Recovery Contractors Warn Workforce Shortage Could Slow Projects as Territory Faces Need for 5,000 to 7,000 Workers

The territory’s disaster recovery buildout will depend not only on funding and project planning, but on whether the Virgin Islands can attract, house, train and retain enough workers and subcontractors to carry out the work, panelists warned during Friday’s Economic Development Summit on St. Croix. A panel of nine industry experts, including major contractors, Labor Commissioner Gary Malloy and Port Hamilton Director David Johnson, discussed the workforce and business conditions needed to support the territory’s recovery projects. The conversation centered on gaps in available labor, support services, local subcontractor capacity and the broader environment needed to make large-scale construction possible. Contractor James Benton pointed to weaknesses in local support services, including “surveying companies, material testing, trucking companies, dumpsters.” For Lisa Anders of MCN Build, the problem begins with the size of the available labor pool. “There's not even enough people i...