Few industries rely on effective leadership for success more than the construction industry. With the overwhelming number of activities on any given jobsite, it takes astute leadership to pull them all together. Without it, project safety, profitability and company reputation are at risk. Attending AGC's Leadership in Construction Workshop will help you enhance your individual skills and teach you how to become the most effective leader possible.

Attend our final fall workshops in Cincinnati, Ohio on November 11-13, 2009. Application deadline is October 23, 2009

Learn more at www.agc.org/leadershipworkshop.

Attend AGC's HR Professionals Conference and Training & Development Conference October 27-29 in Atlanta, and learn what you need to know to be successful as an HR or T&D professional in the construction industry.  With expert speakers providing compliance-related guidance for HR professionals and interactive sessions that are guaranteed to help T&D professionals sharpen skills and solve common challenges, participants will learn best practices for maximizing efficiency and effectiveness.

Register and learn more at www.agc.org/hr_td.

AGC's Perry Fowler, director of municipal and utilities division, raised concerns with the 'Buy America' provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act during an interview for an article in Engineering News-Record.

In the article, Fowler noted: "[Buy America] may not be the main reason why you're not seeing EPA money flowing out right now, but it's certainly a contributor."

Read the article here.

Co-developed by AGC of America and Zurich, this program focuses on why soft tissue injuries occur and highlights effective methods to reduce the number of soft-tissue injuries, such as back injuries, sprains and strains and pinched nerves - and most importantly, how you can reduce them. Package includes: One-instructor guide w/PowerPoint, ten-student booklets and DVD (English and Spanish).  Item No. 203.

To order go to www.agc.org/bookstore or call 1-800-242-1767.

ConsensusDOCS is pleased to provide a free podcast regarding the NEW ConsensusDOCS 725 - Standard Agreement Between Subcontractor and Subsubcontractor. The first and only standard agreement designed specifically for subsubcontracting needs.  The ConsensusDOCS 725 includes provisions that are well suited to the somewhat simpler relationships that subcontractors typically share with subsubcontractors:

§  Six-page agreement that excludes unnecessary provisions

§  Similar terms to upstream agreements on important items such as timing of payment

§  Flexible provisions for the incorporation of exhibits and other documents

Please visit http://www.ConsensusDOCS.org/podcasts/news_podcasts.html to download this free podcast.

ConsensusDOCS are the only standard contract documents endorsed by 23 leading construction industry associations.  For more information on ConsensusDOCS, please visit http://www.AGC.org/cs/contracts or contact Carrie Ciliberto at cilibertoc@agc.org or (703) 837-5367.

The Construction Financial Management Association (CFMA) is the latest endorser of ConsensusDOCS standard construction contract documents, bringing the total number to 23 leading construction industry organizations.

CFMA is the only nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the construction financial professional.  Established in 1981, CFMA's General Members include contractors, developers, construction managers, architects, engineers, principals, and material and equipment suppliers.

For more information on ConsensusDOCS, please visit the AGC Web site - Contract Documents Page or contact Carrie Ciliberto at cilibertoc@agc.org or (703) 837-5367.

The amount of construction work funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA, popularly called the stimulus legislation) varies greatly by state and program. Two weeks ago, I spoke on successive days to state transportation officials in Colorado, New Mexico and Maine. They said they had awarded contracts covering 69%, 80% and 100% of their respective DOT allocations. But, of course, those percentages don't necessarily correspond to amounts paid out or even work started. Other states are far behind those three in even holding bid-letting days to pick contractors.

Meanwhile, the only contractors in those states who reported having received - or even heard about - stimulus projects were highway contractors. It appears that little of the more than $100 billion of non-highway stimulus construction money has turned into projects under way.

One reason for the delay has been the requirement to use only U.S.-made iron, steel and manufactured materials. For certain water and wastewater treatment pipe, fittings and equipment, even the U.S.-based manufacturers incorporate foreign-made components in their products. The Environmental Protection Agency has issued a half-dozen waivers to allow non-U.S. equipment but there are reportedly three times as many requests awaiting waivers.

In addition, there has been uncertainty over reporting and other administrative requirements. AGC staff have submitted detailed comments on areas needing clarification and met with agencies to get them to expedite grants, loan guarantees and contracts so the stimulus act will work as intended to save or create much-needed jobs.

ARRA includes a variety of bond and tax credit provisions intended to spur more construction. States and localities have begun to issue taxable Build America bonds to fund projects that would have waited longer for traditional tax-exempt financing. But governments differ a lot in how much use they have made of these or other new and expanded financing mechanisms.

Contact simonsonk@agc.org if you win a stimulus contract, are involved with any ARRA financing vehicle, or hear about contracts being delayed for any reason. AGC will use the information to make sure all levels of government improve their performance in making stimulus put construction workers and others back on the job.

Send us your stimulus success story so we can share it with the media

AGC is partnering with the American Association of State Highway & Transportation Officials (AASHTO) to help organize media events across the country in advance of Labor Day.  AASHTO will be recruiting state transportation officials and helping them organize media events, picnics and/or speeches designed to highlight how the stimulus' transportation funds are helping AGC member companies save or add jobs.  For its part, AGC is working with all of its highway Chapters to identify member companies that are doing stimulus-funded transportation work.  We'll connect those companies with the state officials so they can hold their events at one of their construction sites and/or highlight their stimulus success stories with the media.

As a result, please tell us about your stimulus success stories.  If you are currently doing stimulus-funded work and have been able to save or add jobs, please let us know.  We are especially looking for interesting anecdotes about these saved or added jobs.  For example, we've heard about how stimulus-funded work has helped people keep their homes out of foreclosure, and how getting a stimulus-funded job even gave a woman in Colorado the financial stability she needed to get engaged.  Please let us know if you know of a similar story.

Send your stories, or questions, to Brian Turmail at turmailb@agc.org or (703) 837-5310.

Following House and Senate passage of legislation transferring $7 billion of general fund revenue to the Highway Trust Fund, President Obama signed the bill into law (Public Law: 111-046) on August 7, 2009.  The $7 billion dollar transfer allows state transportation departments to receive full reimbursements for federal-aid highway projects through the end of fiscal year 2009 (September 30).

When Congress returns in September, they must take action to reauthorize federal highway and transit programs past the September 30 expiration date of SAFETEA-LU.  Congressman Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.), the Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, is committed to bringing a six-year surface transportation reauthorization bill to the House floor for a vote prior to the expiration of SAFETEA-LU, while the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee leaders - with the exception of Senator George Voinovich (R-Ohio) - support an 18-month extension of the current authorization.

For more information, contact Brian Deery at (703) 837-5319 or deeryb@agc.org.

When Congress reconvenes after Labor Day, the U.S. Senate will resume its work on a comprehensive energy and climate bill.  In part, those deliberations will focus on a companion bill, the America Clean Energy and Security Act, or H.R. 2454, which the U.S. House of Representatives passed on June 26, 2009, by a vote of 219 to 212. This article begins a series of articles that AGC will publish in AGC's Environmental Observer to keep members informed of the ongoing climate change debate in Congress.  These articles will summarize H.R. 2454 in plain English and include AGC's preliminary reactions.

Majority leaders in the Senate are aiming to vote on their version of the climate change bill as early as October.  After the differences between the two bills are reconciled, the resulting language will need to secure passing votes in both houses of Congress before a final bill can go to President Obama.

As Congress debates climate change, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is also laying the foundation to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act though both industry groups and several government agencies (including EPA) have expressed concern that regulation under the existing statute is not the best course of action.

Read more here.

For more information, contact Karen Lapsevic at (202) 547-4733 or lapsevick@agc.org.