Skilled Construction Trades and Respected Contractors
Building Wisconsin Together ®
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Welcome to Construction Business Group's Industry Updates. This monthly e-newsletter will help us communicate the important initiatives that we have underway and relevant updates on issues that impact Wisconsin's construction industry. |
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Message from Executive Director Robb Kahl |
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CBG’s Bidder Database Continues to Grow |
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When local governments and state agencies competitively bid public works, the award must go to the “lowest responsible bidder.” Determining whether a bidder is “responsible” can be a difficult task unless the local government or agency has an extensive contractor pre-qualification process, which is beyond the resources of most municipalities.
To assist local governments, other project owners and general contractors with the pre-qualification process, Construction Business Group (CBG) has developed a free, online Bidder Database that contains reliable public information (such as judgments, tax liens, debarment records, OSHA violations, etc.) on construction companies known to work in Wisconsin.
The database was created in cooperation with the League of Wisconsin Municipalities, the Wisconsin Counties Association and the Wisconsin Towns Association. Local government officials (and only local government officials) have access to a project evaluation form that may be completed for public works projects and loaded into the Bidder Database. The project evaluation is a short, easy-to-navigate digital questionnaire. The project evaluation form contains three basic objective questions: was the project on time, on budget and built to specifications.
This month the Bidder Database crossed two important milestones. First, the Bidder Database now contains over 12,000 construction companies. Second, the number of people registered to use the Bidder Database reached 500. Maintenance and upkeep of the Bidder Database is a large undertaking for CBG staff, led by Paralegal Cheryl Louis. I am extremely proud of CBG’s innovative tool for local governments, other project owners and contractors. If you have not used the Bidder Database yet, register for and access the database at responsiblewisconsin.com.
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Building Wisconsin Together® |
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Nickelodeon Segment Features Local 139 Coloma Training Center |
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We know that the state-of-the-art training center is world class and now the whole world knows it! Nick News Reporter Rory Hu joined us this spring for the Externship Day as part of the Nick News special feature on the infrastructure bill. Click the image on the right to see the whole episode. |
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Building Wisconsin Together® |
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Transportation Jobs Lead Pandemic Recovery |
Jobs related to the shipping and storage of goods have increased at the fastest rate of all economic sectors in Wisconsin since the onset of Covid-19 caused the steepest drop in employment in more than 20 years, according to a Wisconsin Policy Forum report released this week. It said total employment in Wisconsin in December 2021 was still down 2.4% (69,428 jobs) relative to December 2019, just before the pandemic resulted in large job losses in spring 2020.
Since then, the transportation and warehousing sector has expanded more than twice as fast as any other sector -- growing from 121,404 jobs in December 2019 to 129,015 in December 2021, a 6.3% increase.
The report noted that two subsectors within transportation and warehousing were particularly noteworthy. Warehousing and storage -- such as Amazon fulfillment centers that have opened in the state since 2015 -- added nearly 8,000 jobs (+33.7%) between 2019 and 2021 for a total of 31,750 jobs. Couriers and messengers -- those delivering items at the local and intercity levels -- added nearly 4,000 jobs (+26.6%) to reach 18,950.
Wisconsin's post-pandemic economy has shifted from in-person visits to restaurants and retail establishments to more products being ordered online and delivered to people's homes.
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Dan Sperberg, Local 139 Training Director, appointed as Apprenticeship Ambassador by Department of Labor |
On July 12, DOL announced the selection of the first cohort of 207 officials and organizations chosen to serve as Apprenticeship Ambassadors to promote, diversify, and expand Registered Apprenticeship and create pathways into quality jobs, especially for underserved and marginalized communities that need them the most. Ambassadors communicate the value of Registered Apprenticeships as a workforce strategy in high-demand industries and have committed to develop and expand opportunities for people who have been underserved historically. DOL continues to encourage organizations to apply.
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US Department of Labor Launches Timesheet App for Workers, EMployers to Record Work Hours, Overtime, Breaks; Compute wages |
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division and Office of the Chief Information Officer today launched an app for use on Android devices that helps track work hours, break time, overtime hours and calculates wages due. The department previously launched the iOS version of the division’s Timesheet App. Read more
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WisDOT Releases Draft EV Infrastructure Plan |
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The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) this week released a draft of its electric vehicle infrastructure plan, which details how it will invest $78 million Wisconsin will receive from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for charging stations. The plan must be submitted to the Federal Highway Administration by Aug. 1. Electric vehicle registrations in the state increased from 319 in 2013 to 9,039 by Jan. 1, 2022, or 0.1% of the vehicle fleet. WisDOT projects that will grow to 217,048 in 2027 (4.1% of fleet), 334,097 by 2030 (6.1%), 553,686 by 2035 (9.9%), 843,623 by 2040 (14.7%) and 1,863,585 by 2050 (31%).
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OSHA Launches Trench Safety Initiative Amid Sharp Rise in Deaths |
Two workers in Texas were killed June 28 when the unprotected 20-ft-deep trench they were inside collapsed, as trench shields sat unused beside the excavation.
They were the 21st and 22nd workers to die in trench-related incidents this year. That put the number of such deaths in the first half of 2022 up 68% compared with 15 similar fatalities for all of 2021, according to the U.S. Dept. of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
In response to the recent significant increase in deaths, OSHA announced on July 14 that it had launched enhanced enforcement initiatives to protect workers from known hazards of trenching and excavation. Read More
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Georgia-Pacific Breaks Ground on $500M Expansion |
A $500 million expansion is underway at Georgia-Pacific's Broadway mill. The investments will significantly enhance the company’s retail consumer tissue and towel business. Investments include building a new paper machine using through-air-dried (TAD) technology and adding associated converting equipment and infrastructure. The improvements will allow the expansion of Georgia-Pacific’s premium brands and support the growth of current and potential customers’ premium private label brands. It's expected to be complete in 2024. Read More
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Construction Business Group | 608-240-4170 | www.cbgwi.com |
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