If you have any questions about this policy, please contact Dee Burch at deeb@callaac.com

For questions related to the bill itself, please contact John Rakowitz at (503) 317-1781.

James L. Watson, director of sales at Regence, will present an overview of the impacts of health care reform for employers in both small and large group markets. Real life scenarios will be presented to illustrate challenges and opportunities employers could encounter. Learn the questions employers should be asking, and resources available to help make important decisions in employer sponsored health coverage.

The session will cover the following topics:

• An overview of health care reform
• The Oregon Exchange (Cover Oregon)
• Considerations – cost vs. culture
• Real life scenarios – challenges and opportunities
• Employer options
• Communicating with employees

Seating for this live session is limited and registration is required. Click here to register.

“Demand for construction continues to grow in many parts of the country amid increasing private sector investments in new residential, energy and supply chain facilities like factories, rail lines and warehouses,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist.  “These private sector gains appear strong enough in many parts of the country to outpace declining public sector investments in infrastructure and buildings.”

Pascagoula, Miss. added the highest percentage of new construction jobs (45 percent, 1,700 jobs), followed by Napa, Calif. (36 percent, 800 jobs); Merced, Calif. (19 percent, 300 jobs); Baton Rouge, La. (16 percent, 6,600 jobs) and Lake Charles, La. (16 percent, 1,400 jobs).  Two metro areas in Texas virtually tied for the most jobs added in the past 12 months: Dallas-Plano-Irving (11,500 jobs, 11 percent) and Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown (11,400 jobs, 6 percent).  They were followed by Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif. (9,400 jobs, 9 percent); Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (7,800 jobs, 13 percent) and Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, Ariz. (7,500 jobs, 9 percent).

The largest job losses were in Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, Ill. (-5,900 jobs, -5 percent), followed by Northern Virginia (-3,200 jobs, -5 percent); Cincinnati-Middletown, Ohio-Ky. (-2,400 jobs, -6 percent) and Raleigh-Cary, N.C. (-2,300 jobs, -8 percent).  Bellingham, Wash. (-20 percent, -1,300 jobs) lost the highest percentage.  Other areas experiencing large percentage declines in construction employment included Decatur, Ill. (-18 percent, -700 jobs); Eau Claire, Wis. (-17 percent, -500 jobs) and Rockford, Ill. (-17 percent, -700 jobs).

Association officials said that improving construction employment was masking longer-term problems that could come from declining public sector investments.  They noted, for example, that economic growth could suffer as aging transportation infrastructure forces firms to pay more to ship goods.  At the same time, increasing construction employment means more areas could experience worker shortages in the near future amid a lack of available workers with experience in certain key construction skills.

“Declining investments in infrastructure and other public assets could ultimately undermine the very growth that is currently boosting employment,” said Stephen E. Sandherr, the association’s chief executive officer.  “With hiring on the rebound in many areas, we also need to rebuild vocational education programs and rethink immigration construction caps to ensure there are enough skilled workers available to meet growing demand.”

View construction employment figures by state and rank.

Summer is quickly approaching and along with summer come fun and the AGC Summer Convention, presented by Anchor Insurance & Surety, Inc. If you have not had a chance to register for the convention, now is the perfect time as the early bird deadline has been extended through Friday, May 17.

So don’t delay, register today!

Flat Tiki

If you’ve attend the AGC Summer Convention before, you know how much fun everyone has. Join us in a little fun before the convention even begins.

Where in the world is Flat Tiki?

If you’ve heard of Flat Stanley, you’ll know what to do… if not, here are three easy steps:

1. Cut out Flat Tiki around the dotted lines. Flat Tiki for print
2. Take a picture of you with Flat Tiki doing something fun, crazy, or just hanging out.
3. Send your photo to AGC. Christina Devlin

We’ll post it on the Summer Convention website, our AGC Facebook page, and other social media sites.

Everyone who joins in the crazy fun will be entered into a drawing for a free night stay at Salishan.

Drawing will be held at the Saturday Night Closing Banquet.

So get creative, promote AGC and the Summer Convention, and send us your best shot!

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Here are five good reasons to attend:

1. Great education – With more educational sessions added to the schedule, there are now over 20 hours of continuing education credits available. Bring your key employees and earn all your continuing education requirements for your CCB license in one weekend!
2. Good for the entire family – Bring the entire family with you and make it a fun weekend for all. Register your spouse for the convention, as she will want to attend the Spouses Brunch and Special Program on the morning of Friday, August 9. The brunch is a fun and informative way for her to meet other spouses in the chapter.
3. Got kids? Bring them along for the Mad Science program. During this very popular two-day program, kids become junior engineers and learn about super structures and the shapes all around us.
4. Growing and staying informed – Keep up on the important issues impacting us here in Oregon, Southwest Washington, and in Washington, D.C. Our keynote speakers will talk about why we should all be involved, informed, and strong leaders for our companies and the industry.
5. Great fun – Along with working hard, comes playing hard! The evenings at the Summer Convention are filled with great events for networking and building business relationships and friendships.
   • Thursday Welcome Reception, presented by Chinook Winds Casino Resort
   • Friday night is our Famous Friday Reception, and we are having a luau – Hawaiian shirts are encouraged!
   • At the Closing Night Banquet on Saturday night we will slip away to paradise and enjoy the tropical breezes in Margaritaville as we listen to the tunes from The Cheeseburgers.

Join us August 8-10 at Salishan Spa and Golf Resort.

Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc.’s Building Girls program helps fill a critical gap for young women by offering ways to explore the variety of exciting, high-paying careers available in the trades. Through supervised hands-on construction experience, positive skills coaching, and working directly with female role models, Building Girls fulfills an unmet community need.

During the high school camp, girls will learn how to build a shed, use power tools, weld, tile, go on field trips and much more. Middle school girls will install trim on the shed, paint the shed, go on field trips, weld, tile, and a variety of other fun activities.

Camps cost only $25 per session and there are a limited number of scholarships are available for each camp session. Apply for a scholarship.

Southern Oregon Camp at Rogue Community College

Combined Middle and High School Girls Camp

June 24–28
9 am–3:30 pm

North Portland Camp at the University of Portland

Breakfast and lunch provided at the North Portland Camp

High School Girls

July 15–19
9:30 am–4:pm

Middle School Girls

THIS CAMP IS FULL. New registrations will be placed on a waiting list.
July 23–26
8:30 am–3 pm

Building Girls Camps are only $25 per session. To apply, visit the website or contact Ashley Kaye, 503-335-8200 x 27.

Visit the website for more information.

“It is heartening to see that both nonresidential and residential segments of the construction industry added significant numbers of workers in the last 12 months, even though gains from March to April were limited to the residential side,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “Other indicators, such as the continuing growth in architectural and engineering employment, suggest that demand for construction will expand further.”

Seasonally adjusted construction employment of 5.79 million in April was 6,000 less than in March, but 154,000, or 2.7 percent, higher than in April 2012, Simonson noted. Residential building and specialty trade contractors added 13,300 workers in the month and 83,700 (4.1 percent) over 12 months. Nonresidential building and specialty trade contractors, along with heavy and civil engineering construction firms, lost 19,700 employees in April, but added 70,100 (2.0 percent) over 12 months. Architectural and engineering services employment climbed by 2,700 in the month and 23,400 (1.8 percent) from a year earlier.

The unemployment rate for jobseekers who last worked in construction fell to 13.2 percent from 14.5 percent in April 2012, the lowest April level since 2008. Three years ago, in April 2010, the rate was 21.8 percent. The industry unemployment rate is not seasonally adjusted and, thus, can be compared to the same month in past years but not month to month.

“The ongoing decline in the construction unemployment rate is only partly a result of opportunities in the industry,” Simonson pointed out. “Unfortunately, many former workers have now left the industry, perhaps permanently, which will make further recovery in construction more difficult.”

Association officials said that if construction employment grows as expected during the coming months, it will become increasingly difficult for employers in particularly fast growing market regions and segments to find qualified workers. They added that a lack of domestic skill-based educational programs and arbitrary caps on the number of construction workers in proposed immigration legislation would make it harder for firms to keep up with growing demand.

“It will not take a lot of growth in demand before many construction firms are scrambling to fill positions with skilled workers,” said Stephen E. Sandherr, the association’s chief executive officer. “We need to provide significantly more opportunities for students to learn skills-based crafts like construction and avoid imposing artificial limits on the size of the construction workforce in immigration legislation.”

Ken Triplett

AGC Oregon-Columbia Chapter member Kenneth R. Triplett (May 31, 1952–April 22, 2013), principal at Triplett Wellman Contractors, died late Monday evening April 22, at his home following a brief illness

Born in Silverton, Oregon, the first child of Jake and Rosabelle Triplett, Ken grew up in Woodburn attending Woodburn High School. He attended Warner Pacific College in Portland for one year before transferring to and graduating from the University of Oregon in Eugene with a degree in Business and Finance.

Ken returned to Woodburn after college and married Tana Jean Beck at the Settlemier House on August 28, 1976. They made their home in Woodburn for a number of years before moving to Wilsonville and then on to Aurora.

In September of 1982, after apprenticing under his father, Jake, at Woodburn Construction, Ken struck out on his own with his friend and business partner Gene Wellman forming the company known as Triplett Wellman Inc. Over the last 30 years, Ken oversaw over 600 million dollars of construction projects.

Ken was also involved in several business ventures with Webstar Development. One in particular development project is the Wellspring Building, which is the main campus for Silverton Hospital Health Center. He served on several advisory boards including the Mid-Valley bank and the Associated General Contractors Oregon-Columbia Chapter’s Board of Directors. He also served as a mentor in the Port of Portland’s Mentor Protégé Program for Disadvantaged Business Enterprises.

Ken is survived by his wife, Tana, three children, Jadon Triplett of Portland, Allison Triplett of Virginia and Matthew Triplett of Corvallis. He is also survived by two sisters, Judie Vandersteen of Woodburn and Linda Aman of Star, Idaho.

A Memorial service will be held on Sunday May 19th at 2:00 P.M. at the Wellspring Center 1475 Mt. Hood Avenue in Woodburn. A Reception will follow. Arrangements by Cornwell Colonial Chapel, Woodburn.

Memorial contributions may be made in lieu of flowers to:

Providence Portland Medical Foundation
Melanoma research
4805 NE Glisan Street
Portland, Oregon 97213

It is important you take a few minutes to participate in the survey. The more responses, the more accurate the survey results. This information can be used to determine your shop’s salaries, and are offering salaries that are competitive throughout the state.

Question regarding the survey should be directed to Jeff Robinson, 734-429-1199.