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2019 Bridge Construction Award Winners Announced
The winners for the 2019 MnDOT - AGC Bridge Construction Awards have recently been selected. The awardees from three categories are:
High Category (Construction cost greater than $5 million) MnDOT District 6.
Bridge No. 5900 over the Mississippi in Winona, MN. The contractor was
Ames Construction.
Medium Category (Construction cost between $1.5 and $5 million) MnDOT District 3.
Bridge No. 86821, Fallon Ave. over Interstate 94 in Monticello, MN. The contractors were E
ureka Construction and Redstone Construction.
Low Category (construction cost less than $1.5 million) Fillmore County. Bridge No. 23536, Heron Rd. over the South Branch of the Root River in Carrolton Township, MN. The contractor was
ICON Constructors.
Projects were judged based on innovation, complexity, timeliness, and workmanship.
The awards will be presented in Spring of 2020, at the AGC Office in St. Paul. Congratulations to
all awardees for their excellent work!
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 Directors and Officers Coverage Renewal:
Pitfalls to Avoid (Part II)
Many D&O policies contain an arbitration provision. Some are mandatory and the arbitration results are binding. Others are optional requiring agreement of the parties. While arbitration provisions may be inviting, policyholders may want to think twice before agreeing to them. They are touted as a cost saver, but in my experience, arbitrations can be as costly as litigation. Some arbitration organizations require up-front fees that are set based upon the potential size of the underlying claim, regardless of the likelihood of recovery.
Read More
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Gopher State One Call Seeks Stories of the Unexpected
Gopher State One Call has officially announced their Learn From the Unexpected Facebook series project. This series aims to bring the excavation community together over the shared goal of safety and damage prevention. GSOC is currently calling for story submissions in which excavators encountered something unexpected at a jobsite and
shares
the steps they took to keep the project on schedule.
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Legislators Close Out Week 2
The MN Legislature convened on February 11th and continued their conversations this week on how much to borrow for public infrastructure projects. The House Committee chair, Rep. Mary Murphy (DFL-Hermantown), stated the House bill would likely surpass the $3 billion dollar mark. Senate Republicans have generally said they want to keep a bonding bill below $1 billion. Any final deal would be struck towards the end of session (May 18th) with the necessary political maneuvering to achieve a 60% majority vote in both the House and the Senate.
Next week, the state budget forecast will be updated. Last November, the State had a projected $1.3 billion dollar surplus. Legislators have staked out their plans to use surplus dollars and, as expected, Minnesota's split legislature has different ideas on how to spend it. Although the legislature is not required the use the funds, there are incentives going into the election cycle to fund program priorities or cut taxes with the surplus dollars by both the House and the Senate.
This past week, AGC governmental relations staff monitored or engaged in legislative conversations related to: worker safety and underground damage prevention, wage theft implementation, federal conformity for crane standards, workforce certificate compliance to out-of-state contractors, state agency bonding requests, and more. If you are interested in engaging in these and other issues that arise, consider joining AGC's legislative committee by emailing
Laura Ziegler, AGC Director of Highway/Heavy and Government Affairs.
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2020 AGC Legislative Committee Meetings
Monday, March 2nd
Tuesday, March 17th
Monday, March 23rd is AGC Day at the Capitol
Thursday, April 2nd
(April 3-13 is legislative break)
Thursday, April 23rd
Thursday, May 7th
Thursday, May 21st
All meetings will begin at 11:30 and end no later than 1:00. Lunch will be provided. All meetings are at the AGC Office and will have a Skype call in option. The agenda will be sent one day in advance. In the event there few updates that do not warrant a meeting, staff will notify the committee and provide any relevant updates in written form.
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2020 Labor Negotiations Event
If you have a collective bargaining agreement expiring this Spring, be sure to
RSVP to Mike
whether you are able or not able to attend the negotiations event on March 4th.
Did you complete the survey on
negotiation
issues? If not, please contact Mike.
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Carpenters' Pension Fund Conversion
The Trustees of the Carpenters' Pension Fund have released a
first video explaining the conversion of the pension fund from a defined benefit to a hybrid plan. More videos and information will follow.
If you are an AGC member and don't have login credentials for our website,
Renee would love to give you some. If you have not gotten emails updating you about this development, please contact
Ana to confirm that you are included as a Carpenters signatory in our records.
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Form Termination Notices
Termination notices are due to unions with whom you have an expiring collective bargaining agreement. Form termination notices are available
here (if you are a member and do not have login credentials,
Renee would love to get you set up). If you did not receive an email from Mike about this form and are signed to an expiring CBA, please contact
Mike as soon as possible.
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AGC Economic Summit
Where is the construction economy heading?
Is your business model focused on hot markets?
Where are the opportunities?
Which trends are pushing and pulling the industry?
How will materials pricing or challenges in the labor market affect your bottom line?
AGC is pleased to present a unique opportunity to hear from two nationally-recognized experts, Ken Simonson (Chief Economist, AGC of America) and Jay Bowman (Principal, FMI), as they share observations and insights of significance to the commercial construction industry.
Join us on March 4 for a peek behind the curtain into local and nati
onal economies and
trends.
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Congratulations to Doug Gjerstad of Watson-Forsberg Co. on graduating from the STP program this month!
STP graduates complete and demonstration competency in each of the 6 units:
Leadership
Communication
Planning & Scheduling
Contract Documents
Improving Productivity & Managing Project Costs
Risk Management & Problem Solving
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MnDOT Respectful Workplace Webinar
MnDOT Office of Civil Rights is hosting a free webinar - "Strategies for Creating a Respectful Workplace: Implementing best practices to improve workplace culture" on
March 5 from 12-1 p.m. Successful construction employers know that to meet future workforce challenges, they need to recruit from diverse talent pools, which means establishing a respectful and inclusive workplace culture that is welcoming to all.
If you are interested in participating in the webinar, please RSVP by February 27 to
byron.millea@state.mn.us or 651-366-3315.
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Excavation Safety Conference
The 2020 CGA 811 Excavation Safety Conference & Expo (March 24-26, Palm Springs) features education for all stakeholders.
- Believe in Safety: Know the Risks of Short Cuts
- Online Locate Requests vs Phone Submissions: Why Go Virtual, and is it Safe?
- Installing and Mapping Underground Infrastructure While Capturing GPS: Today, Tomorrow, and Beyond
- Learning from Tragedy: How Past Dig-Ins Can Help Improve Safety
Learn more
here
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Associated General Contractors of Minnesota
525 Park Street, Suite 110 |
St. Paul, MN 55103
651-632-8929
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