|
This Week is National Apprenticeship Week
National Apprenticeship Week is a nationwide celebration where employers, industry associations, labor organizations, community-based organizations, workforce partners, education providers, and government leaders host events to showcase the successes and value of Registered Apprenticeship.
Apprenticeships are instrumental in re-building our economy, advancing racial and gender equity, building a pipeline to good quality jobs, and supporting underserved communities. More information
| |
|
Legislators Check Out New Views from North Loop Green
Located directly next to the Target Field Light Rail Station, this project is an excellent example of the complex work Associated General Contractors members do – coordination between multiple jurisdictions. Kraus-Anderson Construction is the general contractor for North Loop Green, a new mixed-use development located in Minneapolis’s North Loop. The development is an investment in downtown Minneapolis and will include residential units, commercial and retail space, and green areas. It contains 350 units of housing and 14 stories of office space.
AGC is sponsoring job site tours with members and legislators to highlight the important work contractors do to build communities. Many thanks to Kraus-Anderson for hosting, and Representatives Larry Kraft and Bernie Perryman for your support of the MN construction industry!
| |
|
Join the AGC Legislative Committee
Our Legislative Committee will be recapping last session, making policy recommendations, and looking ahead to the 2024 legislative session.
Contact Laura Ziegler to join the committee. All meetings are held at 11:00 AM via Zoom.
Upcoming Meetings:
Wednesday, November 29
Thursday, December 14
| |
|
2023 Lifetime Achievement and SRI Awards Announced
We are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2023 Lifetime Achievement and Skill-Responsibility-Integrity (SRI) Awards! Please join us in honoring these individuals at AGC Honors 2024.
Click the images below to learn more about these extraordinary individuals.
| |
|
2023 Lifetime Achievement Award:
Al Gerhardt
| |
|
2023 Skill-Responsibility-Integrity (SRI) Award:
Mark Ziegler
| |
Coming Soon: 2023 recipients of the Jeff Jensen Memorial Construction Safety Excellence Awards, the DEI Awards, and the joint AGC/MnDOT Bridge Awards! | |
|
Union Alumni Agreements
Watch your mail for union alumni agreements. These apply to employees who want to continue their union benefits but no longer perform the work of the trade (such as superintendents). Federal law requires a written agreement for the Taft-Hartley fringe funds to accept contributions on behalf of these employees and the alumni agreement fulfills this requirement. Carpenters’ joint benefits boards recently updated their agreement and mailed copies to signatories (get your Carpenters’ agreement to Cullen at Wilson-McShane ASAP), Laborers’ boards are in the process of creating a new agreement, and other trades may be following.
| |
|
Joint Employer Rule—Expands Liability and Bargaining Obligations
The NLRB issued a final joint-employer rule to determine whether one company has an employment relationship with the employees of another company. The new rule will look to seven factors, any one of which could trigger a finding joint employer liability. These factors include the supervision of the performance of duties; work rules and directions governing the manner, means, and methods of the performance of duties and the grounds for discipline; and working conditions related to the safety and health of employees. (Joint-Employer Rule) This Rule creates huge concerns for construction contractors where a superintendent on a jobsite could direct employees of another company and potentially create new employment liabilities for her company such as workers’ compensation or discrimination/harassment claims. The Rule also might require a joint employer to bargain collectively with a union employee or engage in union dispute resolution processes.
Takeaways. Contractors should review boilerplate language in their contracts and overall steer away from control language and favor more compliance language. AGC-MN is tweaking its form contracts to add this clarification (2024 – Feb. 2025 version). AGC of America is challenging this Rule (Complaint Link). Stay tuned.
| |
|
ESST Update
The earned safe and sick time statute takes effect on 1 January, 2024. This means that employers must a) give notice to employees of the ESST provisions, b) begin accruing ESST time and printing the time on paystubs, and c) update policies and otherwise comply with the statute by 1 January, 2024. We have recorded webinars to help guide you on ESST requirements. Plus, at Mike’s Thanksgiving Zoom Social next week, we’ll give an update on the status of the tentative agreement to waive these requirements for union employees and answer questions about that agreement (e.g. will alumni fall under the ESST statute or waiver?).
| |
|
AGC-MN Form Contracts
The contracts committee met this week to perform its annual review of the form contracts for clarity and legal changes. It looks like any tweaks will be small and limited, and, with this added time, the committee is responding to requests for Residential and Service-Maintenance agreements. To join the committee (members only) or if you have feedback for the committee, please contact Mike.
| |
|
Mike's Thanksgiving Zoom Social
It’s been a year. In gratitude for all that we have accomplished and to provide an informal time to catch up, Mike is hosting an online, informal zoom meeting on Wednesday morning at 9am (Nov 22). It will be an open conversation to touch on any topic of interest, such as:
- Update on earned safe and sick time including status on tentative waiver agreement with trades
- Union alumni agreements
- AGC form construction contracts
- National solar agreements
- Cameras in cabs
- Piledriver apprentice recruitment
- Carpenters-Contractors meeting in Duluth
- Special Guests: Matt Semerad (CHASE Safety & Education) & Laura Zeigler (Legislative)
- and more!
Plus Mike will have special guests! Join for this hour to ask questions, get updates, and toast to all that has been accomplished so far in 2023, and potentially figure out whom Mike is channeling. This online social is informal—no jacket required. BYOT.
| |
|
CHASE Level 3 Project
Congratulations to Mortenson on their new CHASE Level 3 project: the Graco Anoka Building Addition!
CHASE contractors achieved a collective 1.12 incident rate in 2022, making CHASE jobsites over 76% safer than the rest of the MN construction industry.
| |
TODAY is the DEADLINE to apply for: | |
|
If you, or someone in your firm, is charged with making decisions or influencing decisions on behalf of the firm, AGC's Executive Circle is a must. Participants explore various aspects of transformational leadership over six sessions with Tina Nazier, Wipfli’s National Construction and Real Estate Organizational Performance Strategy Leader. The 2024 program runs January 25 to May 16.
| |
|
AGC's DEI awards recognize member businesses for their initiatives in the diversity, equity, and inclusion space, and are presented in four categories:
| |
|
Infrastructure Trends: The Art of the Roundabout
In just a quarter century, the number of roundabouts has increased 3,000 percent across the country. Roundabouts are growing in prevalence because of how they can effectively, efficiently, and safely move traffic. Numerous designs and geometric shapes allow roundabouts to seamlessly integrate into our transportation infrastructure. Roundabouts are an infrastructure trend that’s here to stay. Click here to read more
By Andrew Plowman, SR Project Manager
| |
|
AGC Holiday Reception
Join us on December 6 (4:30-7:30 pm, but come at 4:00 for the business meeting!) for the 2023 AGC Holiday Reception at Quiney Hall! This annual event is our chance to celebrate another wonderful year with our peers in the Minnesota construction industry.
Parking is included for attendees, with many surface lot spots available.
| |
|
Annual Business Meeting Notice
Notice is given to the voting members of Associated General Contractors of Minnesota, a Minnesota cooperative organization (the "Association"), that the December 2023 annual meeting of the voting members will be held at Quincy Hall (1325 Quincy St NE, Minneapolis, MN 55413), at 4:00 pm on Wednesday, December 6, 2023, for the following purposes:
1. To approve the December 8, 2022 Annual Meeting Minutes.
2. To ratify and approve the acts of the Association's Officers and Directors.
3. To approve the Treasurer's Report.
4. To receive the Nominating Committee's Report and elect Directors of the Association.
5. To transact such other business as may properly come before the meeting or any adjournment(s) thereof.
This year's annual meeting includes a vote on proposed amendments to our bylaws, which have been approved by the AGC Board of Directors.
| Thanks to our Holiday Reception Sponsors! | |
DIVERSITY, EQUITY, & INCLUSION (DEI) NEWS | |
|
St. Paul Area Chamber Equity Summit
The future of our economy depends on how we address equity and inclusion today. As leaders, we must be prepared to drive change within our organizations and throughout our region. This week, Director of DEI Yolanda McIntosh attended the St. Paul Area Chamber’s Equity Summit, which focused on the work the business community is doing to drive equity change on a large scale and within organizations throughout the region.
| | |
|
Yolanda with keynote speaker Tish Jones: Poet, Arts Administrator, and Cultural Producer | |
|
Join us at the 2nd Annual Summit on Mental Health in Construction
The Minnesota Construction Coalition for Mental Health is proud to announce its 2nd Annual Summit on Tuesday, November 28 at Ames Center in Burnsville. We'll be hearing from a panel on substance use and EAPs, from Jeff Horwitz (SAFE Project) on opioids in construction, and from our keynote, Richard Jones, with a message on "Safety on the Inside."
Optional Suicide Prevention Training is available from 1:00-2:30 p.m.
View the agenda here, and register here!
| |
|
2024 Minnesota Construction Summit
Have you seen the lineup of sessions at the 2024 Minnesota Construction Summit? From transition planning to tech innovations, and underground mapping to mental health, there's something for everyone at the Summit!
See all the Summit sessions.
| |
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Thom Mayer, Medical Director at the NFL Players Association
We work in turbulent times, where job stressors rise and resilience falls. It’s time we realize that all of us-at every level, on every team, at every job site are leaders, creating our own cultures by our actions. With lessons from his personal experience the speaker will weave lessons from 9/11, the NFL, and Ukraine to challenge and inspire you to lead all day-every day-in everything you do!
Come hear Dr. Mayer's message, "Leadership is Worthless, but Leading is Priceless: Changing Your Culture to Improve Your Team's Physical and Mental Health" on the first morning of the Summit!
| |
Save $50/registration by registering before December 1! | |
|
|
Don't Miss These Events!
Register now for these upcoming AGC events:
......
| |
Thank You to our 2023 Annual Partners! | |
Interested in how advertising through AGC could benefit your firm?
| |
Your Trusted Resource
Associated General Contractors of Minnesota
525 Park Street, Suite 110 | St. Paul, MN 55103
651-632-8929
| | | | |
