On Oct. 17, Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-Wash.) announced a short-term deal aimed at stabilizing the individual health insurance market and lowering the costs of premiums.

A record number of project owners joined ABC contractors last week at the fifth annual ABC Users Summit in New Orleans to discuss how to collaboratively improve the planning and delivery of high-quality construction projects. Thank you to our Executive and Associate Sponsors for their support of our fifth annual ABC Users Summit. View the 2017 summit program for additional details.

The construction industry has a message for career-seekers this October: the demand for construction workers is high, and firms are looking to hire. Despite an investment of more than $1 billion a year by its members to train the next generation of construction workers, Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) says the industry currently has 500,000 unfilled jobs, and that number could more than double if Congress and the White House agree on a promised $1 trillion infrastructure bill. ABC member firms are highlighting the worker shortfall and abundant opportunities for aspiring industry professionals during Careers in Construction Month.

Michael D. Bellaman, president and CEO of Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), today issued the following statement on the passage of a budget by the U.S. Senate: “This important step by the Senate keeps the process on track to produce once-in-a-generation tax reform...

Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) announced the promotion of Téa Gennaro to Chief Financial Officer (CFO). She will be responsible for managing and directing the accounting, finance and facilities functions at ABC and its affiliated organizations—the ABC Political Action Committee, ABC Retirement and Savings Plan, Construction Legal Rights Foundation, Trimmer Construction Education Foundation and ABC Services Corp.

On Oct. 19, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary Thomas Galassi issued a memorandum on Interim Enforcement Guidance for the Respirable Crystalline Silica in Construction Standard. The memo provides interim enforcement guidance to Compliance Safety and Health Officers (CSHOs) for enforcing the standard.

Construction Executive magazine is proud to announce its latest award, an honorable mention from the Folio: Eddie & Ozzie Awards for its digital edition. Produced by media company GTxcel, the digital edition magazine is a page-turner replica of the print magazine, complete with navigation links and a built-in article sharing feature.

On Sept. 15, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals reversed a preliminary injunction on the state’s Workplace Freedom Act, allowing West Virginia to enforce the state’s Right to Work law as of Oct. 15. The case is Morrisey v. West Virginia AFL-CIO, et al., No. 17-0187. 

ABC President and CEO Mike Bellaman made a live appearance on Fox Business Network's "Varney & Co." show on October 17th. The one-on-one interview focused on the U.S. Department of Labor's Task Force on Apprenticeship Expansion that Bellaman was appointed to the day before. Watch a clip of Bellaman's appearance here.

Michael D. Bellaman, president and CEO of Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), has been appointed by U.S. Department of Labor Secretary R. Alexander Acosta  to the Task Force on Apprenticeship Expansion, created by President Trump’s June 15 Executive Order 13801.