ABC members and chapter staff interested in participating in ABC’s 2014 Legislative Conference June 11 in Washington, D.C., have until Friday, May 16 to take advantage of the early bird registration rates and the discounted hotel price. By registering for the conference, attendees will have access to the Legislative Update Breakfast and a day on Capitol Hill meeting with members of Congress.

Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Tradesmen International, the construction industry’s premier source for craft professionals and labor-related services which will help contractors maximize productivity per dollar of labor. The agreement became effective May 1 during ABC’s 28th annual National Craft Championships in Birmingham, Ala., which Tradesmen International sponsored.  

The 2014 Craft Professional of the Year award was presented to Robert Stuart, superintendent at Stronghold Engineering in Menifee, Calif., May 2 during ABC’s National Craft Championships and Workforce Development Conference in Birmingham, Ala. The award recognizes Stuart’s work in the industry including his commitment to safety, training and the merit shop philosophy.

ABC recently joined more than 20 other groups involved in the design, construction, operations and management of the built environment to create the Alliance for a Resilient Tomorrow. The purpose of the alliance is to promote resilience, which is the ability to prepare and plan for, absorb, recover from, and more successfully adapt to adverse events.

ABC May 2 recognized the winners in its 2014 National Craft Championships competition, held at the association’s 21st Century Workforce Development Conference, April 29 – May 2, in Birmingham, Ala. 

Local media outlets welcomed this year’s National Craft Championships (NCC) by covering several individual competitors trips to NCC. Newspapers from Alabama, Louisiana, Pennsylvania and Texas published stories on competitors in the Welding-Structural, Sheet Metal, HVAC, and Electrical: Commercial-Industrial competitions.

The ABC New Orleans/Bayou Chapter broke ground April 11 in St. Rose, La. on Phase Two of their training campus master plan expansion, which includes an additional 18,000 square feet of classrooms, laboratories and welding booths for its apprenticeship and craft training program, as well as its safety and management education program.

Nonresidential fixed investment decreased 2.1 percent and residential fixed investment fell 5.7 percent during the first quarter, according to an April 30 release by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Overall, real gross domestic product (GDP) expanded just 0.1 percent (seasonally adjusted annual rate) during the first quarter of 2014 following a 2.6 percent increase in the fourth quarter of last year. 

The ABC student chapter at Montgomery College, Rockville, Md., was named the 2014 Student Chapter of the Year, which recognized them for their outstanding and extensive programming, community service and involvement with ABC during the past year. The student chapter will be honored at the Careers in Construction Awards ceremony May 2 in Birmingham, Ala.

ABC awarded Lloyd Evans, hiring and training administrator for Watson Electrical Construction Co. LLC, Wilson, N.C., as its 2014 Craft Instructor of the Year. Evans will be honored during ABC’s Workforce Development Conference May 2 in Birmingham, Ala.