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.
In 2021, the FBI received 19,954 business email compromise (BEC) complaints with adjusted losses of nearly $2.4 billion, up from $1.8 billion in the prior year – a 33% increase!1 Many of these losses result from wire transfer fraud. Fraudsters have become more sophisticated, and their schemes have evolved to stay ahead of the preventative measures that are developed. Cybercriminals don’t discriminate – both small businesses and public companies are targets and victims of these schemes. In many cases, the wired funds are immediately converted to cryptocurrency by the recipient, making recovery virtually impossible.
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.
Founder, Josh Hankey, began renovating buildings in the Central Business District of York, PA in 2009 with a mission to revitalize a focused area of the city. After securing and renovating most of the buildings on the square of Princess, Duke, King, and Queen Streets his efforts spread beyond the “Royal Square”.
Projects became larger and more complex requiring a staff experienced in this type of work.
Welcome to our Newest Members and Congratulations to our members celebrating milestone anniversaries!
As I sit to write this article the election results are still not definitively known. What we do know is that PA will have Josh Shapiro as our next Governor. The State Senate will remain Republican. However, there is a good possibility the Statehouse will flip to the Democrats. On the National front, the Democrats will retain the Senate while the house, through leaning Republican, is still undecided.
Many of you heard the news that I departed ABC Pennsylvania in November. The decision was not an easy one. I have a long history with ABC. My career began in Washington, D.C., where I served on legislative staff for the late Congressmen George W. Gekas (R-PA-17) and former Congressman Tim Murphy (R-PA-18). During my time in our nation’s capital, which lasted nearly a decade, I monitored and staffed issues important to ABC. It was there that I learned about the association’s mission and drive for free enterprise. When I moved back to Pennsylvania, I served as advocacy director for a local chamber, where I continued the partnership with ABC – and eventually met and married my wife, Julina (Peterson), who was the Communication Director for ABC Keystone. Julina started her career with ABC as an intern in 2004 and served on the Keystone team until 2017. I have fond memories of attending so many inaugurals with Julina as her date and later as her husband!
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.
As you know, ABC Pennsylvania is comprised of four regional chapters with nearly 1,400 member companies who collectively employ over 65,000 Pennsylvanians. Our advocacy efforts do not come without the commitment and participation of our members – and we have a lot to be proud of in 2022.
Many industries use non-competition agreements, also known as non-compete agreements, as a means to protect company information from a departing employee. In fact, some of you reading this may be subject to one. A non-compete agreement is a contractual restriction on an employee’s ability to compete with a former employer. The benefits of a properly drafted non-compete agreement are obvious: to protect the company from a key employee taking sensitive company information to a competitor or using that information to start his or her own competing company. However, under Pennsylvania law, overly broad non-competes are often considered unenforceable, so they need to be narrowly tailored to protect the legitimate business interests of an employer.
October is Nationally designated as “Careers in Construction Month.” Keystone traditionally highlights what we do for the industry and our members through all our marketing efforts. Therefore, I want to recap some of the exciting things that happened as well as the number of members that took advantage of the things we offer.
Meet Joe Beahm,
Account Manager,
Graphtech – As an Account Manager for Graphtech, I am responsible for guiding our clients so they can spread their messages to their audiences both creatively and effectively. Introducing new products and ideas to customers to help them achieve their goals and streamline their communications also plays an important role in my day-to-day. Educating new and existing customers on how our services can benefit them both professionally and financially is something I incorporate into my everyday routine.
Trident Development Corporation, a Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), is a full-service human capital development firm that serves as your partner in the development and care of a qualified and stable workforce.
Welcome to our Newest Members and Congratulations to our members celebrating milestone anniversaries!
