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News
CONSTRUCTION OPPORTUNITIES ON RISE LOCALLY
WEIRTON — Representatives of local labor, industry and government were told Tuesday the business climate is turning around in the region, and efforts continue to attract new jobs to the Ohio Valley.
The discussion took place during a networking luncheon with Project BEST, held at the Holiday Inn on Three Springs Drive.
Project BEST is a labor-management company formed by the Upper Ohio Valley Building and Construction Trades Council and the Ohio Valley Construction Employers Council to promote local labor. Read More ...
Mayor Glenn Elliott to Withdraw Petition for Two-Way Downtown Wheeling Traffic
WHEELING — Mayor Glenn Elliott said there is no consensus in the city for having two-way traffic downtown, and city leaders now will push a plan for enhanced one-way traffic they contend will slow cars and make crosswalks safer. Read More...
Broadband company erecting towers in pursuit to bring internet to Harrison County
HARRISON COUNTY, Ohio — A high-speed internet company in Harrison County is aiming to bring a new kind of internet that will serve rural customers who have struggled with satellite signals. Read More...
Murray Energy Accused Of Frivolous Lawsuits Against Gas Plants
CHARLESTON, WV – With the burgeoning evolution in gas fired power plants, solar and wind energy attempting to remain relevant, the coal industry has not only refused to accept the dying industry many feel it’s become but they’ve fought back to the point of filing lawsuits against these power plants-and frivolous at that, according to a Harrison County Power (HCP) press release.
Shell leases 256,000-square-foot building for cracker parking
Shell is taking another step to prepare for the busy vertical construction coming up on its $6 billion cracker development in Potter Township, Beaver County, by leasing a large industrial building near Pittsburgh International Airport. Read More...
Bids come in $100M over estimates
Bids for the first major "Roads to Prosperity" highways construction project to go to bid opening have come in more than $100 million over estimates, according to Division of Highways documents.
"Honestly, we're just going to have to take a look to see if there's anything that contributed to the bids coming in higher than the estimated cost," Highways spokesman Brent Walker said Thursday of the bids for the Interstate 70 project in Wheeling.
The project, which entails the reconstruction or rehabilitation of 7 miles of interstate highway, including 22 bridges, had an estimated cost of $172.5 million, according to the division's Roads to Prosperity project list, published Sept. 8, 2017. Read More...
Proceed With The I-70 Project
Some sections of Interstate 70 in Ohio County, including bridges, have been in need of repair or complete rehabilitation for years. The work simply has to be done for the safety of the traveling public.
Plans to undertake the project have run into a deep pothole, however. Read More...
CONSTRUCTION EMPLOYMENT FIGURES RELEASED - WEST VIRGINIA MOVES TO #7
Forty-three states and the District of Columbia added construction jobs between June 2017 and June 2018, while 32 states and D.C. added construction jobs between May and June, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of Labor Department data. While other states numbers continue to increase, West Virginia has dropped to seventh with 2,200 jobs added, a 7.1 percent increase. West Virginia lost the highest percentage of construction jobs for the month (-2.1 percent, -700 jobs), followed by South Carolina and Ohio. West Virginia led the nation for five consecutive months for the largest percentage of new construction jobs. Members can click the links to view the state employment data by  rank state  and  peak . View the state employment  map .
BB&T Charitable Fund donates $500K for new WVU business college complex
A $500,000 grant from the BB&T Charitable Fund will be used in the Center for Financial Literacy and Education at WVU’s College of Business and Economics and for the new business school complex to be built on Morgantown’s waterfront. Read More...
How the Trump Tax Cut Is Helping to Push the Federal Deficit to $1 Trillion
The amount of corporate taxes collected by the federal government has plunged to historically low levels in the first six months of the year, pushing up the federal budget deficit  much faster than economists had predicted . Read More...
DOH continues to fight vacancies with hiring events
The West Virginia Division of Highways is continuing with recruitment events throughout the state in order to fill its 500 vacancies ahead of the Roads to Prosperity Highway Program that was passed in October.
DOH’s most recent hiring event was Thursday at their headquarters in Bridgeport, in which more than 100 individuals showed up to apply for the various openings in District 4. Read More...
Safety and Education
OVCEC Education Survey
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OSHA Postpones Enforcement of Certain Provisions of Beryllium Standard to August 9
OSHA is postponing enforcement of certain requirements of the final rule on occupational exposure to beryllium in general industry. Requirements originally scheduled for enforcement on June 25 will not be enforced until Aug. 9. The requirements include beryllium work areas, regulated work areas, methods of compliance, personal protective clothing and equipment, hygiene areas and practices, housekeeping, communication of hazards, and recordkeeping. For more information, read the  memorandum .
Retain Employees with These 5 Actions
R ecent research conducted by iCIMS shows that workers stay with an employer for 2 to 3 years on average. Additionally, up to 70% of employees leave a company for better pay, and 53% claim that they leave because they don’t think that their employers care about them as individuals. In other words, retaining employees should be a concern for every employer right now.Below are five things you can do right now to better retain employees. Read More...
Plan Room News
A di What Is the Plan Room?
  • It is a conveniently located source of construction plans for the Ohio Valley area
  • It publishes a weekly Construction Report listing projects out for bid, due dates, apparent low bidders and contracts awarded
  • It provides updates on projects throughout the week by email
  • It provides online access to plans and specifications for your review and downloading
  • It provides bidders lists
  • It has staff that will get the plans you need whenever possible

Submit Plans & Specs
As an Owner or Architect of a project, placing your project plans in the OVCEC Plan Room will help to insure the success of your project.
The Plan Room will:
  • Help you publicize your project
  • Increase the quantity and quality of bids you receive for your project
  • Help you get addenda out to bidders
  • Reduce your cost of blueprint duplication by allowing electronic submission to Plan Room Online