ABC Keystone Members,
Welcome to a New Year, with new goals and a fresh perspective on the clean slate for 2023. As your Chairman for 2023, I want to take a moment to share some of the exciting initiatives that we as a Chapter will be working on throughout the year.
November 13-19, 2022, we celebrated National Apprenticeship Week. During NAW, we celebrate the workers of America — the best in the world — and lift up the importance of apprenticeship programs across America.
What a year we have had. Not only did we get back to business as usual, but we set new milestones and welcomed new friends from the northern part of our State. We hit 92% retainage for the second year in a row, and we hit membership growth in July for the first time. One of the exciting parts of the year was the merger of Keystone and Central regions. We now cover 33 counties in PA. We were able to welcome new businesses into the Keystone family and show the benefits of membership. It was exciting to go to the Nittany Valley region and get to know many of the members, meet some great people and get to know their businesses. There are several new business partners for all of us to get to know and work with.
Having been a member since 1989, ABC Keystone has time and again demonstrated that our dues are not just an overhead charge, but an investment in the construction industry. Over the years, I have spent hours at ABC Keystone education events, monthly meetings and political events. ABC has always looked to educating its members not only on construction topics, but also other skills such as management and HR training and has kept us abreast of political activities that impact our businesses.
Fall is always a busy time at ABC Keystone with the start of Apprenticeship classes in September, the annual Local Craft Competition, Careers in Construction Month in October and National Apprenticeship Week in November.
ABC Keystone was proud to welcome over 150 new apprentices and company reps to the New Student Orientation on September 7. I shared with the students the value of ABC and the importance of students and companies working together to ensure that all registered apprenticeship requirements are achieved. The two main components of registered apprenticeship are Related Technical Instruction (RTI) – requirement of 144 hours per year/level and submission of On-the-Job-Training Hours (OJT) of 2,000 hours per year. It is exciting to welcome new apprentices and several new companies to apprenticeship for the 2022-2023 school year.
October may be Careers in Construction Month, but at ABC Keystone, every month is Careers in Construction Month! With the consolidation of the ABC Central PA Chapter into ABC Keystone Chapter, our outreach efforts extend to 33 counties, nearly 25 career and technical schools, and more than 210 school districts. We’ve started the process of introducing ABC Keystone and its programs to career and technical centers first, and those conversations have yielded one new articulation agreement with Mifflin County Academy of Science & Technology (The Academy) in Lewistown and two potential agreements with both the Greater Altoona Career & Technology Center and the Central Pennsylvania Institute in Bellefonte. Every articulation agreement gives you, the members, access to young talent as these individuals pursue their careers and apprenticeships.
I’ve been in the workforce long-enough to see different careers become hot and then cool off. When I was coming out of school, the big career was nursing. The employers were offering signing bonuses, and people coming out of school had their choice of places they wanted to work. Construction has had its employment issues for longer than any other profession I can remember. Guidance counselors pushed everyone to college, and no one was talking about careers in the trades, which is a shame because of the things you learn from working in construction. You learn to think on your feet, adapt to changing circumstances, and discover how to solve problems that seem insurmountable.
(MANHEIM, Pa.) Three ABC Keystone apprentices received top scores at the Keystone Chapter’s Individual Local Craft Competition on Saturday, October 1, 2022, held at the Chapter’s state-of-the-art training facility in Manheim. This year, the competition also featured the Chapter’s first-ever Team Competition designed to demonstrate safety along with craft interdependency and teamwork; simulate working conditions where planning is critical to success; highlight individual leadership and workmanship skills as the project was assembled and completed; and work through problems as a team.
August was a fun month! It was great to see everyone in Wrightsville at ABC Keystone’s Summer Outdoor Mixer presented by Saxton & Stump Lawyers and Consultants and to see many of you in Belfonte at the Keystone Chapter’s Nittany Valley Mixer. Mixers like these are events I look forward to each year to have a good time and catch up with so many of our ABC members. It was especially valuable this year to build connections with our members from our new Nittany Valley Region.
Manheim, Pa, June 27—ABC Keystone is pleased to announce the addition of three team members. Keegan Reed has been hired as Director of Electrical, Terri Confer as Regional Member Services Manager – Nittany Valley Office, and Annette Carr as Administrative Assistant – Education.
We hear all the time from those outside our industry that we are not safe, yet we hear our members say they take “Safety First” seriously. Which is it? It’s probably a little bit of both. Statistically, over the last several decades our industry has continued to get safer. However, we can do better to reduce jobsite injuries and fatalities.
The Keystone Chapter has expanded its footprint from 10 counties of South-Central PA to a new footprint of 33 counties in Central PA. The Board of Directors for the ABC Central PA Chapter voted in May to have their Chapter consolidated into the ABC Keystone Chapter. Following this vote, your ABC Keystone Board of Directors voted to accept the consolidation. The final step was in June, when the National ABC Board voted to approve the consolidation as of June 14, 2022.
Manheim, Pa, June 16, 2022—ABC Keystone is pleased to announce the expansion of the Chapter’s service territory from an original 10-county footprint to 33 counties spanning central PA. The Central PA Chapter of Associated Builders & Contractors (ABC) has been consolidated into the ABC Keystone Chapter, made official by vote at the ABC National Board of Directors meeting on June 14, 2022, in Washington D.C.
It’s time to celebrate! How great it is to see individuals work hard, complete their training, and move on to the next stage of their lives. High school students are trying to figure out what they want to do with their lives after school. College grads are looking for their first job and dealing with the student debt they have amassed. And, craft professionals have completed their education and are moving into their careers fully trained.
