Dive Brief:
- MasTec, a Coral Gables, Florida-based construction company, has announced plans to close its construction plant in Rochester, New York, according to a notice posted Monday from the New York State Department of Labor.
- In Rochester, MasTec served as general contractor on the $485 million Li-Cycle Rochester Hub project, which was paused on Oct. 23 due to rising costs, according to Toronto-based Li-Cycle. Engineering and procurement for the project had reached advanced stages, with a current focus on construction activities, according to Li-Cycle.
- As part of the closure, MasTec will lay off all of its 102 employees at the Rochester location, effective Friday, Nov. 3, according to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification.
Dive Insight:
Even as a boom in manufacturing construction continues across the country, several projects have hit unforeseen roadblocks in recent months, cutting into that momentum.
MasTec specializes in the engineering, installation and maintenance of communications, energy and utility infrastructure, including cell towers, fiber and pipelines. The contractor is the country’s third-largest commercial contractor by revenue, according to Engineering News-Record’s 2023 Top 400 commercial contractors list.
MasTec did not respond to Construction Dive’s request for comment on the plant closure and layoffs.
MasTec changed its focus to general contracting services after it acquired Indianapolis-based IEA last year, which ranked No. 42 on ENR’s 2022 Top 400 commercial contractors list.
Before that acquisition, MasTec primarily specialized in electrical and utility work, earning the No. 3 spot on ENR’s 2022 list of the top 600 specialty contractors. The publicly exchanged construction company earned $11.6 billion last year, up from $9.6 billion in 2021.