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Biz Bits: LES a good example of how supply chain issues are hitting businesses

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A Lee Enterprises, Incorporated newspaper. Majority shareholder: David Hoffmann, Hoffmann Media Group.

Editor's Pick Alert Top Story

BIZ BITS

Biz Bits: LES a good example of how supply chain issues are hitting businesses

Lincoln Electric System

A Lincoln Electric System crew heads to a job at a construction site in northeast Lincoln in 2016. The utility said it currently takes about three times as long to receive truck assembly bodies as it used to because of supply chain issues, and they cost about 30% more.

GWYNETH ROBERTS, Journal Star file photo

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Matt Olberding

Severe weather has forced Abbott Nutrition to pause production at a Michigan baby formula factory that had just restarted after being closed for several months, contributing to a national shortage.Production for Abbott's EleCare specialty formula has been suspended, but there is enough supply to meet demand until production is restarted, the company said. Abbott had prioritized ramping up production of the specialty formula for infants with severe food allergies and digestive problems who have few other options for nutrition.Abbott says it needs to assess damage and re-sanitize the factory after severe thunderstorms and heavy rains swept through southwestern Michigan late Monday. Spokesman Jonathon Hamilton said flooding hit a few areas of the factory, but he declined to provide more specific details about damage.The storm also brought high winds, hail and power failures to Sturgis, Michigan, where the factory is located. The company expects production and distribution to be delayed for a few weeks as it cleans the plant.Once it restarts, the factory will begin with the production of EleCare and other specialty formulas. Abbott says it also plans to restart production of its Similac formula as soon as possible.Abbott had initially restarted the factory on June 4 after it had been closed since February due to contamination.The factory was closed after the Food and Drug Administration began investigating four bacterial infections among infants who consumed powdered formula from the plant. Two of the babies died. The company continues to state that its products have not been directly linked to the infections, which involved different bacterial strains.FDA inspectors eventually uncovered a host of violations at the plant, including bacterial contamination, a leaky roof and lax safety protocols.Abbott recalled several leading brands of formula in February, including Similac. That squeezed supplies that had already been strained by supply chain disruptions and stockpiling during COVID-19 shutdowns.The ongoing formula shortage has been most dire for children with allergies, digestive problems and metabolic disorders who rely on specialty formulas. Federal officials have said the Abbott factory is the only source of many of those products, providing nutrition to about 5,000 U.S. babies, according to federal officials.Abbott is one of just four companies that produce about 90% of U.S. formula. Hamilton said Abbott has produced 8.7 million pounds of formula in June, or 95% of what it produced the month before the recall.He said much of that production was for Similac, and the figure doesn't include anything from the Sturgis plant.Federal officials have said it could take several more weeks before formula supplies return to normal levels. President Joe Biden's administration has eased import rules for foreign manufacturers, airlifted formula from Europe and invoked federal emergency rules to prioritize U.S. production.Additional reporting by The Associated Press.

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Planners OK 2 potential Lincoln redevelopment projects
Retail roundup: Sears work finally getting underway

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Lincoln Electric System warns of solar company scams
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Highest-paying construction jobs in Lincoln

Highest-paying construction jobs in Lincoln

The term “recession-proof” has taken on a new and important meaning in the wake of the Great Recession of 2008, a meaning that has been renewed during the pandemic. One recession-proof industry has proven to be construction. Residential and commercial real estate, roads, bridges, power and energy, hotels—each of these sectors has weathered economic storms and proven to be dependable ways for a person to support a family.

The American Institutes of Architects’ Consensus Construction Forecast predicts that nonresidential construction will grow 4.6%, while the overall commercial construction market will see a 5.4% increase. This is against market expectations of global construction gains of 3.7%, meaning the U.S. market is expected to be ahead of the curve. Moreover, road and highway construction is expected to reach $108 billion annually by 2024.

Aside from ongoing supply chain woes that have caused delays in materials delivery, one source of concern in construction is workforce shortages. Analysis from Deloitte says that labor shortages are the result of a lack of qualified candidates and a skills gap between generations in an industry growing more technologically savvy by the year.

But this does not mean there are no jobs out there—to the contrary, there are a great number of construction jobs out there, and many of them are high-paying and offer career opportunities. To that end, Stacker compiled a list of the highest paying jobs in construction in Lincoln using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Jobs are ranked based on annual pay as of May 2020. Job descriptions are from O*NET.

You may also like: Highest paying jobs in Lincoln that require a graduate degree

Flamingo Images // Shutterstock

#20. Helpers--brickmasons, blockmasons, stonemasons, and tile and marble setters

Lincoln, NE

- Annual mean salary: $35,600

- #56 highest pay among all metros

- Employment: 30

National

- Annual mean salary: $40,190

- Employment: 21,410

- Entry level education requirements: No formal educational credential

- Metros with highest average pay:

--- St. Louis, MO-IL ($63,660)

--- Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI ($61,010)

--- Reno, NV ($54,490)

- Job description: Help brickmasons, blockmasons, stonemasons, or tile and marble setters by performing duties requiring less skill. Duties include using, supplying, or holding materials or tools, and cleaning work area and equipment.

Canva

#19. Construction laborers

Lincoln, NE

- Annual mean salary: $35,730

- #238 highest pay among all metros

- Employment: 830

National

- Annual mean salary: $43,000

- Employment: 971,330

- Entry level education requirements: No formal educational credential

- Metros with highest average pay:

--- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI ($66,670)

--- Kankakee, IL ($65,730)

--- Urban Honolulu, HI ($63,860)

- Job description: Perform tasks involving physical labor at construction sites. May operate hand and power tools of all types: air hammers, earth tampers, cement mixers, small mechanical hoists, surveying and measuring equipment, and a variety of other equipment and instruments. May clean and prepare sites, dig trenches, set braces to support the sides of excavations, erect scaffolding, and clean up rubble, debris, and other waste materials. May assist other craft workers.

Pixabay

#18. Excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining

Lincoln, NE

- Annual mean salary: $38,840

- #120 highest pay among all metros

- Employment: data not available

National

- Annual mean salary: $48,500

- Employment: 40,240

- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent

- Metros with highest average pay:

--- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($106,100)

--- Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV ($84,840)

--- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($78,360)

- Job description: Operate or tend machinery at surface mining site, equipped with scoops, shovels, or buckets to excavate and load loose materials.

Canva

#17. Tile and stone setters

Lincoln, NE

- Annual mean salary: $39,050

- #102 highest pay among all metros

- Employment: 70

National

- Annual mean salary: $48,490

- Employment: 38,150

- Entry level education requirements: No formal educational credential

- Metros with highest average pay:

--- Champaign-Urbana, IL ($78,200)

--- Urban Honolulu, HI ($69,740)

--- Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY ($63,630)

- Job description: Apply hard tile, stone, and comparable materials to walls, floors, ceilings, countertops, and roof decks.

Carl Mydans // Library of Congress

#16. Hazardous materials removal workers

Lincoln, NE

- Annual mean salary: $39,410

- #110 highest pay among all metros

- Employment: 80

National

- Annual mean salary: $49,170

- Employment: 44,010

- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent

- Metros with highest average pay:

--- Knoxville, TN ($79,260)

--- Salinas, CA ($72,170)

--- Kennewick-Richland, WA ($70,300)

- Job description: Identify, remove, pack, transport, or dispose of hazardous materials, including asbestos, lead-based paint, waste oil, fuel, transmission fluid, radioactive materials, or contaminated soil. Specialized training and certification in hazardous materials handling or a confined entry permit are generally required. May operate earth-moving equipment or trucks.

You may also like: Metros where people in Lincoln are getting new jobs

Pixabay

#15. Roofers

Lincoln, NE

- Annual mean salary: $40,750

- #162 highest pay among all metros

- Employment: 330

National

- Annual mean salary: $47,010

- Employment: 128,680

- Entry level education requirements: No formal educational credential

- Metros with highest average pay:

--- Worcester, MA-CT ($82,700)

--- Santa Rosa, CA ($71,520)

--- Trenton, NJ ($71,260)

- Job description: Cover roofs of structures with shingles, slate, asphalt, aluminum, wood, or related materials. May spray roofs, sidings, and walls with material to bind, seal, insulate, or soundproof sections of structures.

Pixabay

#14. Carpenters

Lincoln, NE

- Annual mean salary: $41,130

- #294 highest pay among all metros

- Employment: 1,270

National

- Annual mean salary: $54,200

- Employment: 699,300

- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent

- Metros with highest average pay:

--- Urban Honolulu, HI ($82,950)

--- Vallejo-Fairfield, CA ($82,300)

--- Hanford-Corcoran, CA ($79,870)

- Job description: Construct, erect, install, or repair structures and fixtures made of wood and comparable materials, such as concrete forms; building frameworks, including partitions, joists, studding, and rafters; and wood stairways, window and door frames, and hardwood floors. May also install cabinets, siding, drywall, and batt or roll insulation. Includes brattice builders who build doors or brattices (ventilation walls or partitions) in underground passageways.

Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images

#13. Highway maintenance workers

Lincoln, NE

- Annual mean salary: $42,090

- #165 highest pay among all metros

- Employment: 100

National

- Annual mean salary: $43,200

- Employment: 149,890

- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent

- Metros with highest average pay:

--- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($72,040)

--- Vallejo-Fairfield, CA ($66,270)

--- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($65,290)

- Job description: Maintain highways, municipal and rural roads, airport runways, and rights-of-way. Duties include patching broken or eroded pavement and repairing guard rails, highway markers, and snow fences. May also mow or clear brush from along road, or plow snow from roadway.

Philip Lange // Shutterstock

#12. Cement masons and concrete finishers

Lincoln, NE

- Annual mean salary: $42,160

- #198 highest pay among all metros

- Employment: 690

National

- Annual mean salary: $49,390

- Employment: 195,580

- Entry level education requirements: No formal educational credential

- Metros with highest average pay:

--- Urban Honolulu, HI ($86,370)

--- Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina, HI ($81,730)

--- Rockford, IL ($78,320)

- Job description: Smooth and finish surfaces of poured concrete, such as floors, walks, sidewalks, roads, or curbs using a variety of hand and power tools. Align forms for sidewalks, curbs, or gutters; patch voids; and use saws to cut expansion joints.

Canva

#11. Drywall and ceiling tile installers

Lincoln, NE

- Annual mean salary: $43,340

- #99 highest pay among all metros

- Employment: 70

National

- Annual mean salary: $51,930

- Employment: 99,700

- Entry level education requirements: No formal educational credential

- Metros with highest average pay:

--- Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina, HI ($90,640)

--- Bellingham, WA ($78,580)

--- Urban Honolulu, HI ($78,170)

- Job description: Apply plasterboard or other wallboard to ceilings or interior walls of buildings. Apply or mount acoustical tiles or blocks, strips, or sheets of shock-absorbing materials to ceilings and walls of buildings to reduce or reflect sound. Materials may be of decorative quality. Includes lathers who fasten wooden, metal, or rockboard lath to walls, ceilings, or partitions of buildings to provide support base for plaster, fireproofing, or acoustical material.

You may also like: People from these metros are finding new jobs in Lincoln

Canva

#10. Sheet metal workers

Lincoln, NE

- Annual mean salary: $44,490

- #193 highest pay among all metros

- Employment: 330

National

- Annual mean salary: $55,320

- Employment: 128,220

- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent

- Metros with highest average pay:

--- Fairbanks, AK ($132,900)

--- Kankakee, IL ($91,140)

--- Olympia-Tumwater, WA ($87,030)

- Job description: Fabricate, assemble, install, and repair sheet metal products and equipment, such as ducts, control boxes, drainpipes, and furnace casings. Work may involve any of the following: setting up and operating fabricating machines to cut, bend, and straighten sheet metal; shaping metal over anvils, blocks, or forms using hammer; operating soldering and welding equipment to join sheet metal parts; or inspecting, assembling, and smoothing seams and joints of burred surfaces. Includes sheet metal duct installers who install prefabricated sheet metal ducts used for heating, air conditioning, or other purposes.

Vera Larina // Shutterstock

#9. Painters, construction and maintenance

Lincoln, NE

- Annual mean salary: $45,570

- #102 highest pay among all metros

- Employment: 250

National

- Annual mean salary: $46,460

- Employment: 217,880

- Entry level education requirements: No formal educational credential

- Metros with highest average pay:

--- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($69,360)

--- Salinas, CA ($64,630)

--- Vallejo-Fairfield, CA ($63,070)

- Job description: Paint walls, equipment, buildings, bridges, and other structural surfaces, using brushes, rollers, and spray guns. May remove old paint to prepare surface prior to painting. May mix colors or oils to obtain desired color or consistency.

Canva

#8. Paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators

Lincoln, NE

- Annual mean salary: $46,070

- #47 highest pay among all metros

- Employment: 90

National

- Annual mean salary: $46,400

- Employment: 44,560

- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent

- Metros with highest average pay:

--- Worcester, MA-CT ($80,010)

--- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($73,360)

--- Evansville, IN-KY ($71,030)

- Job description: Operate equipment used for applying concrete, asphalt, or other materials to road beds, parking lots, or airport runways and taxiways or for tamping gravel, dirt, or other materials. Includes concrete and asphalt paving machine operators, form tampers, tamping machine operators, and stone spreader operators.

Canva

#7. Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators

Lincoln, NE

- Annual mean salary: $46,880

- #224 highest pay among all metros

- Employment: 550

National

- Annual mean salary: $55,280

- Employment: 402,870

- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent

- Metros with highest average pay:

--- New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA ($96,440)

--- Barnstable Town, MA ($93,620)

--- Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA ($93,320)

- Job description: Operate one or several types of power construction equipment, such as motor graders, bulldozers, scrapers, compressors, pumps, derricks, shovels, tractors, or front-end loaders to excavate, move, and grade earth, erect structures, or pour concrete or other hard surface pavement. May repair and maintain equipment in addition to other duties.

Canva

#6. Brickmasons and blockmasons

Lincoln, NE

- Annual mean salary: $49,350

- #115 highest pay among all metros

- Employment: 80

National

- Annual mean salary: $58,420

- Employment: 59,940

- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent

- Metros with highest average pay:

--- Duluth, MN-WI ($90,610)

--- Providence-Warwick, RI-MA ($90,290)

--- Pittsfield, MA ($90,070)

- Job description: Lay and bind building materials, such as brick, structural tile, concrete block, cinder block, glass block, and terra-cotta block, with mortar and other substances, to construct or repair walls, partitions, arches, sewers, and other structures.

John Leung // Shutterstock

#5. Electricians

Lincoln, NE

- Annual mean salary: $51,220

- #246 highest pay among all metros

- Employment: 970

National

- Annual mean salary: $61,550

- Employment: 656,510

- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent

- Metros with highest average pay:

--- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($106,680)

--- Trenton, NJ ($90,210)

--- Kankakee, IL ($88,530)

- Job description: Install, maintain, and repair electrical wiring, equipment, and fixtures. Ensure that work is in accordance with relevant codes. May install or service street lights, intercom systems, or electrical control systems.

Hulton Archive // Getty Images

#4. Structural iron and steel workers

Lincoln, NE

- Annual mean salary: $55,150

- #73 highest pay among all metros

- Employment: 160

National

- Annual mean salary: $58,650

- Employment: 71,490

- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent

- Metros with highest average pay:

--- Trenton, NJ ($91,360)

--- Rockford, IL ($90,160)

--- Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA ($89,740)

- Job description: Raise, place, and unite iron or steel girders, columns, and other structural members to form completed structures or structural frameworks. May erect metal storage tanks and assemble prefabricated metal buildings.

Unsplash

#3. Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters

Lincoln, NE

- Annual mean salary: $55,690

- #161 highest pay among all metros

- Employment: 340

National

- Annual mean salary: $61,100

- Employment: 417,440

- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent

- Metros with highest average pay:

--- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($106,100)

--- Fairbanks, AK ($94,280)

--- Kankakee, IL ($93,420)

- Job description: Assemble, install, alter, and repair pipelines or pipe systems that carry water, steam, air, or other liquids or gases. May install heating and cooling equipment and mechanical control systems. Includes sprinkler fitters.

Andrey_Popov // Shutterstock

#2. Construction and building inspectors

Lincoln, NE

- Annual mean salary: $61,850

- #123 highest pay among all metros

- Employment: 120

National

- Annual mean salary: $66,470

- Employment: 113,770

- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent

- Metros with highest average pay:

--- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($103,820)

--- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($102,920)

--- Salinas, CA ($98,360)

- Job description: Inspect structures using engineering skills to determine structural soundness and compliance with specifications, building codes, and other regulations. Inspections may be general in nature or may be limited to a specific area, such as electrical systems or plumbing.

Canva

#1. First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers

Lincoln, NE

- Annual mean salary: $67,270

- #195 highest pay among all metros

- Employment: 970

National

- Annual mean salary: $72,990

- Employment: 614,080

- Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent

- Metros with highest average pay:

--- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($107,870)

--- Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA ($103,930)

--- Santa Rosa, CA ($100,620)

- Job description: Directly supervise and coordinate activities of construction or extraction workers.

sculpies // Shutterstock

Reach the writer at 402-473-2647 or molberding@journalstar.com.

On Twitter @LincolnBizBuzz.

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Lincoln Electric System

A Lincoln Electric System crew heads to a job at a construction site in northeast Lincoln in 2016. The utility said it currently takes about three times as long to receive truck assembly bodies as it used to because of supply chain issues, and they cost about 30% more.

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