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By JILL ESTERBROOKS, Special to the Daily Transcript
Tuesday, September 10, 2002
"9/11 wasn't a devastating blow to my business. It was more like a bruise on the cheek," said Lee Shellberg, president and owner of New Century Construction. "Because I'm a small business doing primarily government work, it hasn't impacted my overall bottom line significantly."
He did experience a work slowdown last fall, in part because city and state governments were spending money on security and anti-terrorist-related programs and services. Business is now back up to pre-9/11 levels, he noted.
Several other business hurdles also have developed since last year's terrorist attacks, most notably a tightening of the U.S.-Mexican border.
"I lost a few good employees because the terrorist attacks shut down the border," Shellberg said. "These Mexican Nationals were caught up in massive border crossing delays. I've been able to hire a few back but some day laborers and their families have been hit really hard."
New rules and restrictions at the border also have made shipment of building and construction materials more difficult, and it now is less attractive for Shellberg to do business in Mexico.
"Many businesses south of the border are suffering tremendously," Shellberg said. "And now that tighter controls have been established, I don't see things loosening up anytime in the near future. This is going to have a negative impact on commerce on both sides of the border."
Another aftereffect of the terrorist attacks is the more demanding insurance requirements for contractors doing government-related work.
"It is a lot more difficult and much more expensive to get insurance," Shellberg said. "I think insurance companies are nervous and therefore placing more onerous requirements on this kind of work. Some insurance companies won't even do business with certain cities, so I've had to do some scrambling."
Esterbrooks is a free-lance writer based in San Diego.
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