PTT Buys Another 300+ Acres for Belmont County, OH Cracker
In yet another very good sign that the proposed PTT Global Chemical ethane cracker plant in Belmont County, OH is headed for a positive final investment decision (FID), PTT has just purchased another 300+ acres to go along with the previous acreage they purchased as the site for the future cracker/petrochemical project. Last July MDN reported PTT had spent $13.8 million to buy 168 acres at the proposed site for a second Appalachia ethane cracker, in Belmont County, OH.
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Ohio County Bond Levy Passes
Ohio County voters, with more than 60 percent approval, tonight OK’d a $42.2 million school bond.
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Construction employment hits highest point since June 2008
Construction companies added 257,000 jobs in the year-long period running through April, according to seasonally adjusted figures reported Friday.
The Associated General Contractors of America reported that 7.174 million people were employed in construction in April, a number up by 3.7 percent from the same month last year. That put construction employment at its highest level since June 2008.
More than half of the new jobs – 131,700 – were in non-residential construction, including specialty trades and heavy and civil engineering. The remaining 125,500 were in residential construction.
AGC officials said pay increases appear to be attracting more people to the industry. The average wage paid in the industry in April was $29.63 an hour, a number up 3.5 percent from the same month a year before.
The average hourly wage for all nonfarm private-sector jobs was $26.84 in April. AGC officials called on government officials to ensure the country has a steady supply of construction workers by putting money into training.
“”It is time to start showing more of our young adults that high-paying careers in construction should be on the list of professions they consider,” said Stephen Sandherr, AGC chief executive. “Not every student needs to amass a mountain of college debt just to be able to make mediocre wages working in a fluorescent-lit cube farm.”
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High-Paying Trade Jobs Sit Empty, While High School Grads Line Up For University
Like most other American high school students, Garret Morgan had it drummed into him constantly: Go to college. Get a bachelor's degree.
"All through my life it was, 'if you don't go to college you're going to end up on the streets,' " Morgan said. "Everybody's so gung-ho about going to college."
So he tried it for a while. Then he quit and started training as an ironworker, which is what he is doing on a weekday morning in a nondescript high-ceilinged building with a concrete floor in an industrial park near the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
Morgan and several other men and women are dressed in work boots, hard hats and Carhartt's, clipped to safety harnesses with heavy wrenches hanging from their belts. They're being timed as they wrestle 600-pound I-beams into place.
Seattle is a forest of construction cranes, and employers are clamoring for skilled ironworkers. Morgan, who is 20, is already working on a job site when he isn't at the Pacific Northwest Ironworkers shop. He gets benefits, including a pension, from employers at the job sites where he is training. And he is earning $28.36 an hour, or more than $50,000 a year, which is almost certain to steadily increase.
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What small businesses are doing with tax cuts
Only 15 percent of small business owners plan to use proceeds from tax reform to increase wages and benefits, a new survey from LendingTree shows.
A new
survey from LendingTree
shows that only 15 percent of small business owners plan to use proceeds from tax reform to increase wages and benefits.
Thirty-five percent of the 1,000 owners surveyed said they would use any money to pay down debt. Another 27 percent said they didn't plan any changes to their businesses.
The LendingTree survey showed that 65 percent expect to see savings as a result of the Tax Reform and Jobs Act, enacted in December.
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As you know, both state legislatures have adjourned. Ohio has adjourned until after the May 8 primary election. The General Assembly is expected to return on May 15. The West Virginia Legislature has adjourned for the year on March 9. Governor Justice has indicated, however, that he may call them back into special session in early summer. We will see.
Ohio
In an unexpected move, Ohio Speaker of the House, Cliff Rosenberger, has abruptly resigned his Speakers position as well as his seat in the General Assembly. Rosenberger, who was to be term limited in 2018, was an alleged target of an FBI probe relating to foreign legislative junkets paid for by the “pay day loan”industry. Rosenberger has proclaimed his innocence and announced that his resignation would spare the General Assembly a politically divisive issue leading into the next Speakers race.
The House Speaker Pro Tempore, Kurt Schuring (R-Canton), will temporarily assume the Speakers position until a new Speaker can be elected. A formal replacement election has been scheduled for May 15. Two current House members are vying for the Speakers’s position: Representative Larry Householder (R-Perry County) and Representative Ryan Smith (R-Gallipoli). Since both Speaker candidates have been supporting different slates of republican candidates, the primary results will be critical in determining the next Speaker.
In other news, the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation has announced a planned $1.5 billion rebate to state ratepayers. The rebate, according to the BWC’s Sara Morrison, is the result of a strong investment portfolio and sound management practices. The preliminary rebate plan has to be approved by the BWC Board when they meet on May 27. If approved, the total amount of rebates awarded since 2011 would equal $8 billion.
West Virginia
With the state primary election approaching on May 8, most political attention has been focused on the republican race to elect a nominee for US Senate and an eventual November showdown with incumbent US Senator Joe Manchin. The republican campaign has been led by the three major aspirants: current AG,
Pat
Morrisey; current US Congressman Evan Jenkins (R-2nd); and former Massey Coal CEO, Don Blankenship.
The campaign has been punctuated by divisive political attacks between the three major candidates. Recent polling shows an extremely close race with Jenkins and Morrisey in a possible dead heat approaching the proverbial home stretch. Blankenship has acquitted his self quite well in recent debates and remains a looming threat to surprise the electorate next week. The winner will square off against Manchin in what will surely become one of the most antic
ipate
d tests for the national Republican Party. Stay tuned.
Pat McCune OVCEC Political Consultant
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How Contractors Can Build Their Reputation for Safety and Quality
Construction starts continue to be on a steady rise, meaning contractors are taking on more projects with no additional labor to complete them. While it can be tempting to skimp on quality products and services, safety and quality are intertwined, so there’s no room for lax building practices. Builders must be focused on providing higher levels of safety and consider installing solutions that incorporate safety measures that go beyond minimum code requirements.
Positive customer feedback is key to business success; builders and contractors not only need to make sure their projects are completed on time and on budget, they should look for ways to ensure the quality of their work is exceeding that of their competition. With key investments continuing in both safety and quality, contractors can benefit in the long run.
INVEST IN WORKER SAFETY
According to
Electrical Safety Foundation International’s latest report
, there was a 15 percent increase in occupational electrical fatalities between 2015 and 2016. The same report found younger workers were 2.3 times more likely to experience fatalities than more experienced workers. Given the nature of the work, electrical contractors and builders must put a large emphasis on safety to protect both their workers and their customers.
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In 2014,
Price Waterhouse
found the highest incidences of sexual harassment were reported in the entertainment industry and in construction. Four years later, the #metoo and Time’s Up! movements have thrown a spotlight on women and the workplace, demanding solutions that are comprehensive and empowering.
Women have been in construction since the 13th century, mostly as laborers and in the building trades. Today, there are few women who work as laborers, but the majority of women in construction work in sales, management and support roles in the office. Women make up about 9 percent of the construction industry in North America and up to 20 percent internationally. These numbers have not significantly changed in the last decade and there has been little upward mobility through promotion. This is true even though construction has a higher than average rate of equity (91 percent) than other industries (83 percent).
THE MALE PARADIGM
Despite the close parity in pay, construction remains a “good old boy’s network,” referring to a male paradigm. A
Vice TV episode
focused on men in construction and gender and reports of harassment toward women bordering on abuse and harassment.
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The 10 biggest contractor fines under Trump's OSHA
The president's administration may be reluctant to "shame" contractors, but it doesn't seem unwilling to levy big fines.
During the Obama administration, Occupational Safety and Health Administration press releases that accompanied safety violation citations and notices of proposed fines were often of the "shaming" variety, according to Edwin G. Foulke Jr., former assistant secretary of labor for OSHA under President George W. Bush. He said the approach seemed to be a strategy to force construction contractors or companies in other industries to retroactively take a look at their safety programs and tighten them up before an OSHA inspector made his or her way into their workplaces.
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OVCEC UNDER CONSTRUCTION MAGAZINE
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The OVCEC's April publication of
Under Construction
was recently delivered to our member's mailboxes! Are you receiving it? If not, email us at
ovcec@ovcec.com
or call us today at (304) 242-0520 to add yourself or a client to our mailing list.
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