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Good Afternoon!
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Erica Lange
Assistant Executive Director |
Do you ever feel like you're spinning your wheels at networking events, but not accomplishing as much as you would like? Or do you simply not attend because you think your time is better spent in the office?
We've all been there, but taking the time to prepare and commit to these events may mean the difference between getting a job, making a new peer relationship, or simply strengthening bonds you've already created.
I recently read this article, which offered "19 Ways to 'Kill It' At Your Next Networking Event." I'd suggest taking a look. Many of the strategies may just be best practice reminders to you or you may be surprised to find something new.
The #1 item on the list is to "Research Key Attendees Before the Event." The ABA has recently updated our website registration to include attendee names and companies, making this process easy for you. And if you need an introduction at the event, find Mark Minter, myself, or Tom Dunn. We're happy to provide an intro for you.
As you know, the ABA offers many opportunities for networking throughout the year, from member mixers statewide, to dinners in Tucson, and annual events, like the annual convention, golf tournament, and Officer Installation Dinners.
Construction is one of the most relationship-driven industries there is.
Don't miss your chance to take advantage of some of the best opportunities in the industry for networking at an ABA event.
Upcoming Events include:
- April 10 - 28th Annual Golf Tournament
- April 17 - So. AZ Installation Dinner
- May 7 - Phoenix Member Mixer hosted by Suntec Concrete
You can register for all of these on our website at www.azbuilders.org. I look forward to seeing you all "Kill It"t at one of these events!
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ABA Leads Effort to Pass SB1446
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by Mark Minter
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Mark Minter
Executive Director
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The Arizona Builders Alliance has worked with the Department of Revenue, the League of Cities, the Construction Financial Managers Association, the Arizona Tax Research Association and industry allies to pass SB 1446, creating sweeping changes to sales tax on contractors. The Arizona construction industry was braced for confusing and unworkable changes to the prime contracting tax law effective January of 2015. The State Legislature had previously enacted changes to TPT that range from who must have a tax license to a major switch creating a difference between service and prime contracting.
Those changes included dual tax treatment for contractors purchasing material for new construction versus service and repair work. Under the January 1
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law, a contractor purchasing material for service work would pay tax on the material at the point of sale.
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Southern AZ Chairman's Installation Dinner: Friday, April 17 Sign up now!
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by Tom Dunn
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Tom Dunn
Director for Southern Arizona
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As the Arizona Builders Alliance continues our mission of service and advocacy, we honor our 2014-2015 officers, foremost Chairman, Brad Lloyd, Lloyd Construction. We will swear in our 2015-2016 leadership team of Eric Buchholz, Sun Mechanical Contracting, and Fred Knapp, CORE Construction, at the Tucson Country Club.
We will also take a moment to recognize our past chairmen and women. If you've served, be sure to be there. Volunteer Day chairs - this means you, too!
The Installation Dinner is the ABA's premiere event of the year featuring the leaders of the commercial building industry, terrific food, live music, exceptional silent and live auctions, a memorable swearing-in ceremony and the fellowship of good friends.
The quality of our membership continues to drive the ABA forward.
As strong advocates we strive for the commercial construction industry's interests at the local, state and at the federal levels. It's been quite a year in advocacy for our alliance. We've achieved success through strong support of the membership. We've advocated for our industry nationwide and we also assisted the less fortunate in our hometown of Tucson.
One highlight of the year was Volunteer Day. Your efforts changed lives and helped Faith Lutheran School better serve our community. More than 275 volunteered, donating more than $175,000 in labor and materials. We will once again be collecting Cell Phones for Soldiers at the Installation Dinner in Tucson. Every year, you do more good for our community than can be described.
The membership makes our alliance the best commercial construction association in the country. Please continue to be a part of our successes and attend the April 17 Installation Dinner at the Tucson Country Club; your support allows us to continue to advocate for our industry and the community.
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Eric Buchholz
Sun Mechanical
Incoming ABA Southern Arizona Chairman
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Brad Lloyd
Lloyd Construction
Vice President
Outgoing ABA Southern Arizona Chairman
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Fred Knapp
CORE Construction
Vice President
ABA Southern Arizona Chairman Elect
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ABA is Proud to Announce our 2015 President - Joe Duvall
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| Joe Duvall, Project Executive at Kitchell Construction, was sworn in as the 2015 ABAPresident at the February 13 President's Installation
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Joe Duvall
Kitchell Construction
Project Executive
2015 ABA President
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Dinner. Joe has been in the commercial building industry since college. Duvall joined Kitchell right out of college 30 years ago. Since his early days as an estimator and project engineer, he has played a key role on many of Kitchell's flagship projects including Howard Hughes Parkway Office, Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center, Flagstaff Medical Center, Motorola, Peccole Nevada Association, and Mountainview Hospital, plus scores of others representing hundreds of millions of dollars of work. From the very beginning, he has embodied the firm's purpose and values of honesty and integrity, quality of work, and customer satisfaction. These qualities have made him the consummate internal operations auditor for the company as he travels from jobsite to jobsite sharing his know-how and providing counsel.
Born and raised in Texas, Joe's construction journey has taken him all over the country, from Arizona to Nevada (where he spent 15 years, seven of which running Kitchell's Nevada office) to California to Colorado to Kansas to Tennessee and, full circle back to his roots, to Texas. Today, as Project Executive, he continues to beat the drum as an advocate for Kitchell's clients and for corporate fiscal responsibility. Joe is a 2002 Graduate of the Arizona Builders Alliance's Leadership Development Forum (LDF) and has sat on the Board of Directors for over 4-years. The ABA is proud to welcome Duvall as our fearless leader for 2015! |
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They Are Your Apprentices
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by Fred Ingersoll
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Fred Ingersoll
Director of Apprenticeship & Training
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Summer is coming and the thought of high school and college graduation is on everyone's mind. The looming question for everyone is what's next? Graduates want to find work and our members would love to find some new talent... but how do we connect the two? Internship!
I have been asked about internship from members who are interested in running a program of their own this summer, but there are two big hurdles. The first one is the graduating classes of students. Who are they, what trades are they interested in, and how do we contact them? Working with the Department of Education Technical Training Director, there will be a plan in place next year to capture this data from all of the NCCER trained individuals in the high schools. This will provide our members with an exclusive list they can use to find candidates.
The second challenge is the member readiness for internship. In response, over the Summer, I will be developing an ABA/AGC Internship Manual. From this manual, I will be able to help members put together their internship leaders in their organization and really identify what they are looking for and how to interview candidates. This will include the legalities of running an internship program. Over the next year, while we are collecting the student data, planning and development of the programs will be implemented in preparation. To quote Louis Pasteur, "Fortune favors the prepared."
Articles with a Mission
I want to say thank you to all of our member who take the time to read this section. What I would like to do is build articles and responses that are based on your questions and needs. If you have a question that may be related to either training or human resources please let me know.
Fred Ingersoll
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ABC's 2014 Year in Review
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 One of our two alliance associations, the Associated Builders & Contractors, Inc. worked hard in 2014 on your behalf.
Whether it was helping you win work, deliver work safely, ethically, and profitably, or helping develop your people, they provided lots of programs on a national basis to do these things, as well as guiding our local ABA chapter in these pursuits.
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AGC's Young Constructors Associate Membership
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The Young Constructors Associate (YCA) membership is designed to serve as an interim step for recent college graduates who have received a construction-related degree from an accredited program. The goal is to provide new industry entrants with a connection to AGC of America until such time as they find employment within an AGC member firm.
An individual may hold a YCA membership in AGC of America only during the first 10 years following their graduation date. An individual may hold such a membership for no more than 7 of those 10 years.
The YCA is a national membership and not a Chapter membership. AGC of America encourages YCA members to get involved in their local AGC Chapter as much as that Chapter allows and, when hired by a firm, encourages membership with the local AGC Chapter.
If you know a recent graduate or if you participate in workforce development programs in the construction industry, let them know about the YCA Membership. During our luncheon last week, it was pointed out that Millennials will comprise 75% of our workforce in 10-years. These folks are the future of our industry and the future of our association. Having them become AGC members now, means they'll be future ABA members when their talents have landed them in the right positions.
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Need Your Old Cell Phones to Reach 1,500 Goal
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The ABA's Community Service Board is collecting cell phones for soldiers. For every  two phones we can collect, Cell Phones for Soldiers will donate an hour of calling time to a soldier overseas. Our goal is 1,500 phones, but we need your help to get there.
How can you help?
- Drop off your old cell phones at the ABA's offices in Phoenix or Tucson by May 22nd.
- Ask your company's IT or HR department if they have old phones that they can donate. Last year we discovered several companies with a couple of hundred phones they had no use for.
- Place a collection box in your office. Print an 8 1/2" x 11" box poster here or an oversized 18" x 24" poster here. If you are in need of a collection box, please contact Erica Lange.
- Print these flyers and distribute to your customers, vendors, and post in your lobbies.
- Place this website banner on your company's website with a link back to the ABA's Cellphones for Soldiers webpage.
*Cell Phones For Soldiers is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with tax ID #20-1343425. Contributions may be deductible for income tax purposes to the extent allowed by law. Valuations of Gifts in Kind are the privilege and responsibility of the donor.
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The Great Pyramid
The base of the Great Pyramid in Egypt is large enough to cover ten football fields. According to the Greek historian Herodotus, it took 400,000 men twenty years to construct this great monument.
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