One group is eager for renovations to the Government Center to get underway: the construction contractors.

The county board approved the financing for the estimated $3.8 million Government Center remodel last week, and the construction will run concurrently with the $1.8 million Law Enforcement Center remodel.

Much like the $28-million Jail and Justice Center, the project has attracted the interest of many architects and construction firms.

“It’s in need of projects like this,” said John Pristash of the construction industry. Pristash was the project manager for Knutson Construction Services on the Jail and Justice Center construction.

The Jail and Justice Center construction put local people to work, Pristash said.

“There’s not that many projects of that size in this area or in general, so it is a big boost to this region,” Pristash said.

Pristash said 72 percent of the construction work went to southeast Minnesota firms, tallying about $12 million. About 51 percent of the work went to Austin companies, or about $8.47 million.

“This was one of the blessings of the jail project, with all the negatives of the tax increase,” County Coordinator Craig Oscarson said. “These local companies sharpened their pencils and kept their guys working. We probably made Christmas happy for a few years for some of these employees.”

Still, Oscarson said, the county board can’t select Austin companies. The work goes to the lowest responsible bidder.

Local companies like Harty Mechanical and Schammel Electric had big contracts.

“You look at the size of the contract Schammel had, and Harty had two contracts, and that was just huge and good,” Oscaron said.

Pristash said it’s exactly the kind of job contractors are looking for to boost the economy.

On the Jail and Justice Center project, about 30 to 40 workers were on scene at one time and that maxed out at around 70 workers, according to Pristash.

Local companies and local workers benefited directly from the project, Pristash said.

While the Government Center work would be much smaller, it’d still have a sizable impact.

“It still does have a big impact,” he said. “It really does make a big a difference.”

Along with benefits to local contractors, Pristash said the project would benefit local companies that sell supplies. He also said many venders and retailers would see increased workload.

“The economic ripple effect is beyond just the construction industry,” he said.

Talk of the project has created quite a buzz among the people who could be doing the work, according to Pristash.

“I know there are a lot of local contractors that are excited about the upcoming project. Everybody’s excited for it to go forward,” Pristash said.

The construction industry is still on the edges of a downturn, but Pristash said things are slowly starting to look up.

Pristash said the Jail and Justice Center work came at the lowest point of the industry’s downturn, and while Pristash said it’s starting to climb out of the lull, it’s still a good time for building projects, and bids should be very competitive.

“They should get a lot of value for the dollar,” he said.