News
Halt the Assault Campaign
On behalf of ABC National and the Free Enterprise Alliance board, we are pleased to announce the launch of HaltTheAssault.com. The Halt the Assault campaign is funded by ABC's Free Enterprise Alliance and will focus on the issues affecting not just ABC member companies, but small businesses across the country. The target audience is employees of ABC member companies and the public. Recent Rasmussen and Free Enterprise Alliance polls show that small business owners are the most respected profession in America. Small business owners receive a 90% favorability rating, while in contrast, members of Congress, union bosses and CEO's of large corporations are all below 40%. Since roughly 85% of ABC member companies are considered small businesses, it only makes sense for us to seize upon this opportunity and make our voice heard on these very important issues.
The campaign will focus on three important themes: jobs, the economy and how intrusive government regulations stymie growth in those areas. The health care debate, and our opposition to the current law, will be a major topic throughout the campaign. Just a few of the tools HaltTheAssault.com will include are daily blog posts, links to relevant news stories, issue pages and an opportunity for individual companies to submit their pictures and stories about how these hurdles have affected their company. For those that choose to sign up, they will also receive a weekly newsletter that highlights the most important news from that week. In addition, a political component will be added later this spring in preparation for the November elections.
Tomorrow we will be sending out an email to the entire membership encouraging them to visit the site, take action and most importantly share it with their employees. This is the "soft" launch and a large external PR campaign will begin next week as we reach out various new outlets and an extensive new media ad campaign. However, this effort is too great and cannot be successful without your support. In an attempt to keep this email brief, here are just a few of the ways you can be helpful in promoting this launch of this new campaign:
- Promote this campaign to your members via email or in an upcoming newsletter
- Get them to share the site with their own employees and peers in the business community
- Become a fan of Halt the Assault on your chapter Facebook page
- Invite your friends to become fans of Halt the Assault on Facebook
- Add the Halt the Assault widget to your chapter's homepage and encourage member companies to do the same
- Have you or a local member write an op-ed or letter to the editor in support of free enterprise and reference HaltTheAssault.com
- Submit pictures and stories of how you are promoting the Halt the Assault campaign to your employees and the public
The task is daunting, but with your help, we will be successful. If small business owners and their employees do not defend Free Enterprise, who will?
Thank you again for all that you do on behalf of the merit shop and open competition. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions, thoughts or ideas.
Keep Your Head Up
As I am writing this article (in early May), our world seems to be in turmoil. In Greece, there are violent riots happening all around government and parliament buildings. The anger is due to the fact that Greece is facing very difficult financial times and is making significant cuts to government in order to survive. A Pakistani-American has just attempted to disintegrate all of Times Square in New York in protest of U.S. foreign policy by detonating a crude car bomb. Massive flooding in Nashville could cost people and insurance companies up to $1.5 billion in damages. On a much lighter note, Tiger Woods missed the cut at the Quail Hollow championship by an astounding 8 shots. And we certainly can't forget the "little" oil spill in the Gulf that has the potential to be one of the largest environmental events in the last decade.
You may wonder what these events have to do with our beloved construction business. All of these events have allowed me to put the current struggles of our local construction industry into the proper perspective. Even though business has not been strong for most of our member contractors, there are certainly much worse things happening in our country and around the world. It has been a difficult time for many of our contractors, but this cycle will soon pass and better times will most certainly be coming in the future.
A significant portion of Louisiana's economy is based on our resources in the Gulf of Mexico. The oil and gas industry is a huge part of the economy, but the fishing industry in our state is also a big part of our economy and our way of life. Louisiana often markets our natural resources and uses the term "Sportsman's Paradise" to describe our great state. We can only hope and pray that the BP oil spill will not have a long term impact on our state's resources or the future of our oil and gas industry.
It is times like these that really help me appreciate how truly blessed most of us are. These are the times that remind me to tell my family how much I love them. This is the time to bring families together to fight through the difficulty. These are also the times to dig in as an association and work together to further the industry. We are friends and often competitors, but we must work together in order to make all of us stronger. I believe it is the key to making us stronger than ever.
Right-to-work Laws and Project Labor Agreements
Simply put a "Right-to-Work Law" is a state statue that prohibits agreements between trade unions and employers making membership or payment of union dues or "fees" a condition of employment, either before or after hiring. These statues are permissible under the Taft-Hartley Act at the federal level. Louisiana has a Right-to-Work statue as do 21 other states, mostly in the southern or western U.S. including all of the states that surround Louisiana.
Before Mr. Taft and Mr. Hartley put together their legislation in 1947 and passed it through the U.S. House and Senate, over President Harry S. Truman's veto, and under the terms of the National Labor Relations Act unions and employers could lawfully agree to a "closed shop" arrangement. In a closed shop environment an employee who ceased being a member of a union could be fired from his/her job even if the employee did not violate any of the employer's rules. The employee may have lost his/her job because they are a former union member who may have been ousted from the union for not paying dues or perhaps as a result of union internal disciplinary punishment.
While outlawing the "closed shop" concept the Taft-Hartley Act does not mean the end to unions. It did however, set forth parameters whereby employers and unions agree to operate under a "union shop" rule. Union shop environments require all employees join the union after a minimum amount of time after hire. Under this rule employers are obliged to fire any employees who have avoided paying membership dues necessary to maintain membership in the union. But the union cannot demand that the employer fire an employee who has been expelled from membership for a reason other than this.
"Agency shop" is a similar to the union shop. Employees do not need to formally join a union but must pay the equivalent of union dues. Generally speaking professional sports leagues, regardless of where a team is located, operate under "agency shop" rules, since often times their collective bargaining agreements are negotiated in states without right-to-work laws.
The Taft-Hartley Act, Section 14(b), authorizes individual states to outlaw the union shop and agency shop for employees working in their state. The "open shop rule", provides that an employee cannot be compelled to join or pay the equivalent of dues to a union. Furthermore the employee cannot be fired if he or she joins the union. Simply put, the employee has the right-to-work, regardless of whether or not he/she is a member or dues payer in a union. Note that city and/or parish governments cannot avail themselves to this. And if a union does not exist in a workplace the lack of right-to-work laws does not mean an employee has to join a union.
Those of us who support right-to-work laws believe that our constitution guarantees rights relative to freedom of association. We would argue that employees should be free both to join unions and to refrain from joining unions. There are those who refer to non-right-to-work states as "forced-union" states. These opponents contend that it is wrong for unions to be able to concur with employers and include clauses, known as "union security clauses" which require all employees to either join the union, or pay union dues as a condition of employment in their union contracts. Furthermore, they contend that in certain cases forced union dues are used to support political causes, causes which many union members may oppose.
On the opposite side of the spectrum opponents of right-to-work laws would argue that right-to-work creates a "free-rider" problem. This term is used to refer to non-union employees whom opponents say benefit from collective bargaining and unionization without paying union dues. They contend these employees are bound by the terms of the union contract that are beneficial to the employee even though they are not members of the union and do not pay dues. They often refer to right-to-work states as "right-to-fire" states, and "non-right-to-work" states as "free collective bargaining" states.
With the advent of the right-to-work laws a new concept was ushered in to the labor management arena; Project Labor Agreements commonly known as PLA's date back to the 1930s.
A project labor agreement (PLA) is a multi-employer, multi-union, pre-hire agreement designed to systemize labor relations between multiple construction trade unions and contractors on a specific construction site. A PLA is a contract, so it can say just about anything, although PLAs contain provisions that are typical in most agreements. One could easily argue that a PLA is one way around an employee's rights in a right-to-work state, that is the right to join a union or not join a union.
Consider the following points taken from www.thetruthaboutplas.com:
PLAs are negotiated exclusively by construction unions and a project owner (or agent of the owner), yet the agreement is actually between contractors (and subcontractors) and labor unions. A major complaint lodged against PLAs by both union and merit shop contractors are that contractors are not permitted to participate in crafting and negotiating PLAs with labor unions and owners. Yet, if contractors want to successfully bid and work on a PLA job, they must sign a letter of assent, which is a promise to follow the terms and conditions of a PLA.
It shall be understood that the PLA is an exclusive agreement between the eventual Contractor (and Subcontractors) and the organized labor unions. The Employer recognizes the Unions signatory to this Agreement as the sole and exclusive bargaining representatives with respect to rates of pay, hours, and other conditions of employment for the job classifications contained in the appropriate Local Union agreements and Schedule A's for this Project.
PLAs take away workers' rights. Workers normally are permitted to choose union representation through a card check process or a federally supervised private ballot election. PLAs require unions to be the exclusive bargaining representative for workers during the life of the project. The decision to elect union representation is made by the employer - when agreeing to participate in a PLA project - rather than the employees.
PLAs are called pre-hire agreements because they can be negotiated before the contractor hires any workers or employees vote on union representation. The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) generally prohibits pre-hire agreements, but an exception in the act allows for these agreements only in the construction industry. In short, PLAs strip away the opportunity for construction workers to choose a federally supervised private-ballot election or a card check process when deciding whether or not union representation is right for them.
PLAs force employers and employees to follow inefficient and counterintuitive union job classifications and work rules contained in local union collective bargaining agreements. Local union work rules and job classifications define how employees are allowed to use materials and operate equipment for job tasks governed by the jurisdiction of each specific trade. Union work rules prevent the use of an efficient labor utilization strategy used by merit shop contractors called "multi-skilling", where workers possess a range of skills appropriate for more than one work process and trade jurisdiction and are used flexibly on a project.
This managerial strategy permits workers to be assigned to construction tasks based on their ability, their MERIT, to perform the needed skill/task, unrestricted by traditional union job descriptions and work boundaries designed to ignore efficiency and put to work as many union members as possible.
All employees covered by the typical PLA may be required, as a condition of employment for this Project only, to apply for and become members of and to maintain memberships in the respective Unions, or they may pay and remain current in the payment of such reasonable fees as are established for non-members by each Union
Non-union workers are required to pay non-refundable union dues and fees or join a union in order to work on a PLA project.
PLAs likely require merit shop companies to obtain their workers from union hiring halls. Unions having a hiring hall or job referral system in their local agreements and the employer agrees to be bound by such system and it shall be used exclusively by the employer.
This means a merit shop company has to exclude their hard working employees from specific jobsites and exclusively use unfamiliar union workers. In other instances, merit shop employers can use limited portions of their own workforce, but they must send those workers to the union hiring hall and hope the union sends the same workers back to that specific jobsite.
Despite the fact that the vast majority of ABC member contractors have their own benefit plans, union-only PLAs require merit shop contractors to pay their workers' health and welfare benefits to union trust funds. The merit shop contractor must make contributions to the established fringe benefit funds in the amounts designated in the appropriate Union agreement; benefits merit shop craftsmen are not likely to realize.
Thus, merit shop companies have to pay benefits twice: once to the union and once to the company plan. Workers never see any of the benefit contributions sent to union accounts unless they decide to leave their merit shop employer and remain with the union until vested.
When the employer(s) contribute(s) fringe benefit payments into local, regional, or national trust funds, the Employer agrees to be bound to all lawful terms and conditions of such trust agreements, and all amendments thereto. Paying into underfunded and mismanaged union pension plans can expose merit shop contractors to massive pension withdrawal liabilities. Depending on the health of a trade union's pension plan, signing a PLA could bankrupt a contractor or prohibit contractors from qualifying for construction bonds needed to build future projects.
PLAs will likely require merit shop companies to obtain apprentices exclusively from union apprenticeship programs. This means craft professionals enrolled in federal and state-approved apprenticeship programs other than those offered by the union are excluded from working on PLA projects.
Restrictive and inefficient conditions and requirements PLAs impose on management and employees discourage merit shop contractors from bidding on PLA projects. That's why they are called "union-only" PLAs. And that is why they circumvent the letter and intent of Louisiana's Right-to-Work law that has kept our state competitive in tough times as well as good.
An overwhelming body of evidence suggests that PLAs have the practical effect, if not the stated purpose, of eliminating competition from merit shop contractors and their employees - qualified and skilled craft professionals - who compose 84.4 percent of the 2008 U.S. private construction workforce.
For a good overview of the impact of PLAs on federal construction projects read the Wall Street Journal article " WSJ Editorial Blasts Obama Gift to Big Labor, Calls Project Labor Agreements "Crony Contracts" Go to www.thetruthaboutplas.com to read the full article.
2010 Louisiana Legislative Session
By the time you read this, we will have less than three weeks remaining before the 2010 Legislative session adjourns. The Legislature convened on Monday, March 29, 2010 and must adjourn by June 18, 2010. We are playing an active role in many bills making their way through the legislative process. You can rest assured that all bills that promote free enterprise, open competition, or free market determination are being supported. Likewise, you can expect any bills that seek to threaten our merit shop philosophy and our belief in free enterprise and open competition are being met with staunch opposition.
2010 ABC Legislative Reception
ABC held its 2010 Legislative Reception on April 20th at the Baton Rouge City Club. We had a nice turnout with 66 ABC members and 30 Legislators. It was a great opportunity for both ABC members as well as legislators to put faces with names and discuss important legislation. For those of you who were able to attend, we thank you. For those who were unable to attend, we urge you to please consider doing so next year. It truly gives members the opportunity to "Get into Politics" so they don't have to "Get Out of Business."
Plan to Seek Use of U.S. Contracts as a Wage Lever
By Steven Greenhouse
www.nytimes.com/2010/02/26/business/26procure.html
The Obama administration is planning to use the government's enormous buying power to prod private companies to improve wages and benefits for millions of workers, according to White House officials and several interest groups briefed on the plan.
By altering how it awards $500 billion in contracts each year, the government would disqualify more companies with labor, environmental or other violations and give an edge to companies that offer better levels of pay, health coverage, pensions and other benefits, the officials said.
Because nearly one in four workers is employed by companies that have contracts with the federal government, administration officials see the plan as a way to shape social policy and lift more families into the middle class. It would affect contracts like those awarded to make Army uniforms, clean federal buildings and mow lawns at military bases.
Although the details are still being worked out, the outline of the plan is drawing fierce opposition from business groups and Republican lawmakers. They see it as a gift to organized labor and say it would drive up costs for the government in the face of a $1.3 trillion budget deficit.
"I'm suspicious of what the end goals are," said Ben Brubeck, director of labor and federal procurement for Associated Builders and Contractors, which represents 25,000 construction-related companies. "It's pretty clear the agenda is to give big labor an advantage in federal contracts."
Critics also said the policy would put small businesses, many of which do not provide rich benefits, at a disadvantage. Furthermore, government officials would find it difficult to evaluate bidders using the new criteria and to determine whether one company's compensation package should give it an edge, said Alan L. Chvotkin, executive vice president of the Professional Services Council, a coalition of 340 government contractors.
From his earliest days in office, President Obama has called for an overhaul of government procurement policy, citing the contracting scandals of the previous decade involving cost overruns and no-bid contracts.
"The president made it clear that he is committed to reforming government contracts to save taxpayers money while protecting workers and the environment," a White House spokesman, Bill Burton, said. "The administration is currently gathering data and examining the best ways to do this."
Two of Mr. Obama's allies - John Podesta, the Clinton administration chief of staff who headed the president's transition team, and Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union - have repeatedly pressed the president to use procurement policy to push up wages and benefits.
In testimony last year to the Office of Management and Budget, Mr. Podesta said that 400,000 workers employed under federal contracts - like cafeteria workers, security guards and landscaping workers at federal buildings - earn less than $22,000 a year, the federal poverty line for a family of four, assuming just one paycheck in a household.
"We have a president who is talking about bringing more people into the middle class," Mr. Stern said. "The government should expect contractors to obey the law, and at the same time contractors should not be building a poverty economy, but should be trying to build a high-road economy."
The officials briefed on the plan said it was being developed by officials in the Office of Management and Budget, the White House Office of Legal Counsel, the Treasury, Justice and Labor Departments and the vice president's Middle Class Task Force.
Even as business groups press the administration for more details, they are denouncing the plan, tentatively named the High Road Procurement Policy.
The Daily Caller, a conservative Web site, reported Feb. 4 that the plan would "heavily favor government contractors that implement policies designed by organized labor."
Randel K. Johnson, senior vice president for labor at the United States Chamber of Commerce, called the plan a "warmed-over version" of President Bill Clinton's regulations that sought to bar federal agencies from awarding contracts to companies with a record of breaking labor, environmental or consumer laws. President George W. Bush vacated those regulations soon after taking office.
"We strongly opposed the Clinton blacklist regulations," Mr. Johnson said, "and this appears worse than that."
On Feb. 2, Senator Susan Collins of Maine and four other Republican senators sent a letter to Peter R. Orszag, director of the White House budget office, saying, "We are concerned that the imposition of these requirements, during a time of significant economic turmoil in the private sector and tight federal budgets, could have serious, negative consequences, especially for our nation's small businesses."
One signer was Tom Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma, who was one of the two main sponsors - the other was Senator Barack Obama - of a bill that sought to increase the transparency and accountability of federal contracting by requiring the government to create a data base of all federal contracts. President Bush signed it into law in 2007.
David Madland, director of the American Workers Project at the Center for American Progress, a liberal research group founded by Mr. Podesta, argues the new policy could lower government costs, instead of raising them.
Many low-wage employees of federal contractors receive Medicaid and food stamps, he said. Citing studies conducted by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and by academic researchers, he said that contractors that pay their employees well have greater productivity and reliability, while contractors with a record of labor law violations do shoddier construction work.
"This policy is good for workers, it's good for taxpayers and it's good for high-road businesses," Mr. Madland said.
He said that one study done by the state of Maryland found that after the state began requiring bidders to pay a living wage, the number of bidders per contract rose by a third on average. Some higher-wage companies said they began seeking government bids because the new policy leveled the playing field.
One federal official said the proposed policy would encourage procurement officers to favor companies with better compensation packages only if choosing them did not add substantially to contract costs. As an example, he said, if two companies each bid $10 million for a contract, and one had considerably better wages and pensions than the other, that company would be favored.
Some supporters of the new procurement policy - and even some opponents - say Mr. Obama could impose it through executive order. They assert that the president has broad powers to issue procurement regulations, just as President John Kennedy did in requiring federal contractors to have companywide equal employment opportunity plans.
But some opponents argue that legislation would be needed because an executive order may collide with laws that require federal contractors to pay the prevailing regional wage for the type of work being done. The executive order, they fear, would call for higher wages.
Average state-wide premiums for small group markets for determining small employer health insurance credit released
The IRS has released the average premium for the small group market in each state for the 2010 tax year for purposes of computing the Code Sec. 45R tax credit for eligible small employers that make nonelective contributions toward their employee's health insurance premiums. The premiums must be made under an arrangement that requires the employer to pay at least 50 percent of each participating employee's premiums for coverage provided by a qualified health plan.
Code Sec. 45R was added to the Internal Revenue Code by section 1421 of the Patient Protections and Affordable Care Act (P.L. 111-148, enacted March 23, 2010). The credit for 2010 is equal to 35 percent (25 percent in the case of a tax-exempt organization) of the lesser of: (1) the amount of nonelective contributions paid by the eligible small employer on behalf of employees under the arrangement during the tax year; and (2) the amount of nonelective contributions the employer would have paid under the arrangement if each such employee were enrolled in a plan that had a premium equal to the average premium for the small group market in the state (or in an area in the state) in which the employer is offering health insurance coverage.
Additional average premium rates for the small group market in certain areas within certain states may be issued at a future date. In no event will such rates be lower than the premium rates for a state as a whole.
o Arkansas- $4,329; $9,677;
o Louisiana - $4,829; $11,074;
o Mississippi - $4,533; $ 10,501;
o Texas - $5,140; $11,972;
Louisiana ABC State Convention Sponsor Highlight
July 21, 2010-July 24, 2010
Sandestin, Florida
Sponsorships are available for $500.
o Sponsors receive recognition on convention banners, brochures, signs, chapter newsletters & websites.
o Promotional Items given during registration can only be provided by convention sponsors
Contact Caitlin Stolzenthaler for more details. cstolzenthaler@abcpelican.com or phone 225-753-2498
List of sponsors is current as of 5/17/2010.
A Special Thanks to our 2010 Convention Sponsors
Boh Bros. Construction | Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson | Brock Services, LTD
Cajun Industries, LLC | Chaffe McCall, LLP | CORE, LLC | Cory, Tucker and Larrowe, Inc.
Detlefs & Company Benefit | Excel Companies | GROUP Contractors
Gulf Coast Occupational Medicine | Hannis T. Bourgeois, LLP, CPA | Hebert Steel Co., Inc.
Industrial Coatings Contractors, Inc. | ISC | Jacobs Field Services
James Construction Group | Lafarge North America | Laporte, Sehrt, Romig, Hand, CPA's
Louisiana Agencies | Louisiana Machinery Company, LLC | Mercedes Sprinter of Baton Rouge
MMR Group | PALA Interstate, LLC | PBC Industrial Supplies, Inc.
Performance Contractors, Inc. | PrintedBig.com | Resources, LLC | RSC Equipment Rental
Shields Mott Lund, LLP | STUN Design and Advertising | The Shaw Group
The Gray Insurance Co./Gray Casualty & Surety | Triad Electric & Controls, Inc.
Turner Industries Group, LLC | Westgate, LLC | Whitney National Bank
Wright & Percy Insurance, a division of Bancorp South Insurance Services, Inc.
Zurich North America
The Greater Baton Rouge Industry Alliance (GBRIA) announced the winners of its 2010 Contractor Workforce Development Excellence Awards. The awards were presented at a banquet held on April 28 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Baton Rouge, LA.
Approximately 140 guests attended the event where Dr. Jim Owens, Executive Director of the Louisiana Department of Education's division of Career and Technical Education gave the keynote address. The program promotes best practices to improve the skills and retention of industrial trades/craft personnel in our region and to recognize and reward contractors who invest in workforce development programs that include recruitment, assessment, training, career path development and retention of employees.
The following companies received awards. In the division of Mechanical and Electrical Contractor, in the Small Company Size Category Triad Electric & Controls, Inc. was awarded first place. For the Medium Company Size Category, Industrial Specialty Contractors was awarded first place. And for the Large Company Size Category, the first place award was presented to The Shaw Group. In the category of Other Specialty Contractor, in the Small Company Size Category TopCor Belco was awarded first place. Turner Industries Group, LLC received an Honorable Mention, and the following companies also earned Recognition Awards, AbClean, Brock Services Ltd., EXCEL Group, Pala Group Inc., James Construction Group, LLC Performance Contractors and Vector Electric & Controls, Inc.
What you give is what you get. So let's get involved in 2010.
Being part of ABC to me is a very special thing, though it may not seem like much to some to most it is a prestigious honor. Being an ABC Member has its benefits, but if you don't get involved and take advantage of its true benefits ABC will not mean as much as it could to you. When ABC was started 60 years ago a group of contractors came together to create an association based on the shared belief that construction projects should be awarded on merit to the most qualified and responsible low bidders. Their courage and dedication to the merit shop philosophy spread rapidly, and within time, ABC became the fastest-growing association in the United States. That core value still holds true today and as we grow our Association we always look for members who believe in the same values we believe in making this association very unique and special.
But I have to tell you, that just joining ABC will not do you or your company justice. Yes it will help in business development, may even help in learning more about the industry, but to get the true value of your ABC Membership, you have to get involved. You have to dedicate a little time and effort to support the organization that supports you, your company and the industry. There are so many ways to get involved with ABC, whether it's joining a committee, attending events or even being a sponsor. So I challenge you to educate yourself on the benefits ABC has to offer and get involved, take full advantage of your ABC Membership, don't miss out on something special, that could potentially help you grow your business.
Listed below is a list of committees that ABC has that can surely help you and your business. I ask that if you are not involved, that you look at this list and see if there is a committee that fits your needs because giving back to the industry means so much. Please lend your expertise and talents to ABC and help us make this association even better for you.
2010 ABC Committee Meetings
Budget & Finance
Committee
Responsible for providing an analysis of the expenditures of the previous fiscal period, preparing a budget for the succeeding fiscal year and making recommendations to the Board of Directors in updating the current budget.
Meets Third Friday of each month, 8:00 AM
ABC Contact: Janie Arceneaux
Chair: Jeff Gould, JPMorgan Chase - jeff.e.gould@chase.com
Governmental Relations Committee
Responsible for maintaining records of all legislative and legal matters of concern to the growth and promotion of merit shop, the dissemination of this information to the general membership as required and encouraging action on the part of the general membership in legislative matters.
Meets Third Monday of each month, 3:30PM
ABC Contact: John Walters
Committee Chair: Joe Wiley, EXCEL Contractors
Education & Manpower
Meets Second Thursday of Every Month; 1:00 PM in ABC Training Center
ABC Contact: Robert Clouatre
Committee Chair: Ronnie Gulino, ISC
Committee Chair Elect: Matt Campbell, The Shaw Group
Membership Development Committee
Responsible for recruiting, retaining, welcoming and involving members of this association by employing new and innovative ideas and programs.
Meets Second Wednesday Every Month; 7:30 AM in ABC Board Room
ABC Contact: Michael Doucet
Committee Chair: Monique Hibbs, Airgas
Committee Chair Elect: Darren Alleman, Performance Contractors
Commercial Contractors Council
This council addresses the needs of the commercial contractor members of the chapter. Guest speakers regularly address the members on topics of interest to the membership.
Meets Upon Notice
ABC Contact: Michael Doucet/Melanie Searles
Programs & Events Committee
Responsible for planning the general membership events hosted by the chapter.
Meets Second Tuesday of Every Month; 7:45 AM in ABC Board Room
ABC Contact: Caitlin Stolzenthaler
Committee Chair: Michael LeBlanc, Pala Interstate
Committee Chair Elect: Chase Rainey, Performance Contractors
Safety Committee
This committee is responsible for continually updating the membership on any new or revised standards and regulations, to provide oversight and review on all Pelican Chapter safety training and to promote the ABC National S.T.E.P. Awards program.
Meets First Thursday of Every Month; 7:30AM in ABC Training Center
ABC Contact: Kacie Blanchard
Committee Chair: Ed Cockrell, Vector Electric & Controls
Committee Chair Elect: Lance Roux, SafetyPro Resources
Southwest Louisiana Steering Committee
Responsible for the growth and promotion of the merit philosophy in the Southwest Louisiana area, including programs, events, legislative matters and training opportunities.
Meets Second Tuesday of Every Month; 11:30pm in Westlake
ABC Contact: Kirby Bruchhaus
Everyone should be able to find a committee which suits them. Please call me if you have any questions about these opportunities. The more participants we have on these committees, the more accurate ABC's voice will be. President Theodore Roosevelt is quoted as saying, "Every man owes a part of his time and money to the business or industry in which he is engaged. No man has moral right to withhold his support from an organization that is striving to improve conditions within his sphere."
High School Craft Competition Huge Success
The Training Center hosted over 130 high school students on April 29th for the annual High School Craft Competition. This fierce competition had 22 area high schools send their best to compete in welding and electrical. Welding had two categories, fillet welding and v-groove welding. Nine of the V-Groove welds were sent to X-ray and six passed X-ray. This speaks well for our high schools and their instructors. Live Oak High School won the Electrical competition and their competitor, JR Mansur won the individual. Walker High School won the team V- Groove competition and Robert Thurman from Livonia High School won the individual competition. Livonia High won the Fillet Weld competition and Cody Sylvest of Walker High won the individual competition.
First place winners in each competition received a $300.00 gift certificate from Cabela's and a 3 year scholarship if they are in welding to attend the ABC Training Center and a 4 year scholarship if they are in electrical. Second place winners received a $200.00 gift certificate and 2 year scholarship if they are in welding and a 3 year scholarship if they enroll in electrical. Third place winners received a $100.00 gift certificate and a one year scholarship if they are in welding and a 2 year scholarship if they are in electrical. Congratulations to all of the competitors for their effort and behavior during this event.
The Training Center would like to thank the high school instructors and the volunteers from our contractors and GBRIA facilities. Without these individuals the contest would not be a success. Special thanks goes to The Shaw Group for providing a pastalaya lunch and tables for the electrical competition, Turner Industries for providing the drinks, Performance Contractors for breakfast, Weld Test for X-raying the welds and Drago and Templet and Templet for donating prizes to the contestants. Below is a complete list of winners.
Electrical, High School
1st Live Oak
2nd Albany
3rd Denham Spring Freshman
Electrical, Individual
1st JR Mansur, Live Oak
2nd Kyle Littlejohn, Albany
3rd Jarrad Alongi, Live Oak
Welding, V-Butt/Vgroove
1st Walker High
2nd Zachary High
3rd Albany High
Welding, Individual
1st Robert Thurman, Livonia High
2nd Jonthon Flynt, Albany High
3rd Brandon Hives, Zachary
Welding, Fillet
1st Livonia
2nd Walker High
3rd Brusly High
Welding Individual
1st Cody Sylvest, Walker High
2nd Daniel Meche, Livonia High
3rd Matt Miller, Zachary High
We would like to thank the following companies for the use of their equipment for our classes this past semester: Performance Contractors- 15 ton crane, Cajun Contractors- Excavator, and Louisiana Machinery- Backhoe.
Our Summer Day Training Classes will begin on June 7, 2010. Through the Rapid Response Program, classes in electrical and pipefitting will begin with 15 students in each. This program is in cooperation with the Louisiana Career and Technical College System. We will also provide welding training for 30 students during this time. This program is funded through our training budget. All students participating in our summer programs will be drug tested, WorkKeys tested, and interviewed prior to being accepted.
Spring Graduation will take place on June 23, 2010 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. The ceremony will begin at 6:00 pm with a reception immediately following. We are anticipating approximately 150 graduates by the end of the semester. Show your support of our graduates by attending this great event. Contact the Training Center for more details.
Dates to Remember
June 7 - Late Registration Charges Begin ($50.00)
June 23 - Spring Graduation
July 5 - Independence Holiday (school closed)
July 6 - Fall Semester Begins
August 9&10 - Specialty Classes Begin
September 6 - Labor Day Holiday (school closed)
October 4 - Early Registration Begins for Currently Enrolled Students
November 1 - Open Enrollment Begins
November 18 - Last Day of Fall Semester
November 25-26 - Thanksgiving Holiday (Office closed)
December 9 - Fall Graduation
December 27-29 - Christmas Holiday (Office closed)
Southwest Highlights
April was very active at the Southwest Chapter. The Pelican Chapter Board met prior to our annual crawfish boil Tuesday, April 27th. Thanks to Bubba Boudreaux with Seafood to Geaux for cooking such great crawfish and our contractors along with all of the ABC staff for making it all work.
We also had a dual enrollment meeting and dinner. All of our high school students and their parents were invited to a BBQ dinner, which was prepared by our staff and Kyle Woods of Turner Industries Group. We wanted to inform and educate the students and parents about the opportunities at ABC and our local industries.
Bob Smith, our high school outreach chairman from La. Pigments, Alton Lindstrom, our training committee chairman from Citgo, David Franks, regional manager from Turner Industries, Danny Campbell, estimator manager from Triad Electric, and Derryl Gaspard, area safety manager for The Shaw Group all gave inspirational information. We want to thank all the speakers, staff and parents who attended. We are trying to communicate with students and parents to spread the word about the "best kept secret in America" - ABC.
The CDBG welding program is off and running. Three more grants are planned to start this summer, one being a class for electrical level 2 and 3 students.
Maintaining Your Business' Banking Relationship During Uncertain Economic Times
By B. Troy Villa, Contributions by David Thompson, Sr., Vice President, IberiaBank
Okay, so it's fair to say that most of us have a few things to be concerned over these days
o an economic slow down and (alleged) recovery that has experienced many fits and starts
o turbulent times in the stock market, again
o a still very tight national credit market
o the impact of healthcare reform on our businesses and personal lives
o the impact of the BP oil spill
o whether Iron Man 2 will re-launch Robert Downey, Jr.'s acting career
Putting aside for a moment the questions surrounding the status of Mr. Downey's career, the remaining issues, and others closely connected thereto, have undoubtedly been heightened topics in many board rooms, at the water cooler, in the lunch room and at the breakfast table. Many of us wonder how these developments may impact local businesses in the future, as well as what impacts have already been felt. Louisiana's economy has, in many aspects, bucked the trend of the rest of the country over the past few years and still enjoyed a fairly robust economy. Indeed, Baton Rouge continues to be considered one of the most recession-proof cities in the U.S. But there are still uncertain days on the horizon for the economy of our state and region given these national and global economic concerns? No one knows for sure, but one impact that is already having effects locally, and will in the foreseeable future, is the contracted (and perhaps contracting) credit markets.
Local business' access to credit has been significantly down since 2008 as most banks in Louisiana tightened their respective lending criteria to reflect their own challenges in what is about to become a revamped regulated market. This does not suggest there are no loans being made in our market - there are viable projects still being funded, but mostly to customers with existing banking relationships. Additionally, most in the banking industry agree that besides an existing borrower having a viable project, maintaining an on-going and sustaining relationship with the bank is a critical item in these times of scarce credit.
David Thompson, Senior Vice President of Commercial Banking, and Tracy Rutledge, Vice President of Commercial Banking for IberiaBank in Baton Rouge shared with me a list of practical, day-to-day tips that, based on their banking experience, are essential to maintaining a good banking relationship. As Thompson and Rutledge point out, the majority of these tips revolve around, not surprisingly, being proactive and establishing good communication between the bank and its business customers at all times, not just after a default occurs. During these current market conditions, Thompson and Rutledge recommend business owners consider the following:
o Discuss with their banker how current economic conditions are, or might, affect their business. Let your banker know you are actively considering the impact.
o Seek your banker's advice regarding the effects of current economic conditions and how other similarly situated businesses are reacting. Banks are keenly aware of "drivers" among various industries because of their diverse customer base and may be able to provide valuable insights.
o Timely disclose positive and negative developments in your business. Bankers are able to tolerate bad news, just not surprises.
o Develop a strategic plan to deal with any anticipated negative impacts to the business and communicate the plan to your banker. Establishing a team to formulate the plan is useful in vetting multiple strategies. Again, your banker is available to provide advice on the process.
o Understand the financial health of your bank and its ability to continue to be a source of capital needed for your business.
o Consider establishing a secondary banking relationship with a sound financial institution.
From a legal perspective, businesses should review the terms of their existing loan agreements, promissory notes, depositary agreements and other banking contracts to better understand their current obligations and responsibilities. Besides the obligation to repay a loan, most loan transactions require the business customer to provide the bank with regular financial reports, budgets and other information about the business. Some loans require a business to disclose to its lender material changes to a business' supply chains, customer base and other prospects. These requirements are the "details" of a loan transaction that many businesses either look past or do not fully understand as they pursue financing. Complying with your business loan agreements requires a full understanding of your contractual requirements to the bank and having open communication with the bank.
Maintaining an open and working relationship with your bank is essential in these uncertain economic times to solidify your business' existing relationship and to position your business in the best way possible for future access to capital.
Here's a Look at June
1 Southwest Safety Committee (Lake Charles), 11:30 AM
2 North LA Programs & Events (Shreveport), 1:30 PM
3 Safety Committee (Training Center A3), 7:30 AM
8 Programs and Events Committee (Board Room), 7:45 AM
8 Southwest Steering Committee (Lake Charles), 11:30 AM
8 State Board Meeting (Bayou Chapter), 3:00 PM
9 Membership Committee (Board Room). 7:30 AM
9 Commercial Contractors Council (Board Room), 3:00 PM
10 SLUC Training Committee (Lake Charles), 11:30 AM
10 Education and Manpower Cmt. (Training Center Board Room) 2:00 PM
15 Northeast Steering Committee (Angus Chemical, Sterlington, LA), Noon
16 Northwest Steering Committee (East Ridge Country Club), 10:30 AM
16 Northwest Membership Luncheon, 11:30 AM
17 SLCUC Coordinating Committee (Westlake ABC Office), 11:30 AM
18 Budget & Finance Committee (Board Room), 8:00 AM
21 Governmental Relations Committee (Board Room), 3:30 PM
22 Executive Committee (ABC Office), 2:00 PM
22 Board of Directors Meeting (Board Room), 3:30 PM
23 Spring Graduation
24-26 Fishing Rodeo
20 Bayou Board of Directors Meeting (Bayou Board Room), 3:30 PM
28 ICC Steering Committee (Board Room), 4:00 PM
28 Northwest LA Membership Committee (ABC office), 4:00 PM
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