate as we go into the slow season further that we’re going to see more (firm closures).鈥�

Few opportunities are arising for firms these days. And after four years of battling to stay afloat, some are feeling the pinch now more than ever.

鈥�(It’s) a very bad economic place to be,鈥� Salsgiver said. 鈥淢ost of the folks in the industry believe what we saw in 2006 and 2007 wasn’t going to be sustainable, but I don’t think they thought it would go this far.鈥�