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• Kris Koberg, CEO of DICA, has been elected to the Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association’ s( SC & RA) Crane & Rigging Governing Committee.
The committee is made up of elected industry members who identify issues and recommend actions for SC & RA members while providing leadership for their respective industry groups. Reporting to the SC & RA
Kris Koberg
Board of Directors, the Crane & Rigging Governing Committee guides initiatives related to crane and rigging subjects. Koberg has been involved with SC & RA for several years. In 2020, he was appointed to the association’ s Crane & Rigging Group Safety Education & Training Committee, where he served a three-year term.
In 2022, Koberg became chairman of SC & RA’ s Outrigger Mat Resource Task Force. The industry group focused on awareness of standards, regulations, and best practices for selecting and using outrigger pads and mats.
As CEO of DICA, Koberg works with crane owners, operators, and lifting professionals on engineered ground support solutions related to jobsite safety and equipment stability.
PEOPLE
DICA has been an SC & RA member for more than a decade, with company leadership serving in several volunteer positions. Kelly Koberg currently serves on the Specialized Carriers & Rigging Foundation Workforce Development Committee.
Kerry Koberg, DICA’ s Strategic Accounts Manager, was named chairman of SC & RA’ s Allied Industries Group Governing Committee in 2022 after serving on the committee since 2018.
• Mazzella has appointed two new executive vice presidents and changed its executive leadership structure, with the company saying the changes support its focus on customer and service operations.
Rick Smith has joined Mazzella as executive vice president of service and as a member of the leadership team. A U. S. Navy veteran, Smith has decades of leadership experience in the crane service and industrial aftermarket industries. In his new role, he will focus on systemizing Mazzella’ s service Smith operation, establishing standard operating procedures, defining measurable key performance indicators, and
positioning the team for consistent, scalable performance.
Mark Erny has joined the company as executive vice president of cranes and as a member of the leadership team. Erny has experience across the overhead crane category, including highend process equipment, workstation cranes, and tooling centers. He will lead Mazzella’ s crane manufacturing and fabrication facilities and provide strategic oversight of the company’ s Below-the-Hook product line.
Dan Carmichael has been named executive vice president of sales and marketing. He brings more than 25 years of overhead lifting and rigging experience, with a career spanning sales, operations, and service leadership.
Carmichael joined Mazzella in 2019. In his expanded role, he
Erny
Carmichael will lead the company’ s commercial operations, including revenue growth, market share expansion, vendor partnerships, and positioning Mazzella’ s teams as experts in the markets they serve.
U. S. Construction Spending Forecast to Reach $ 2.85T by 2031
U. S. construction spending is forecast to increase from $ 2.22 trillion in 2026 to $ 2.85 trillion in 2031, an increase of more than $ 600 billion, according to a new report from Merlo America and BiltData. ai.
The National Construction Spending Trends Report identifies regional and industry trends expected to shape construction activity through 2031. The report projects that California, Texas, Florida, New York, and New Jersey will account for approximately 42 % of U. S. construction spending by 2031.
The New York-Newark-Jersey City metropolitan area is projected to be the largest construction market, with $ 230 billion in spending by 2031. Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Houston are projected to round out the top five markets.
The nation’ s top 10 metropolitan areas are expected to collectively account for more than one-third of U. S. construction spending.
The report also examines the effect of artificial intelligence( AI), cloud computing, and digital infrastructure on construction activity. The top 12 metropolitan markets are projected to account for nearly 73 % of U. S. data center capacity by 2031.
Dallas-Fort Worth, Washington, D. C., Chicago, and Phoenix are expected to remain among the most active technologydriven construction markets.
The report forecasts $ 1.026 trillion in residential construction spending by 2031, along with $ 741 billion in commercial construction, $ 684 billion in industrial construction, and $ 399 billion in infrastructure investment.
The report also analyzed 179 Bureau of Economic Analysis economic areas and found that the top 40 agricultural markets account for more than 70 % of agricultural employment, highlighting continued activity in rural markets.
The National Construction Spending Trends Report combines construction spending forecasts, metropolitan economic trends, projected employment growth, data center capacity estimates, and agricultural economic indicators to assess where construction demand is expected to develop.
www. cranehotline. com • October 2026 7