ABC Dec. 11 sent a letter to President-elect Barack Obama congratulating him on his election victory, and his proposal to make a significant investment in the nation’s infrastructure as a way to stimulate job growth and promote economic recovery. In addition, the letter urged the President-elect to allow free and open competition on federally-funded construction projects.  

The letter, 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,” said the letter. “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.  

“We believe that the construction industry as a whole – both union and open-shop firms – is committed to assisting you in bringing our country out of this economic recession,” they said. “The infrastructure plan you have outlined is a bold one, and our members are looking forward to bidding and working on these projects that will improve our country and stimulate our economy.”  

To read ABC’s letter to President-elect Obama, click here.