ABC members have set the standard for safety, performance and integrity in the construction industry since 1950. After topping 21,000 members in 2017, ABC has a goal of adding 1,000 new like-minded companies committed to excellence and delivering high-value, to join in 2018. Now it’s easy to recommend a colleague at onekmoresway.org, and chapter staff will follow up to close the deal.

The U.S. economy expanded at an annualized 4.1 percent rate during the second quarter of 2018—the fastest rate of quarterly growth since the second quarter of 2014, according to an ABC analysis of U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis data.

On behalf of ABC, Mike Holland, chief operating officer, MAREK Companies, testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions about the need to modernize and expand apprenticeship opportunities in the United States. 

On July 19, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Fisheries Service proposed revisions to regulations governing sections 4 and 7 of the Endangered Species Act. The public has until Sept. 24, 2018 to comment on the proposed rules. 

ABC urged the U.S. House of Representatives to pass two bills that would modernize vital health care programs and provide much-needed relief to small businesses and their employees, designating them as key votes for its scorecard on the 115th Congress on July 23.

ABC joined a coalition of construction and business associations urging President Trump to eliminate government-mandated project labor agreements and allow all qualified contractors to compete for federal and federally assisted taxpayer-funded construction projects. In a letter sent earlier this week, the coalition stressed that such regulatory reform would create a level playing field in the procurement of government construction contracts, increase competition, curb construction costs and help small businesses grow.

ABC signed on to President Trump’s “Pledge to America’s Workers” at an event at the White House last week, committing to educating and developing at least 500,000 construction workers over the next five years. The pledge, which was signed by more than a dozen leading companies and industry trade associations, stressed the need to expand apprenticeship programs to educate current and future generations of America’s workforce.

On July 18, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a final rule to rescind the 2016 persuader rule, officially named the "Interpretation of the 'Advice' Exemption in Section 203(c) of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act." The final rule will go into effect on Aug. 17, 2018.

On July 12, ABC Vice President of Environment, Health, Safety and Workforce Development Greg Sizemore participated in the first meeting of the U.S. House of Representatives Bipartisan Apprenticeship Caucus. The caucus, founded by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce’s Higher Education and Workforce Development Subcommittee Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) and Ranking Member Susan Davis (D-Calif.), was created this spring to expand apprenticeships in the United States and raise the prestige of the skilled trades.

ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu predicts the nonresidential construction sector will remain stable for the second half of 2018, yet warns of a potential economic downturn in 2020, according to a recent mid-year economic outlook published in Construction Executive magazine.