ABC's Workforce Development Conference, April 29-May 2, Birmingham, Ala., has been reinvented to allow attendees to create a unique schedule based on their specific interests and training needs. The event will feature more than 40 educational sessions via six tracks: management and implementation, safety, workforce development, increasing productivity, emerging technologies and association management. It also will feature courses on ABC’s Project Virtual and preconference workshops on safety, lean construction and the 2014 National Electrical Code. 

ABC chapters and members can honor a Craft Professional or Craft Instructor by submitting a nomination for the 2014 Craft Professional of the Year (CPOY) and Craft Instructor of the Year (CIOY) Awards by March 7. The CPOY winner will receive a brand-new truck and the CIOY winner will receive a cash prize May 2 at ABC’s Careers in Construction Awards Ceremony.

ABC is now accepting volunteers to judge the 2014 National Craft Championships on May 1 in Birmingham, Ala. ABC members with recognized experience and expertise in a craft who are interested in participating should submit a judge’s form, found on the NCC website, to [email protected] indicating one of the 13 craft competitions they plan to judge.

ABC is now accepting nominations for the 2014 Craft Professional of the Year Award (CPOY) which honors an individual who exhibits outstanding skills and leadership and demonstrates a passion for their job in the field and giving back to the community. The winner will receive a brand new truck and a feature article in Construction Executive highlighting their hard work and dedication to the industry. 

ABC’s latest member program, Project Virtual, is now offering courses on BIM training and solutions to help ABC contractors better plan, build, and manage their building and infrastructure projects. 

ABC announced a new education program, the ABC Project Management Institute, offering owners, project managers and estimators to learn how to utilize and develop tools that will improve profitability and productivity at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. 

The deadline to submit an intent to compete form to take part in the 2014 National Craft Championships April 29-May 2 in Birmingham, Ala., is Friday, Jan. 10. ABC chapters and contractors can send their best craft trainees to compete in the competition to represent their company’s dedication to workforce development, their ABC chapter’s training and their hometown.

ABC contractor members now can take advantage of exclusive BIM training and design solutions that will make them more productive, efficient and profitable. The training is part of a larger effort known as Project Virtual. 

ABC congratulated its member companies that were awarded top honors for the Construction Users Roundtable’s (CURT) Construction Industry Safety Excellence (CISE) Awards and Workforce Development Awards at CURT’s Nov. 12 national conference in Tucson, Ariz. 

To ensure eligibility, ABC member companies and chapters should verify that their trainees meet certain requirements in order to send them to compete in the 2014 National Craft Championships.