ABC Keystone Building

By: G. David Sload, ABC President-CEO

As we enter the second month of 2020, we earnestly get down to the business at hand. 2020 is the third year of our three-year strategic plan, and while we have accomplished many things laid out in the plan, we still have several items to complete. In addition to these items outlined by the Board planning committee, our 2020 Chair, Roger Brubaker, has added his “Chairman’s Challenge” to the Board and membership. Let’s summarize a few of these initiatives:

Government Affairs: We want to increase our political influence. We will continue to try and get counties to adopt right-to-work and anti PLA (Project Labor Agreement) ordinances. We have attended hearings on apprenticeship ratios, and we will continue to push to get our legislation voted out of committee and onto the House floor for a full vote.

Membership Value: Another major initiative is to continue to grow and deliver value for our membership. In addition to our many networking events, we will provide additional opportunities to train your entire staff. We will also encourage you to take advantage of the many affinity programs available to both members and member employees. If you haven’t looked at these programs – you should. By taking advantage of just a few you may save more than you spend on your investment to be an ABC member.

Workforce Development: We will continue to expand our articulation agreements with schools so that we can introduce more students to this great industry in which we are all so invested. The apprenticeship program will continue to improve with our full-time instructors leading the way, making sure we are using the best curriculum and training methods available. In addition, our Education Committee will continue to add training programs that will sharpen your employees’ professional skills.

Safety: Now let’s get to the “Chairmen’s Challenge.” We will work to get 30% or more of our contractor members enrolled in STEP (Safety Training Evaluation Program). The 2020 application is now online on the National website at abc.org under the safety tab. STEP is much more user-friendly than in the past, and it will also provide you with some safety prescriptions, should you score low in a particular area. Participating in STEP can even save you money, as now, ABC Keystone will discount certain safety training for those that have completed a STEP application (new for 2020!).

Member Engagement: Roger’s last challenge is to get more member employees engaged. ABC is a great place to help employees with their professional growth. From networking to education to learning about how this industry works, ABC can provide you with those experiences. We represent over 25,000 employees within our 530+ companies. We know that over 4,800 participated in an event or training held by ABC in 2019. Let’s all do our part to grow our future industry leaders. Let’s get our employees engaged. Here’s to a great 2020!

February 6, 2020