It takes skill and knowledge to properly rig a crane. This DVD describes the basics of crane rigging safety and gives workers the knowledge they need to perform safely and optimally. (Contains both English and Spanish.) 14 minutes. Item No. 453D.

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

Join your AGC colleagues at the PGA National Resort and Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., for the AGC Highway & Utilities Contractors Issues Meeting. This meeting is the premier national event for contractors and related businesses involved in every aspect of highway and utility construction to hear about and discuss issues and trends in these markets.

The hotel is only $179.00/night, which includes the resort fee. The cutoff date for hotel reservation is Friday, October 16, so don't miss out on your chance to attend.

New to this year's conference are separate Utility and Highway tracks that will converge with issues that affect both types of contractors. Agenda highlights include:

Joint Topics

• Washington Outlook: SAFETEA-LU Reauthorization, Clean Water Trust Fund and other pending legislation
• How Recent Court Decisions Will Impact Your Business
• Green Infrastructure: What Does Green Mean for the Future of Highway & Utility Construction?
• Virtual Design for Horizontal Construction - Software Capabilities, Equipment Interface, and Case Studies
• Ritchie Brothers Golf Tournament

Municipal and Utilities Track:

• Water Supply Impacting State Priorities for Construction & Design of Utilities
• Financing Water Infrastructure, Panel Discussion with State Finance Experts and Water Authorities
• Increasing Use of Alternative Project Delivery Methods: Panel Discussion with Expert Construction and Engineering Practitioners

Highway and Transportation Track:

• Alternative Bidding Asphalt vs. Concrete: Missouri's Formula
• Florida's Experience with Alternative Project Delivery
• Market Potential of High Speed Rail
• AGC's New Highway Worker Safety Program

Click here for registration, travel and hotel information.

For additional information please contact Brian Deery at deeryb@agcc.org or (703) 837-5319 or Perry Fowler at fowlerp@agc.org or (703) 837-5321.

Training, development and human resource professionals should attend the AGC HR Professionals Conference and Training & Development Conference October 27-29, in Atlanta, to earn valuable continuing education credits toward their respective designations.

As an authorized provider of continuing education credits, AGC is providing this opportunity to earn these credits, which can be important to maintaining a professional designation and accelerating career growth. Of particular interest to HR professionals, the joint conferences have been pre-approved for 8.25 recertification credits towards PHR, SPHR or GPHR recertification from the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI).  For a full list of companies, regulatory boards and organizations that have reported to accept the IACET CEU, please visit the IACET website.

With expert speakers providing compliance-related guidance for HR professionals and interactive sessions that are guaranteed to help T&D professionals excel and solve common challenges, this conference allows participants to maximize certification credits in a single location over the span of just a few days.

Register and learn more at www.agc.org/hr_td, or contact Tamika Carter at (703) 837-5382 or cartert@agc.org.

Jointly sponsored by AGC and CFMA, the 13th Annual AGC/CFMA Conference was developed in response to a need for programs and workshops designed specifically for financial professionals in the construction industry.

The two day conference is filled with more than 30 interactive sessions, covering the latest industry issues and their financial implications. Get the latest information on economic downturns, construction tax updates, ownership transfer techniques, investing in today's markets, risk management and more.

Learn more here, or contact Karen Lapsevic at lapsevick@agc.org.

AGC would like to invite all young- and mid-career professionals working in the construction industry to join the annual AGC Construction Leadership Council Working Weekend, to be held Nov. 19-21, 2009, in Nashville, Tenn. This event is co-sponsored by the AGC of America Construction Leadership Council, AGC of Tennessee, AGC of East Tennessee and AGC CompTrust Tennessee.

This two-day event will include professional development sessions, networking opportunities, a construction site tour and two social receptions. Chapter staff involved with the CLC are welcome to attend.

Highlights include:

• Construction Leadership & Management Seminars by Bill Krausen of Messer Construction Co.
• Construction Economics Seminar by Ken Simonson, AGC of America Chief Economist.
• Managing the Risks Associated with Green Construction Seminar by a member of the team that wrote the recently released green building addendum to the ConsensusDocs contracts.
• Welcome night reception hosted at the Doubletree Hotel Nashville by the AGC of America CLC.
• Friday night reception at the Wild Horse Saloon, hosted by AGC of Tennessee, AGC of East Tennessee and AGC CompTrust Tennessee.

Most events will take place at the Doubletree Hotel Nashville, downtown Nashville. Guestroom rate: $119 plus taxes. Cut-off date for hotel reservations is Thursday, Oct. 29. There is a $50/person registration fee for AGC members and their guests; $150 for non-members and guests.  Please plan to join your peers for an exciting, educational experience. Registration and a brochure are available online.

For more information, please contact Liz Elvin at elvinl@agc.org or 703-837-5389.

Free Webinar - September 30^th from 1-2pm ET

Developed by AGC and Zurich Services Corp, the Highway Worker Safety Program focuses on the leading causes of fatality and injury for employees managing and performing work on highways in America. In this webinar, learn how to effectively navigate and use this program to train supervisors and empower company employees to work safely. Understand the key exposures that cause 90% of highway worker deaths and the best controls to eliminate and minimize these exposures.

Learn more at www.agc.org/HWSP.  For more information, contact Kevin Cannon at (703) 837-5410 or cannonk@agc.org.

As a follow up to President Obama's address to a joint session of Congress last week, members on the Senate Finance Committee are poised to release details of their health care reform legislation. The group dubbed the "gang of six" are working on finding a comprise that may gain Republican support in the Senate. If the group fails, Democratic leaders may still attempt to pass reform legislation and have threatened to use procedural maneuvers to work around a filibuster.

The Finance Committee did release a draft framework for reform last week, which replaces a public option with CO-Ops; contains an individual mandate beginning in 2013; includes small business tax credits; and would create state-based health insurance exchanges. Specifically, the draft framework covers:

• Employer Responsibility - Employers would not be required to offer health insurance coverage. However, employers with more than 50 full-time employees (30 hours and above) that do not offer health coverage must pay a fee for each employee who receives the tax credit for health insurance through an exchange. The assessment is based on the amount of the tax credit received by the employee(s), but would be capped at an amount equal to $400 multiplied by the total number of employees at the firm (regardless of how many receive a credit in the exchange).
• Small Business Tax Credits - Similar to the House bill, credits are limited to firms with fewer than 25 employees and average wages below $40,000, and the maximum credit available would be 50%.
• Individual Responsibility - Beginning in 2013 all citizens would be required to purchase health insurance or receive coverage from an employer with the penalty for failing to obtain coverage being as high as $950 for individuals and a maximum penalty per family of $3,800.
• Revenue Provisions - Tax high cost plans with a 35% excise tax for plans above $8,000 per individual, $21,000 for family. Additional revenue provisions include taxes on the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry and health insurance industry.

Consideration of the legislation is expected to continue in committee next week followed by a vote in the Senate by mid-October.  AGC opposes the current House proposal, H.R. 3200, but is awaiting additional details on the Senate version. To contact your Representative in opposition to H.R. 3200, click here. President Obama hopes to have both the House and Senate pass bills and conference them so that he can sign a bill by Thanksgiving.

For more information, contact Jim Young at (202) 547-0133 or youngj@agc.org.

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.) plans to limit the length of an extension of highway and transit program spending authorization in order to press for a multi-year transportation authorization bill. It is unclear at this time how long an extension Chairman Oberstar will support. SAFETEA-LU expires on September 30, and Congress must take action to allow the programs to continue uninterrupted.

Prior to its summer recess, Congress passed legislation to transfer $7 billion into the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) to ensure that there would be no slow down in reimbursements to states for ongoing construction projects. Congressional Budget Office projections indicate that HTF revenue, coupled with the general fund transfer, is sufficient to keep the trust fund solvent for several more months.

The Senate is expected to soon bring up legislation reported from Committee prior to the summer recess to extend highway and transit authorization for 18 months until March 2011. The Senate intends to include in the authorization extension an addition to a general fund transfer to ensure the HTF remains solvent through March 2011. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) indicated that she intends to continue drafting a multi-year bill during this extension. An amendment to limit the extension in the Senate to less than 18 months is expected.

The Obama Administration has called for an 18-month extension for the program, coupled with an additional infusion of general fund revenue to keep the programs at a steady funding level. The president does not appear to be ready to address a long-term program authorization at this time.

AGC continues to advocate the need for six-year reauthorization legislation with significantly increased revenues to address the nation's growing transportation infrastructure deficit while working to ensure there is no disruption in program funding in the interim.

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

"Reports from the 12 Federal Reserve Districts indicate that economic activity continued to stabilize in July and August," the Fed reported on September 9 in the latest Beige Book, a summary of informal soundings of business conditions. The districts are referred to by the name of their headquarters city. "Relative to the last report, Dallas indicated that economic activity had firmed, while Boston, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Richmond, and San Francisco mentioned signs of improvement. Atlanta, Chicago, Kansas City, Minneapolis, and New York generally described economic activity as stable or showing signs of stabilization; St. Louis remarked that the pace of decline appeared to be moderating. Most Districts noted that the outlook for economic activity among their business contacts remained cautiously positive."

The Beige Book was also a bit more upbeat about homebuilding but not about conditions in nonresidential construction and real estate. Residential "construction remained at low levels overall, although Chicago and Dallas reported a small increase in activity. Reports on commercial real estate markets indicated that demand for space remained weak and that construction continued to decline in all Districts. Atlanta, Philadelphia, Richmond, and San Francisco reported that vacancy rates increased, while rates held steady in the Boston and Kansas City Districts and were mixed in New York. Boston, Dallas, Kansas City, Philadelphia, and Richmond commented that the demand for space remained weak. Commercial rents declined according to Boston, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, and Richmond. Rent concessions were reported in the Richmond and San Francisco markets, and Richmond noted that some landlords had postponed property improvements in an effort to conserve cash. Construction remained at very low levels, with modest improvements noted in public construction in the Chicago, Cleveland, and Minneapolis Districts."

The reports are consistent with what nonresidential contractors have been telling AGC: outside of stimulus money for highway construction and a few other niches, conditions have not brightened at all.

To report what you are encountering, email simonsonk@agc.org.

AGC's CEO Steve Sandherr told Bloomberg News that "across the country, only transportation projects have lived up to the stimulus package's promise." AGC has called on government agencies to move more quickly in getting stimulus projects out in order to put construction workers back on the job.

The article also quotes AGC member Mike Welch of BRB Contractors Inc., who has experienced delays with a stimulus-funded water project in the Kansas City area.

Read the article here.