2026 Industrial Review: Matthew Guarracino JM Electrical Company, Inc.

What projects, initiatives, or types of work have been keeping your team busiest during the first half of 2026? A lot of what we’re seeing right now comes down to clients trying to do more with less, especially when it comes to energy. Automation and controls remain a major focus as owners look for ways to cut energy costs without sacrificing performance. We’re also seeing colleges, universities, and hospitals continuing to invest in their facilities to better serve students and patients, which has kept those sectors active. Renewable technologies like EV infrastructure, battery storage, and microgrids remain areas everyone’s watching, though how quickly those projects move often depends on government policy. AI is another piece we can’t ignore, and figuring out how to put it to work in our day-to-day operations is both a challenge and an opportunity. On top of that, facilities are facing more regulations than ever, making it increasingly important to meet those demands through service.

What trends or shifts have stood out most to you so far this year within your industry? For more than a decade, the Boston construction market was driven largely by life sciences and pharmaceutical work. What we’re seeing now is a real shift toward college, university, and hospital construction, which actually mirrors the industry that built much of Boston’s history in the first place. Right now, a good portion of what our work is retrofit projects within these sectors, whether that’s upgrading existing systems or bringing older buildings up to current standards. We do have some new construction in the mix as well, but retrofit work has become a bigger piece of our pipeline. It’s been a natural evolution for us, and it plays to the strengths we’ve built over the years working in complex, occupied environments like these.

What challenges or opportunities have had the biggest impact on your business during the first half of 2026? Right now, a lot of the challenges facing Boston are happening at the macro level. We’ve overbuilt in a number of sectors, and that’s led to higher vacancies, which in turn is softening demand for new or renovated space. On top of that, interest rates, government policy, and the overall cost of doing business here have developers looking more seriously at other parts of the country. That shift is having a real impact on the Boston construction market. It’s not any one factor causing this, it’s really the combination of all of them at once that’s making developers think twice before committing to projects locally. Keeping Boston competitive is going to require addressing these bigger economic and policy pressures.

As we look ahead to the second half of the year, what are you watching most closely? Right now, a lot of the challenges facing Boston are happening at the macro level. We’ve overbuilt in a number of sectors, and that’s led to higher vacancies, which in turn is softening demand for new or renovated space. On top of that, interest rates, government policy, and the overall cost of doing business here have developers looking more seriously at other parts of the country. That shift is having a real impact on the Boston construction market. It’s not any one factor causing this, it’s really the combination of all of them at once that’s making developers think twice before committing to projects locally. Keeping Boston competitive is going to require addressing these bigger economic and policy pressures.