Minneapolis-based marketing communications agency and market development consultancy CLUTCH has appointed Sean Runstad as vice president, Building Materials and Construction. He arrives with 20-plus years’ industry experience, immediately transitioning from his post as vice president of Sales and Marketing for Lee Building Products, Bowling Green, Ky. concrete block and hardscapes operator. A northern Minnesota native, Rustad also served on the…
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Contractors ‘All in’ on strong accident prevention message
The Associated Builders and Contractors will sponsor Construction Safety Week 2025, May 5-9, as a call to action for the entire contracting community to commit to a safer industry. Since a 2014 debut, the event has grown to encompass more than 100 supporters, sponsors and advocates; 900 stakeholders hosting or attending events; and, an audience of 2.5 million-plus. “Construction Safety…
Read MoreConcrete prices pace construction materials’ five-year, 40 percent hike
Sources: Associated Builders & Contractors, Washington, D.C. An Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Index data indicates a 1.4 percent construction input price increase in January over the prior month, bringing the metric just past the 40 percent threshold since the beginning of the decade. Over the February 2020 to January 2025 window,…
Read MoreContractor bid protests sink federal project labor agreement rule
Sources: Associated Builders and Contractors, Washington, D.C.; CP staff The U.S. Court of Federal Claims ruled in favor of Associated Builders and Contractors members in their challenge of a Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council rule requiring project labor agreements on federal construction jobs of $35 million or more. The contractors filed 12 bid protests against three federal agencies abiding an FAR…
Read MoreABC Tech Report tracks AI sweep up and down the construction chain
Sources: Associated Builders and Contractors, Washington, D.C.; CP staff Associated Builders and Contractors Technology and Innovation Director Patrick Scarpati opens the fourth annual ABC Tech Report noting how artificial intelligence, by applying machine learning, computer vision and data analytics, “is revolutionizing the construction industry by enhancing efficiency, safety and decision-making throughout the project lifecycle. The possibilities may sound endless, but…
Read MoreProducers – August 2024
Richard Szecsy, P.E., PhD, one of the best traveled executives and experts in Texas concrete production and broader technical circles, has been named chief executive officer of Big Town Concrete, a ready mixed producer with Dallas and Fort Worth plants. He arrives with 25-plus years in management, operations, safety, environmental, quality control and engineering roles at Alamo Concrete Products, (pre-SRM…
Read MoreWilbert Precast ushers fifth generation leadership
Sources: Wilbert Precast, Inc., Spokane, Wash.; CP staff Wilbert Precast Chief Executive Officer Dan Houk has stepped aside from day-to-day duties, passing the baton to son T.J. Houk while retaining the chairman of the board post. The underground and utility precast producer has grown from one plant and 17 employees in 1981 to three plants and 140 employees since Dan…
Read MoreABC members uphold 10-digit workforce development investment
Sources: Associated Builders and Contractors, Washington, D.C. The Associated Builders and Contractors 2024 Workforce Development Survey indicates member investments totaling $1.6 billion to provide craft, leadership and health and safety education to more than 1.3 million course attendees nationwide in 2023, up from $1.5 billion the prior year and matching the 2021 outlay. Construction-wise management consultant FMI conducted the survey…
Read MoreLabor observer sees continuing slide in unionized construction workforce
An Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of 2023 union membership data published by UnionStats.com finds at least 90 percent of workers in the private construction industry do not belong to a union in 29 states, up from 26 and 24 states in the prior two years. North Carolina, Mississippi, Maine, South Carolina and Texas lead the current list of states…
Read MoreABC: Unionized construction workforce slide continues
Sources: Associated Builders and Contractors, Washington, D.C. An Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of 2023 union membership data published by UnionStats.com finds at least 90 percent of workers in the private construction industry do not belong to a union in 29 states, up from 26 and 24 states in the prior two years. North Carolina, Mississippi, Maine, South Carolina and…
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