Many past presidents, including Brasfield & Gorrie’s Miller Gorrie and Chip Grizzle, Harbert’s Ben Nevins, Alex Whaley, Whaley Construction in Troy; Ricky Saliba, Saliba Construction in Dothan; Marc Dempsey and Billy Smith of Florence and Johnny and Norman Walton of Mobile were on hand to celebrate Henry’s career. Also attending were AGC of America CEO Stephen Sandherr and COO Dave Lukens.

Many of Henry’s fellow chapter executives from around the country attended as well. In fact, they made an important announcement – the Executive Leadership Council’s annual golf tournament has been named after Henry.

2013 Alabama AGC President Mike Tew presided over the event, which marked Henry’s 44 years as chapter executive.

It is time to nominate candidates for induction into the Alabama Construction Hall of Fame. Material must be to Jennifer Chesnut (jenniferc@alagc.org) by July 6th.

Also, the deadline for the 2013 BuildSouth Competition is Oct. 18th.

Please send ACHOF nominations – including the name of the nominee and company and a description of their qualifications not to exceed 250 words – on letterhead to Jennifer by mail (AlabamaAGC/P.O. Box 102066/Irondale, AL 35210) or fax (205) 451-1499). The nomination may include ancillary material such as letters of recommendation, resumes and video.

The ACHOF is open to those who serve or have served the non-residential construction industry in Alabama and the Panhandle of Florida. General contractors, specialty contractors, suppliers, architects and engineers are eligible for induction.

The Alabama AGC established the Alabama Construction Hall of Fame to honor and recognize outstanding individuals in the construction industry. These individuals are held in esteem by their peers and have demonstrated their professionalism through active support of the industry through their civic and community involvement. In short, only those who have literally changed the landscape of our state and nation will be enshrined in the Alabama Construction Hall of Fame.

One must have served theAlabamaconstruction industry – as a general contractor, a specialty contractor or supplier, an architect or an engineer – for at least 25 years to be eligible for the hall of fame.

The BuildSouth competition is open to all general contractors and specialty contractors. Projects which are completed in 2013 are considered for recognition in new construction and renovation in multiple categories.

Downloadable entry forms

Call for Entry General Conatractors

Projects will be honored at the BuildSouth Awards Banquet, Jan. 10, 2014.

Contact Anna Brown at annab@alagc.org for more information.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has revised the Form I-9 that employers must use to verify the employment eligibility of all new hires. Employers should immediately begin using the new Form I-9, available at http://www.uscis.gov/i-9 , with a revision date of March 8, 2013 (with “(Rev. 03/08/13) N” in the lower left-hand corner).

Employers must begin using this new Form I-9 by May 7, 2013. New hires after that date should not be verified with the old Form I-9.

E-verify users may already be aware of the newly revised Form I-9, as the system automatically alerted users to the change. Employers should not complete a new Form I-9 for existing employees who already have a valid I-9 on file. However, the new form must be used for all new hires and for any re-verifications of employment authorization.

The newly revised Form I-9 is expanded to two pages and includes expanded instructions for employees and employers. The revised form also includes additional fields for the employee’s foreign passport information (if applicable), telephone number, and email address.

In conjunction with the release of the revised Form I-9, USCIS also released a revised Handbook for Employers: Guidance for Completing Form I-9 (M-274). The revised Handbook is available at http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/m-274.pdf

For more information about employers’ obligations to verify employment eligibility, please contact a member of Johnston Barton’s Labor & Employment Practice Group

Crucial to Construction Industry

“I’m glad that you have taken the initiative in Alabama – with Go Build and AGCWorks – to recruit young people to the industry and then to find them jobs and get them trained.”

So said AGC of America Chief Economist Ken Simonson during a speech to the Birmingham Section meeting on May 1. More than 300 members participated in the program in all Alabama AGC offices via the internet.

Simonson reported good news for the economy “and that’s important for construction as a whole.”

Follow the link to see his complete report.

Alabama Fact Sheet

AL Construction & Materials Outlook

 All classes and test will be administered at the Alabama AGC Building located at 5000 Grantswood Road, Irondale, AL 35210 on the following dates from 7:30 am – 5:00 pm:

 Unit 1:  An Introduction to BIM – May 9, 2013

Unit 2: BIM Technology – June 6, 2013

Unit 3: BIM Contract Negotiation and Risk Allocation – July 18, 2013

Unit 4: BIM Process, Adoption, and Integration – August 15, 2013

 Attached is a flyer and registration form with more information.  Register today to secure your space!

CM-BIM Announcement

CM-BIM 2013 Registration Unit 1

CM-BIM 2013 Unit 2 Registration

CM-BIM 2013 Unit 3 Registration

CM-BIM 2013 Unit 4 Registration

The Alabama AGC had a large contingent at the AGC National Convention in Palm Springs, CA in March.

There was a lot of good fun and conversation in the hospitality room where Mike and Kaye Tew and Johnny and Kathy Walton made excellent hosts. And there was a lot of fun to be had as evidenced by Julie Pate’s moment in the spotlight A Star in Born.

 Of course, Alabama contractors were honored at the Alliant Build America Awards for their great work in 2012. Caddell Construction Co. won in the International Division for construction of the new U.S. Embassy in Djibouti, Djibouti  and B. L. Harbert won  a Merit Award in the International Division for the new U.S. Embassy Compound in Monrovia, Liberia.

 On a sad note, Alabama AGC CEO Henry T. Hagood, Jr. missed the national convention for the first time in his 44-year career at AGC. Henry was in everyone’s thoughts – from California, to Wisconsin, to Washington D.C., to  Mobile, AL.

STP courses offer practical, relevant and time-proven ideas and skills that can help your people increase their performance and cost-effectiveness.

“Supervisory skill – or the lack of it – directly affects every company’s bottom line,” said Bill Pennington with The Pennington Group. “Each day decisions made by every foreman and superintendent are crucial to the success or failure of every construction project. You make your money in the field and the STP courses are an excellent way to ensure that you have the best possible representation there.”

“STP has become extremely popular among our members,” said Bill Caton, Vice President “They understand the need for supervisory skills on a job site and know that the STP curriculum offers an excellent way for their employees to master those skills.”

Students earn certification from Alabama AGC for each Unit completed and when all 10 Units are completed AGC of America awards National Certification.  Each unit requires class time of once a week for five weeks each Tuesdays from 5 pm-8 pm. Classes are held at the Alabama AGC State Headquarters Building, 5000 Grantswood Road in Irondale. Cost is $200 per unit for AGC members and $250 per unit for non members.

Contact Anna Brown at (205) 451-1409 or via email at annab@alagc.org to register for classes.

Click on link to get detail information on each unit.

STP flyer

Units offered in STP are:

So said former Gov. Bob Riley during a brief talk to the Birmingham Section meeting of the Alabama AGC at its regular February meeting. Some 200 members and guests were in attendance. Follow the link to a brief video of the speech: Gov. Riley Addresses AGC Meeting

Attendees also heard a detailed report on the Patient Protection and Affordable Healthcare Act as well as possible legislation on the CM at Risk on Public Works.

Construction Safety Conf 2013 brochure

“The program is paying for Sean King – who is working with Murray Building Co. – to attend carpentry classes and we are forming a committee to help make decisions on others to scholarship,” said Alabama AGC Vice President Bill Caton. “We are working a good mix of skilled and unskilled tradespeople.

“The program collects 50 cents an hour on skilled workers as well as unskilled and that helps build a substantial craft education fund so we can help the newer industry recruits learn a trade and build a career. Of course, the program also builds a workforce from the ground up while answering an immediate need.”

AGC’s partner in the program, Southern Precision Staffing, can recruit and provide labor in multiple trades. Call Josh Caton at (205) 682-2828 to request labor under the AGCWorks program.

If you need workers for highway construction, call Hal Isbell at Worktrain, at (205) 218-7091.

Contractors participating in the program are: Dunn, Moore and Thompson, MSE, Murray Building, Summitt Electric, B.L. Harbert and Watson-Bruhn in Birmingham; Whaley Construction in Troy; WAR Construction in Tuscaloosa, and Consolidated Electric in Auburn.

Most companies work a mix of skilled and unskilled people, but some, such as Consolidated Electric, work mostly skilled personnel.

“One of the real benefits to the AGCWorks program is that we can customize training to meet the needs of the contractor,” Bill Caton said. “We have had multiple MUTCD classes for road work and OSHA 10-Hour classes for employees who work where that is required.

“These workers also must pass a five-panel drug screen and can be tested with a 10-panel screen if required. AGCWorks also recruits as many workers as possible from our highly successful Go Build Alabama program.”

AGCWorks is a concept created by the Alabama AGC to help build a stable, skilled workforce for the construction industry. It is designed to provide workers on your job on a temporary basis while returning part of the fee to craft education programs.

Click on the link to see how many hours have been worked for Alabama AGC members.    Hours worked by Company

Alabama AGC will provide the administrative assistance needed to operate the program. Contact Bill Caton at 451-1411 or billc@alagc.org for more information.