George F. Young, Inc., one of the largest surveying and mapping companies in Florida is one of the many local companies to see a drop in the number of new projects they work on.

The biggest decline is coming from mortgage surveys. But the mortgage crisis has meant fewer buyers and as a result fewer surveys.

"If something's different by mid-summer '09, fall of '09 I'll be surprised," says Mike Harbert. "I can see it lasting through all of '09."