What does 2026 hold for construction, workforce and more? Annual IBR talk digs in

The future is coming fast. Some may argue it’s arriving too quickly, while others would even say it is already here.

For businesses operating in Idaho, like everywhere else, they must always be looking ahead.

Rapid changes in society that blend into the business community translate to evolving issues and the need to solve problems when it comes to workforce development, changes in how foreign trade is conducted, revisions in taxes and regulations, as well as the ever-evolving use of artificial intelligence (AI).

And while no one can precisely predict the future, anyone and everyone can talk about it, as a group of four local business leaders did during the recent Forum on the Future panel discussion hosted by Idaho Business Review Dec. 11 at Boise Centre.

With so many economic uncertainties, locally, nationally and globally, panelist Jeremy Barber, vice president and partner of HC Company, and a seasoned construction management professional with more than two decades of experience, offered some simple advice to those considering moving forward with a new project in the upcoming year.

“Start now. Everyone who always thinks they are going to time the market and get in when it is less expensive is wrong,” Barber said. “Between material costs and labor costs, everything is going to trend up.”

When it comes to factoring both time and cost for completing a project, trade conflicts with China, impacted by tariffs, he pointed out, continue to impact the local construction and development industry.

“If the global economy is going to cause the cost of a product, especially say steel, to rise, then the local costs will rise as well,” he said. “Everything is impacted by the global market for us.”

Barber also noted that people often tend to forget or simply overlook the fact that while a number of products are made or assembled here in the United States, many of the components used within these products still come from overseas.

“Hopefully, in the next year, it appears we’ll see a bit more certainty, and though we might not be happy with what might happen with some of those tariffs, at least we can plan around them for the future,” Barber said.

For Coni Rathbone, recognized by Ozone Magazine as one of the nation’s top 25 Opportunity Zone attorneys, the Fed’s recent slight reduction in interest rates may help bring some relief regarding lingering issues involving trade and tariffs.

“This may help offset the tariffs and price increases,” said Rathbone, whose resumé includes a wealth of experience dealing with real estate, securities and business transactions. “One of [President] Trump’s main goals with the BBB was to find incentive to bring manufacturing back into the United States. Hopefully, lower interest rates can help balance out the tariff issues.”

Accountant Josh Tyree, president of Sorren, a top 50 accounting firm with offices now in 12 states, shared how his group remains active within the construction industry, and that he sees projects being built in a “timely manner” locally.

“The amount being invested out there is enormous,” he said. “It’s a big impact for us.”

However, he also acknowledged that while international trade won’t “enormously impact” his industry, it’s important for business leaders to keep pace with changes in tax laws.

“The one thing with all tax bills is that somehow they have to balance,” Tyree said. “Anytime a tax law is written, there is always Part 2, which is how the IRS interprets it.”

Unlike the other panelists, it’s changes in employment law rather than tax law that remain a key focus for Rob Graham, director of HR Strategy for Express Employment Professionals.

Developing a sustainable, current and future workforce across a myriad of industries was a prime area of discussion for him during the session.

With a focus on workforce strategy and professional development, Graham detailed having to “pivot quite a lot” within his industry as his outfit works to help keep local businesses staffed sufficiently into the future.

“Background laws regarding checks are an area we have to educate our clients on specifically,” Graham said. “Background check laws changed dramatically a few years ago and a lot of people are not compliant when it comes to screening.”

Such changes he stressed can cause employers to “hesitate” when it comes to hiring.

“If we can’t get our heads around that from an educational standpoint and knowing where we need to be from a legal perspective, businesses tend to run lean,” he said. “And it’s not a shortage of people being available.”

Similarly, he emphasized the importance of businesses hiring the “right people” to avoid extraneous costs that can result from poor hiring decisions.

“Most new hires arriving at a company [judge] within the first seven minutes on how long they will likely stay at a job,” Graham said. “The [new hire] will make that decision in that timeframe if this is a long-term position or a steppingstone to something else.”

Capitalizing on what he classifies as “transferable skills” is one way to help develop a workforce. “Some people may not have the exact skills but they have the right attitude, and they have that cultural fit to be trained.

“Make sure you’re hiring the right people at the right time,” he said. “That is why I highly recommend leaning into training and developing your workforce.”

Plus, he added, many businesses, in what he refers to as the “post-COVID” days, were considered to be “overstaffed” in a variety of industries.

“We were holding on to people we normally would not,” Graham said. “Tolerating poor performance, poor behavior. A myriad of things. Now we’re seeing businesses doing more with less and not replacing these workers.”

Tyree fully agreed with Graham’s assessment. “Businesses are carrying more people than they probably needed,” he said. “And with AI it’s an easy excuse to let people go rather than hold on to them.”

AI, arguably society’s most popular two-letter acronym, easily served as a discussion centerpiece, with each of the four panelists discussing the impact the technology is currently having and will continue to have on their particular industry.

And with as much as $165 billion invested in Opportunity Zones

nationwide, areas considered economically distressed communities used to spur long-term investments and job growth, AI has certainly made entry into this specialized sector as well.

“It’s an overlay of security laws and AI will help draft security disclosures and documents,” Rathbone said. “Reporting requirements of new programs will benefit from AI. We’ll be able to better identify how many jobs are being created and how much revenue is being generated.”

And though AI can’t frame a structure or pour concrete, Barber elaborated on how the technology can “enhance” the type of construction outfit he helps oversee.

“AI is so much more powerful and intense, and it’s revolutionizing how we operate,” he said.

Most especially on what he considers the “business development” side of the industry.

“We can use AI to draw a set of plans and ask it to identify and summarize key points of the project into less than a page,” he said. “And it can even give us an analysis of whether we should move forward even based on our talents as a construction company.”

The key, though, he said, is understanding how to properly prompt a tool such as ChatGPT to generate the best results. “It was eye-opening to see how it can truly help us be more efficient at what we do.”

But when it comes to the employment staffing industry, Graham detailed some of what he considers the “downside” of relying too much on AI.

“In the employee market, more workers are using AI as a crutch, like a Google search,” he said. “People are not using their brains anymore. It can make people look better than what they are.”

Likewise, he also fully agreed with Barber’s assessment of knowing how to properly use AI for the best results. “How you talk to AI is really the most critical part to get the right output. High performing workers using AI as an enhancement allows them to be more productive.”

Stressing a “values-driven” approach in his accounting firm, Tyree also emphasized the need to use AI more as an “opportunity” for enhancing workplace production.

“AI is coming but it is going to take time to transform our industry,” he said. “It’s not going to know the person or the relationship. It’s not going to drink a beer while we do tax planning. For us, the personal touch is what is important.”

And in today’s multigenerational workforce, Graham believes it all comes back to the human element.

“Don’t dismiss so-called overqualified candidates,” he said. “When you get the right people in the right seats on the bus, your organization can achieve a great deal more in a shorter time period. Supervisors and management need to understand how to utilize the strengths and weaknesses of the diversity of their workforce.”