On Wednesday, April 17, ABC President and CEO Michael Bellaman joined Carolyn Lee, executive director at The Manufacturing Institute; Karen Pittman, co-founder and CEO of the Forum for Youth Investment; and Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz, board chair and president of the Charles Schwab Foundation, for a Boys and Girls Club of America panel, Building a Diverse Talent Pipeline: The Policy and Business Case. 

From interviews to editorials and many articles in between, Women in Construction Week, March 3-9,  showcased the voices of women from all areas of the construction industry. 

The ABC Southern California chapter hosted their 25th annual craft championships on Saturday Jan. 26, 2019. Along with the craft competition, there were over 500 visitors, 22 vendors, a nine-team chili cook-off, a high school visit with hands-on activities presented by chapter instructors and demonstrations from Job Corps and ABC Southern California.

ABC members overwhelming reported that government-mandated project labor agreements harm their businesses, hiring and workforce development practices and ability to complete work safely, on time and on budget, according to the results of a December 2018 membership survey published today.

On Dec. 22, 2018, at the end of the 115th Congress, President Trump signed The FIRST STEP Act, a bipartisan criminal justice reform bill that aims to reduce recidivism rates by improving educational opportunities for federal inmates and implementing modest sentencing reforms.

ABC sent a letter to the U.S. Senate in support of the FIRST STEP Act, which was introduced by Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). This bipartisan bill addresses the important issue of prison reform with the goal of lowering recidivism rates by helping incarcerated individuals prepare to reenter their communities.

Updates to equal employment opportunity regulations that apply to all sponsors of apprenticeship programs registered either with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Apprenticeship or a state apprenticeship agency are just around the corner. The final rule updating EEO regulations was issued in 2016 by the Obama administration and went into effect on Jan. 18, 2017; however, some of the provisions were delayed for two years until Jan. 18, 2019. 

Eugene Jowers, a Project JumpStart graduate and employee of ABC member Regional Contracting Services, was featured in a Nov. 2 CNBC segment that also ran on PBS Nightly Business Report highlighting ABC’s efforts to attract more workers to the construction industry. 

National Apprenticeship Week is a week-long celebration that encourages workforce leaders to demonstrate their commitment to apprenticeship and educate those around them. NAW also gives apprenticeship sponsors the opportunity to promote their programs, facilities and apprentices in their respective communities. 

Dwana Grace and Stacia Brightmon, apprentices from ABC member S&B Engineers and Constructors, attended an event at the White House on Oct. 31 to highlight the Pledge to America’s Workers, which continues to gather commitments from the business community to expand workforce development.