Author: agcnews

Anthony brought his bachelor’s degree from Iowa State to Pepper Construction in 2006. While taking on increasing levels of project management responsibility over the past of 16 years, Anthony has worked on some of the company’s most high-profile and complex institutional projects, including renovations at the Art Institute in Chicago, expansion of the Saint Louis Art Museum and, most recently, the renovation and expansion of the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts in Little Rock. Anthony chairs the Chicagoland AGC CLC Steering Committee, serves as the CLC representative on the Chicagoland AGC Board of Directors, and is the Vice Chair of…

Construction employment increased in 283, or 79 percent, of 358 metro areas between February 2022 and February 2023, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of new government employment data. Meanwhile, new government data shows there were more job openings in the industry than the number of people hired last month. Association officials said the industry continues to struggle to find enough workers and urged public leaders to boost investments in construction training and education. “Although construction employment rose in nearly four-fifths of all metros in the past 12 months, contractors are still struggling fill jobs,” said Ken Simonson,…

Total construction spending decreased by 0.1 percent in February, as declines in single-family homebuilding and public construction outweighed a pickup in private nonresidential construction, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America today of new federal data. Association officials noted that demand for many types of commercial construction is likely to remain strong for the foreseeable future. Read more.

With bipartisan support, the Senate passes AGC-backed legislation to repeal a new Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule expanding federal permitting jurisdiction over wetlands and more construction projects, bolstering AGC litigation—which has expanded to 26 states—against the rule. On March 29, four Senate Democrats—Sens. Cortez Masto (Nev.), Manchin (W.Va.), Rosen (Nev.), Tester (Mont.)—and Senator Sinema (I-Arizona) joined Republicans in voting for AGC-backed legislation to repeal the Biden administration’s Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule expanding federal permitting jurisdiction over wet areas and more construction projects. The House passed the repeal measure on March 9. The president is expected to veto the WOTUS…

*****MAY 31 UPDATE: AGC-backed lawsuits have now halted the Biden administration’s WOTUS rule in 27 states. The Supreme Court has also weighed in and delegitimized the “significant nexus” test that the agencies used in the Biden administration’s WOTUS rule. Check out the updated AGC articles on the states where the rule is blocked and on the May 25th decision from the Supreme Court.***** An AGC-backed lawsuit halts the Biden administration’s new “Waters of the United States” regulation—which expands federal permitting over more construction projects around water, potentially even some ditches—in Texas and Idaho. An AGC-backed lawsuit has stopped federal agencies’ new 2023 “Waters…

The most significant construction cases include claims related to scope gaps, design changes, delay damages, lost productivity, cumulative impacts, and bad administration, according to John Sebastian of the law firm Watt Tieder who was one of three presenters on ConsensusDocs’ recently held a webinar on 10 Risk Management Maxims that Will Change your Approach to Project Delivery. Owner maladministration includes not responding to requests for information (RFIs) in a timely manner, and not responding to time extension requests. “The big cases always have indecision at their root cause. The worst decision is indecision,” Mr. Sebastian said, adding that “indecision in itself is…

On this episode of ConstructorCast, Mike Burke of Alberici Constructors and Dan Johnson of Mortenson, both serving as chairs on the Safety Week committee, share some history of the tradition, what this annual campaign means to them, and how you can get involved. Construction Safety Week is May 1-5. Visit constructionsafetyweek.com for more information!

AGC is pleased to announce the appointment of new members to serve on its Environmental Committee. Members of the committee have direct access to federal regulatory officials, influence over AGC’s environmental agenda, and a means to exchange valuable information with one another and industry peers. Join us in welcoming the new members. New MembersAnthony Curcio, Iron Woman ConstructionAndrew Krentz, Blythe Construction (Hubbard Construction)Theresa Lehman, Miron ConstructionPhilip Ryder, Ames Construction, Inc.Matthew Smith, GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc.Christine Williams, Granite Construction CompanyMark Winslow, Gilbane Building Company Existing MembersChair: Amethyst Roebuck, PAR Electrical Contractors, Inc.Kyle Baker, Mortenson ConstructionDavid Bufo, McCarthy Holdings, Inc.Brittany Russell Conrady, Kiewit…

Austin’s Spire Consulting Group was named as the 2023 Diverse Business of the Year award winner by the Associated General Contractors of America, association officials announced today. The association also awarded Diversity and Inclusion Excellence Awards, sponsored by WTW, to Hensel Phelps, Gilbane Building Company, Battaglia Associates, Inc.; and Bermudez Longo Díaz Massó, LLC. “The intent of these awards is to identify the construction and related businesses that are leading the way in making our industry more inclusive and more diverse.” said Lester C. Snyder, the association’s 2023 president and executive vice president of Brightline West in Las Vegas, Nevada. “We want to…

AGC provided input to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at its March 23 “listening session” focused on the likely creation of a federal enforcement discretion policy to help address some of the unfounded and misplaced legal risks and cost to industry (i.e., potentially responsible parties) stemming from the agency’s recent regulatory proposal to designate two of the most widely used per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as hazardous substances. AGC has been raising the alert to Congress and EPA that certain regulatory approaches to address PFAS could overwhelm cleanup initiatives and drastically impact liability for general contractors on everyday projects for…