I'd highly recommend you check out Ames Construction. I'm not sure if they're union in Arizona (I think they are) but they're one solid outfit that does heavy civil work all over the western US. A very impressive company everywhere I've seen them operate. Check out their job openings on
www.amesconstruction.com
Rummel Construction used to be the big player in scrapers in Phoenix, but they didn't branch beyond the housing market and it's caused some hard times in the last year. I heard they scored a 20 million cubic yard gold course and they've got everything at that site right now. It's probably worth checking out, but I don't know how much future they've got at their current size.
www.rummelconstruction.com
Kiewit Western Co. has a location in Phoenix where they base a lot of their western operations, but about the only way to get on as an operator with them is to be called through the union. Granite Construction is pretty much the same.
www.kiewit.com and
www.graniteconstruction.com
American Asphalt and Grading and Las Vegas Paving are two impressive outfits out of Vegas. You'd have to feel out their current workload. I know the downturn in the housing market has slowed American down a bit.
www.aaandg.com and
www.lasvegaspaving.com
Aggregate Industries owns Frehner Construction and Southern Nevada Paving, two large contractors based out of Vegas. You can check them out at
www.aggregate-us.com and see what they've got open. From what I recall, they're union so operator positions will most likely be through the hall. I've only seen a few Frehner projects, but everyone that I've seen has made me sit up and take notice.
I'd recommend you join Local 12 and see if they can place you. You can't go wrong going Union and they're your best bet to getting on as an operator with any of the big companies.
Play around on
www.constructionjobs.com as well. There's not a whole lot of operator positions listed there, but you may be able to find some to get you started.
With the current downturn in the housing markets the two hottest sectors for construction are in the civil and mining sectors. As has been mentioned, there are a lot of new mines opening up and they're desperate for personnel in a lot of cases.
Couple that with numerous BIG infrastructure projects getting ready to take off over the next few years and your best bet is to get in with a company that caters to that market if you're wanting stability. For example, I know UDOT is going to be doing over $4 billion of highway/bridge/freeway work starting next year and going for 3-5 years. Try to find a company that's going to be in on those types of projects if you want stability. Right now, working in the housing market sectors of construction will probably have you and your family bouncing around.
