Bob Kipp, executive director of the Common Ground Alliance, and Vic Weston (Tri-State Road Boring in Baton Rouge), former AGC national treasurer, briefed a federal pipeline safety standards committee and made the case for more effective damage prevention measures.  The committee is working to set the federal government’s pipeline regulatory agenda for 2009, and Misters Kip and Weston made a strong case that states with poor underground infrastructure must make the safety of construction and utility workers a top priority.

For more information, contact Perry Fowler at (703) 837-1983 or fowlerp@agc.org.

Members of the AGC Environmental Network Steering Committee, along with senior AGC staff, met with senior representatives of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  Details of the meeting are available here.

For more information, contact Melinda Tomaino at (703) 837-5415 or tomainom@agc.org.

The AGC will lead a new coalition to advocate for measures to get important building projects moving again.  The coalition, which includes the American Institute of Architects and a range of specialty contractor associations, will begin its work by focusing on ensuring the next stimulus includes funding to modernize aging and inefficient public buildings.  The group also will encourage Congress and the next Administration to consider tax incentives to stimulate new private-sector building projects. 

For more information, contact Mike Stark at (703) 837-5365 or starkm@agc.org.

AGC released new economic data on Wednesday during a press conference at the Port Columbus International Airport in Ohio, which shows that personal earnings will increased by $1.1 billion and the national GDP will increased by $3.4 billion for every billion dollars invested in new infrastructure projects.

AGC CEO Stephen Sandherr presented the findings after touring a construction site at the Columbus airport, and indicated that many more people could be put to work on similar projects across the country, including water and wastewater projects, schools, airports, public buildings, waterway and port projects and surface transportation projects.

View the state-by-state and national data here.

For more information, contact Ken Simonson at (703) 837-5313 or simonsonk@agc.org.

AGC CEO Stephen Sandherr discussed the challenges facing the next Transportation secretary on the National Journal Expert Blog.

Two charges against providing economic stimulus through infrastructure spending are that it leads to little employment, and that the money flows too slowly to help during a downturn. Recent estimates from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers show the job potential is large. The circumstances of the current recession suggest the jobs would be added quickly.

FHWA commissioned a team at Boston University to model the impact of federal-aid highway money. A memo prepared by FHWA staff last spring stated that the model showed that $1 billion supports roughly 28,000 jobs. One-third of the jobs would be direct, local construction jobs. Another sixth would be “indirect” – mining, manufacturing and services workers hired as the contractors order crushed stone, manufactured materials, engineering and other services. These jobs would be a mix of local and nationwide jobs, depending on the materials, equipment and services required and the industries represented locally. The other half of the jobs would be “induced” throughout the nation by the spending of the direct and indirect workers and owners in the businesses that received the direct and indirect payments.

The chief economist for the Corps calculated this fall that the mix of projects the Corps spends money on supports roughly 17,000 jobs per $1 billion, based on the assumptions in the FHWA study. Those assumptions include sufficient underused workers and production capacity in each industry so that the jobs are net increases, not merely bidding workers away from other jobs.

The assumption of excess capacity is all too valid today. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on December 5 that construction employment fell by 568,000 jobs (7.6%) from November 2007 to November 2008. Heavy and civil engineering construction, the category that covers many firms doing infrastructure work, shed 86,000 jobs (8.5%) from the high point in June 2007 through November 2008.

Of course, how soon workers are (re)employed depends even more on how quickly governments can award contracts. Here, too, the current situation is unusually favorable. Many state and local agencies have had to shelve projects they were close to awarding a few months ago, as frozen bond markets and falling tax receipts forced deferrals. Agencies are not only compiling lists of “ready to go” projects but taken steps to expedite contract awards as soon as they know how much money the feds will provide, and what strings will be attached.

For more information, contact Ken Simonson at (703) 837-5313 or simonsonk@agc.org.

AGC launched a new national effort to ensure that Congress and the President-elect understand the vital need for investing in all components of infrastructure as part of the pending stimulus package. The centerpiece of this effort is, frankly, you. As you will see from the advertisement below, AGC is encouraging people to sign up to indicate their support for badly needed new investments in water and wastewater infrastructure, transportation and schools and public buildings. AGC will share this list with members of Congress when they return to work on January 6th, and also will provide it to the President-elect’s transition team.

We need your help in ensuring that the full breadth and depth of our support is reflected in this list. So I am asking each of you, please, to reach out to your employees, your suppliers, your subcontractors your local government and business community leaders. Encourage them to log on to www.agc.org/letsbuild and sign up.  So far, we have collected more than 1,000 names, and with your help spreading the word, we can make sure Congress and the new Administration understand the value and wisdom of new infrastructure investments.

With more than 770,000 construction workers out of work over the last two years, our sector has been one of the hardest hit by the country’s financial challenges. With your help we can make sure our members are put back to work now, building America’s future. After all, the infrastructure projects our members build will not only put people back to work, they will serve as a crucial foundation for future economic growth.

To join the campaign, visit www.agc.org/letsbuild.  For more information, contact Brian Turmail at (703) 837-5310 or turmailb@agc.org.

The last few months have been tough, and I want you to know that AGC of America, our Chapters and our dedicated staff across the country are working to ensure that the voices of our contractors are heard.  We are following every avenue and taking every opportunity to push for the kind of new investments, needed measures and sound government policies that will turn our economy around, increase construction employment and lay a foundation for strong economic growth.  Our goal is to make your pain go away as soon as possible.

Our first priority is working with the next Congress and the President-elect to get needed new infrastructure investments passed quickly.  AGC’s CEO Stephen Sandherr and the rest of our team in Washington have been busy meeting with members of the Presidential transition teams.  They’ve outlined our recommendations for what should be in the stimulus package and are making sure funds don’t get tied up in wasteful earmarks or unnecessary mandated labor agreements.

Thanks to testimony from AGC members John McCaskie (Swank Associated Companies, New Kensington, Pa.) and Brian Burgett (Kokosing Construction Company, Fredericktown, Ohio), our elected leaders have first-hand information on how the lack of investment in infrastructure is hurting companies nationwide and leading to a dangerous domino effect throughout the industry. 

This will be a busy year as we work with a new team in the White House on a number of important pieces of legislation and planned policy changes.  Our AGC team is going to be doing everything it can to make sure that what happens in Washington actually helps, instead of hinders, your businesses. 
-Doug Barnhart

AGC issued a statement Thursday urging rapid federal stimulus investments in infrastructure in light of California's decision to cut billions in loans for vital infrastructure projects.

AGC CEO Stephen Sandherr was quoted this week in the Columbus Dispatch, following a press conference AGC held at the Port Columbus International Airport to release new state-by-state and national economic data.

"Sandherr said that $1 billion in nonresidential construction spending in Ohio would add $2.5 billion to the state's gross domestic product, about $777 million to personal earnings and create or sustain 23,000 jobs."