| The letter [sent to President-elect Barack Obama], from William D. Fairchild, 2008 ABC national chairman and president of R.W. Murray Co., Manassas, Va., and M. Kirk Pickerel, ABC president and CEO, stated that "by mandating any manner of union-only requirements, the 86 percent of the private construction workforce that is not unionized will automatically be excluded from competing for this work. "Over the last decade, more than 60 percent of the new jobs in our economy have been created by small businesses. The fact that the vast majority of ABC's 25,000 member companies are small businesses only highlights the importance of their inclusion in both the bidding process and execution of your ambitious infrastructure project." Washington Business Journal, Dec. 15, 2008 | On energy issues, Obama has been a strong supporter of alternative sources, such as wind and solar. “There are a lot of ways we can gain common ground on energy, especially renewable energy, and how our 25,000 [Associated Builders and Contractors] member companies can participate in helping make us more energy independent,” says Bill Fairchild, ABC chairman and president of R.W. Murray Co., a Manassas, Va., contractor. Engineering News-Record, Nov. 5, 2008 |
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