On March 20, Administrator Linda McMahon of the U.S. Small Business Administration announced the 2018 recipients of the National Small Business Week awards, including ABC member Hensel Phelps Construction Co.

ABC announced ACI Mechanical as its Contractor of the Year, National Diversity Excellence Award winners, National Safety Award winners and America’s top construction projects at the annual Excellence in Construction® Awards on March 21 at ABC Convention 2018.

On March 28, Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wis.) signed legislation into law that will combat the current construction industry labor shortage in Wisconsin. The new law prevents more than one journeyman being required to oversee the work of an apprentice. 

ABC announced the winners of the Construction Management Competition (CMC), National Craft Championships (NCC), Craft Professional of the Year and Craft Instructor of the Year during its Careers in Construction Awards ceremony at the conclusion of ABC Convention 2018 in Long Beach, Calif., March 22.

Preconstruction manager and construction superintendent are among the top ten best jobs of 2018, according to employment search engine Indeed. Based on salary—jobs with a baseline salary of at least $75,000—and abundance of opportunity based on growth in job postings on Indeed.com, careers in construction are on the rise.

On March 2, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced that it will begin enforcement of the final rule on occupational exposure to beryllium in general, shipyard and construction industries on May 11, 2018. According to an OSHA news release, the enforcement date was previously set for March 12, 2018, but this new timeframe aims to ensure stakeholders are aware of their obligations and compliance to the final rule.

On March 20, 2018, ABC joined leading employer organizations to form the Partnership for Employer-Sponsored Coverage (P4ESC). The coalition will work to strengthen and protect employment-based health care coverage and will champion solutions to protect these benefits for hardworking Americans.

Continued strength in construction resulted in a 7.3 percent January 2018 not seasonally adjusted national construction unemployment rate, down 2.1 percent from January 2017 and the lowest national January rate on record, according to an analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data released by ABC. Further, estimated construction unemployment rates were down in all 50 states on a year-over-year basis.

ABC named the nation’s top craft professional and craft instructor during ABC Convention 2018 last week in Long Beach, Calif. Richard Brown of Gaylor Electric Inc. was named 2018 Craft Professional of the Year, and William Fuller of ABC’s Greater Houston Chapter was named 2018 Craft Instructor of the Year.

Sixteen teams of four undergraduate students from colleges and universities nationwide put their construction project leadership skills to the test during ABC’s annual Construction Management Competition (CMC) at ABC Convention 2018 in Long Beach, Calif. Teams were assigned to manage the completion of the same mock project over two days. First, second and third place awards in five categories were presented to the winners at the Careers in Construction Awards ceremony at the convention’s conclusion on March 22.

ABC announced the winners of the 31st annual National Craft Championships (NCC) during its Careers in Construction Awards ceremony at the conclusion of ABC Convention 2018 in Long Beach, Calif.

ABC announced that it has awarded National Diversity Excellence Awards to six member companies. Representatives from each company received the award on March 21 at ABC’s 28th annual Excellence in Construction® Awards during ABC Convention 2018 in Long Beach, Calif.

ABC honored more than 100 projects collectively worth $2.6 billion at the 28th annual Excellence in Construction® Awards during ABC Convention 2018 in Long Beach, Calif.

ABC announced the winners of the 2017 National Safety Awards at ABC Convention 2018 in Long Beach, Calif. A total of 54 ABC member companies were recognized for their safety performance on March 21 during the 28th annual Excellence in Construction® Awards.

ACI Mechanical Inc., Ames, Iowa, has been named ABC’s 2017 Contractor of the Year, an award that recognizes companies for their corporate integrity, commitment to safety, professional development and expert craftsmanship. President Mike McCoy accepted the honor at the 28th annual Excellence in Construction® (EIC) Awards gala on March 21 during ABC Convention 2018 in Long Beach, Calif.

ABC released its 2018 Safety Performance Report to further the construction industry’s understanding of how to make jobsites safer through its Safety Performance Evaluation Process (STEP). Packed with infographics and practical takeaways, the report documents the dramatic impact of using proactive safety practices to reduce recordable incidents by up to 85 percent, making the best-performing companies 670 percent safer than the industry average.

ABC and the Board of Certified Safety Professionals signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on improving occupational safety and health at construction workplaces throughout the United States. The partnership is centered on developing effective prevention strategies and technologies as well as encouraging students and other professionals to choose occupational safety and health as a career and advance their competency in that field.

On March 13, a bipartisan group of ten U.S. Representatives visited the ABC Metro Washington Chapter’s CraftMasters Training Trust. House Education and Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) and Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-Va.) led the delegation to the 10,000-square-foot facility in Beltsville, Md., and met with Chapter President Debbie Livingston, instructors and enrollees in the programs. 

The National Labor Relations Board has announced another extension for the public to submit comments to its request for information on the 2014 “ambush” election rule, also known as Representation-Case Procedures. The deadline for submitting information has been extended from March 19 to April 18, 2018. 

On March 6, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division announced the launch of the Payroll Independent Audit Determination (PAID) program, a nationwide pilot program to assist employers in expediting the resolution of inadvertent overtime and minimum wage violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published its Year in Review 2017-2018, which details the agency’s progress on achieving three objectives laid out by Administrator Scott Pruitt during the first year of the Trump administration. The agency highlighted the launch of the Smart Sectors program, a partnership program between EPA and regulated sectors focused on achieving better environmental outcomes, of which ABC was a participant.

Overall construction input prices rose 0.7 percent in February, slightly lower than the rate set in January, according to an ABC analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data released. Compared to February 2017, prices are up 5.2 percent. Nonresidential construction materials prices are also up 0.4 percent on a monthly basis and 4.9 percent compared to the same time last year.

On March 7, 2018, ABC was part of a coalition that sent a letter to congressional appropriators asking them to include language in the omnibus spending bill that defunds the enforcement of the “prior authorization” requirement for trade association Political Action Committees.

February was the best month for construction employment gains since March 2007, according to ABC's analysis of an employment report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The sector added 61,000 net new jobs on a monthly basis in February, an increase of 0.9 percent, and 254,000 net new jobs on a yearly basis, an increase of 3.7 percent.

On March 6, ABC submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration saying that association health plans provide a common-sense solution to increasing access to health care for individuals and reduce the burden on small businesses that have been affected by the Affordable Care Act.