January 20-22 - Caribe Hilton, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Join the key players in the building construction industry as they gather to network, exchange ideas and hear presentations offering timely guidance and best practices.

The AGC Building Contractors Conference consistently offers a worthwhile and constructive experience to attendees. Such forward-thinking, practical guidance and networking opportunities are crucial and necessary, now more than ever.

Find a complete schedule, travel discounts, conference information and registration here.

The report, released last month, provided a comprehensive look at the training and development investments, practices and trends for 2008. Key findings show that employee learning and development withstood the challenges of the difficult economy in 2008, with U.S. organizations spending $134.07 billion in 2008, or an average of $1,068 per employee.

Despite the worst economic conditions in several decades, business leaders continued to allocate substantial resources to the learning functions in their organizations. While spending was reduced slightly in 2008 – the average expenditure per employee was down 3.8 percent from the 2007 level of $1,110 – learning professionals took on more responsibility, increasing the number of employees to whom they were responsible and looking for ways to operate efficiently. Employees accessed an average of 36.3 hours of formal learning content, down 2.9 percent from 2007’s 37.4 hours, but still representing a meaningful amount of resources allocated to each employee for workplace learning and performance.

Data in the 2009 State of the Industry Report came from 301 organizations, including members of the ASTD Benchmarking Forum and ASTD BEST Award winners. For more than a decade, ASTD’s State of the Industry Report has provided insightful, actionable findings on the strategic and operational activities of learning functions across the globe.

More key findings from ASTD’s 2009 State of the Industry Report include:
• $88.59 billion was spent on the internal learning function in U.S. organizations.
• $45.48 billion was allocated to external services in U.S. organizations.
• Learning expenditures as a percentage of payroll increased in 2008 to 2.24 percent, up from 2.15 percent in 2007.
• Percent of the learning budget allocated to external services was 22.0 percent, down from 25.2 percent in 2007, and continuing a downward trend that began in 2004.
• The average number of employees per learning staff member was 253 in 2008, up from 227 the previous year.
• The average cost per learning hour used decreased 7.1 percent, from $56 in 2007 to $52 in 2008, which means learning professionals were operating efficiently and managing learning content without incurring additional overhead.

The 2009 State of the Industry Report shows that despite tough economic times, learning professionals adapted and continued to deliver, even increasing the number of formal learning opportunities despite having fewer resources. It also reveals a commitment on the part of business leaders who understand that an ongoing financial and operational commitment is required to leverage human capital to its fullest.

To read the full report, go to www.astd.org. To schedule an interview to discuss the findings, please contact Kristen Fyfe at 703.683.8192 or kfyfe@astd.org.

Seven construction professionals, companies and Chapters were recognized with the first-ever AGC Education Excellence Awards for developing successful training programs. The Education Excellence Awards are the only national program recognizing construction industry training for all levels of the profession, from executives to craft workers.

“Having all the construction expertise in the world doesn’t matter unless you have an effective way to share it with colleagues and co-workers,” said AGC Senior Vice President Ted Aadland, who announced the winners during the 2009 HR Professionals and Training & Development Conference, held Oct. 27-29 in Atlanta. “There are no better examples of how to educate and improve construction professionals than these programs.”

The winners, who all attended the conference to receive their award during a luncheon ceremony and present at an afternoon breakout session, are:

• Grand Award: Turner Construction, based in New York City, won for its company-wide training program. Last year alone, the company delivered nearly 250,000 hours of training to thousands of employees, subcontractors, relevant associations, minority- and women-owned businesses, as well as colleges and universities with construction programs.

• Instructor of the Year: Paul Stout for his work for the AGC of San Diego Chapter. Mr. Stout provides a range of professional development classes, including project management, ethics and LEED instruction to the Chapter's members.

• Project & Executive Management Award – Member: Sundt Construction, based in Tempe, Arizona, received the award for its Leadership Excellence Accelerates Performance program, which develops and trains the company’s middle managers.

• Project & Executive Management Award – Chapter: The AGC of Wisconsin won for its Leadership AGC program, which helps individuals from member firms develop an effective leadership role in their company, community and the industry.

• Supervisory Award – Member: Mascaro Construction of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, received the award for its Feedback for Performance Workshops, which trains employees to successfully work together.

• Craft Award– Chapter: Kansas Contractors Association won for its Construction Industry Training Program, which focuses on improving employee skills through targeted training.

• Craft Award – Member: Pizzagalli Construction of South Burlington, Vermont. The company developed a craftworker training program that offers courses in blueprint reading and machinery and tool operations, among others.

The winners were chosen by an anonymous 12-person judging panel made up of industry professionals. The judges evaluated nearly 40 different training programs that were nominated for the awards.

AGC is currently accepting applications for the 2010 Education Excellence Awards; a brochure about the awards and downloadable PDF application forms are available online. (Please note: the applications for 2010 have been revised and there are separate applications for each of the five categories – Grand, Instructor of the Year, Project & Executive Management, Supervisory, and Craft.)

Instructor of the Year Paul Stout

Kansas Contractors Association

Mascaro Construction

Pizzagalli Construction

Sundt Construction

Turner Construction

AGC of Wisconsin

AGC of America is excited to partner with the San Antonio AGC in order to teach a new generation of project managers the essential skills to ensure project success. The Project Manager Development Program is a set of highly interactive modules that include discussions, class activities and presentations, and provide participants the skills essential to their careers as project managers. Each module is 16 hours long and will be delivered over two days.

Module 4: Risk Management | January 21-22, 2010
Module 5: Leadership | April 8-9, 2010

Register and learn more here!

In a move aimed to improve federal government contracting for engineering services and construction contracts, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Utility Service (RUS) has recently has pre-approved two ConsensusDOCS contract documents in a recently issued guidance bulletin.  RUS provides loans, guaranteed loans and grants for water, sewer, storm water and solid waste disposal facilities in cities and towns up to 10,000 people and rural areas.  RUS is part of the USDA Rural Development, which invested over $20.7 billion in rural America through its programs in 2008.

The bulletin specifically allows the use of ConsensusDOCS 200.2 Electronic Communications Protocol to establish a protocol to transmit information through electronic media.  Using technology to communicate is considered by most as a best practice to improve both time and total cost on construction projects. Otherwise, the traditional design and construction process generally mandates use of hard copies – a slow process.  Another improvement is in allowing use of the ConsensusDOCS 220 Contractor’s Qualification Statement for Engineered Construction.  Using standard qualifications statements assists construction owners in evaluations of bidder qualifications.

The RUS bulletin marks the first time the federal government has issued a guidance document allowing use of certain ConsensusDOCS contract documents.  Please visit www.agc.org/contracts or contact Meghan McLellan (mclellanm@agc.org or 703-837-5417) for more information.

AGC recently held its 2009 HR Professionals and Training & Development Conference in Atlanta. More than 175 people attended to learn, share best practices, network and take home some real, practical solutions to HR and training problems.

The two-day event included more than two dozen speakers in sessions. Some sessions were designed to appeal more to construction HR professionals, such as “How HR Moves from the Break Room to the Board Room,” “Using Social Media Campaigns & Web 2.0 for Recruiting & Employee Engagement,” “Construction Compensation Strategies in a Challenging Economy” and “Immigration Compliance for the Construction Industry,” while other sessions were designed for the training and development professional. Those sessions included: “Educating through Entertainment with Game-based Learning;” “Facilitating Building Information Modeling,” “Managing your Training through an LMS;” “Integrating Experiential Learning into Traditional Instructor-led Training;” and two sessions on “Delivering Training Value Using the Kirkpatrick Four Levels.”

All attendees were able to enjoy, participate in, and learn from Barbara Sanfilippo’s keynote: “How to Engage Staff, Motivate Managers and Enjoy Life in Turbulent Times.” Barbara, an enthusiastic and energetic speaker, is head of the San Diego firm High Definition People. Her 90-minute presentation and breakout session, “A Roadmap to Inspire Passion and Performance,” helped attendees discover proven principles to engage employees, determine ways to increase personal responsibility, and find a success-oriented mindset regardless of circumstances.

Barbara Sanfilippo engages attendees during her keynote session.

AGC would like to thank our Platinum Sponsor, the National Center for Construction Education & Research as well as our Silver Sponsors: PAS, Inc.; FMI; RedVector.com; Inc., Learn.com; PEOple OneSource; and HireTouch. Our sponsors are key to the success of these conferences and we truly appreciate their support.

As part of the third T&D Conference and 8th HR Professionals Conference, AGC announced the winners of the first Education Excellence Awards. Please see the accompanying separate article on our seven award winners.

AGC is currently working to select the location and dates for the 2010 HR Professionals and Training & Development Conferences, so stay tuned for details.

We look forward to seeing you next year!

A conference attendee has the chance to experience a crane simulator.

The National Center for Construction Education & Research (NCCER) has released Foreman and Supervisor assessments, created to evaluate the knowledge and skills of experienced construction foremen and supervisors. Both assessments provide a prescription to upgrade training.

Assessments were developed with the assistance of subject matter experts representing leading contractors across the country and were piloted to hundreds of candidates before release.

Students successfully completing the Foreman or Supervisor assessment through an NCCER Accredited Assessment Center will earn industry-recognized credentials through NCCER’s National Registry.

Both the Foreman and Supervisor assessment specifications correlate to a general topic training prescription. Topic areas also correlate to the Associated General Contractors of America’s Supervisory Training Program. Performance verifications will be developed to accompany each assessment.

For more information, contact NCCER customer service at 888.622.3720.

In the competitive construction industry, the need to work more efficiently has never been greater. The AGC Construction Project Manager Course (PMC) provides project managers the chance to hone the skills necessary to work more resourcefully, increase productivity and propel their construction expertise.

PMC participants experience an interactive program that explores the critical areas of project management that seasoned project managers tackle on a daily basis. The course's curriculum builds on itself throughout the week, starting with the impact planning has on the overall project and moving on to cover scheduling, productivity and subcontractor/vendor management, as well as legal issues and contract clauses, recordkeeping and much more.

Case studies, group activities, roundtable discussions, personal assessment tools and night assignments are used to encourage peer-to-peer learning. Participants will gain significant insights and new tactics from each other. Participants can earn up to 40 hours of continuing education credit.

PMC will take place at the University Place Conference Center & Hotel in Indianapolis, Ind. from February 21-26, 2010. Deadline for registering is February 1, 2010. 

Click here to learn more, register or see other 2010 Project Manager Course dates.  For questions or inquiries, contact Carrie Harper at harperc@agc.org.

The conference will be held from January 13-15, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nev. Join more than 150 industry professionals and participate in the development of regulatory and legislative activity on both a national and local level, assist in the development and creation of new safety training programs and products, and hear the latest initiatives from OSHA and other industry experts.

Don’t miss this opportunity. Click here for more information and to register. The hotel deadline is December 18th.

AGC is now offering DOT 60/60 Supervisor Drug and Alcohol Awareness Training, a new online course featuring Bill Judge, nationally known DOT drug law expert. This new course  is designed to help you meet the DOT training requirements for supervisors of covered safety-sensitive employees as described in 49 CFR Part 40.

The training materials address reasonable suspicion as a performance issue, and as something in reality they are already doing. What supervisors need to know is what to look for and what to do if someone seems unfit for duty. Using the Four Steps of Constructive Confrontation and Documentation developed by the U.S. Navy and in practice nationally over the last fourteen years, supervisors can now take action knowing they are protecting everyone.

Supervisors will know not only how and when to do reasonable suspicion/cause testing, but why they need to do it.

COST: $59
Includes online course material and DOT Supervisor Handbook

This course is available for purchase through the AGC bookstore.