NEWPORT BEACH, CA—The National Association of Home Builders has begun to lobby Washington, DC, for something desperately needed: a guest-worker program to help fill in some of the demand for construction workers during a labor shortage that has been exacerbated by the recent wildfires in Northern California. The question is: Can it be done? We spoke with Landmark Capital Advisors managing director Adam Deermount on the subject.

GlobeSt.com: Given the labor shortage that was already in existence prior to the wildfires, how is the construction industry dealing with recent natural disasters?

Deermount: The raging wild fires have leveled much of California's wine region in Napa and Sonoma. Given current tight conditions with regards to both labor shortages and rising commodity prices, the construction industry is already hobbled and ill-equipped to deal with normal volume, let alone the deluge that we are beginning to see as large portions of Houston, Florida and now northern California seek to rebuild.