The Forum is Georgia Branch, AGC's weekly electronic newsletter developed in conjunction with the
Chapter's website to deliver timely industry, member and association news.
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The 2007 Georgia Branch, AGC Annual Convention held in Orlando last month proved to be exciting and new for many reasons. In recent history, attendance numbers had never reached 350 and this year we attacked 425 registrants.

The Chapter's Program Taskforce members voted to make this year's event more family friendly, and moved the convention from May to June on a Sunday - Wednesday, which is a departure from future years.

After returning home, Georgia Branch, AGC provided a survey to all representatives of a member firm who attended the convention. Thank you to the 61% of you who took time to give us your feedback.

The survey asked each person to rate everything from the value they received from the awards ceremony and educational sessions, to the Chapter's staff and hotel service, and to the quality of the banquet food and hotel. Member responses were overwhelmingly positive with 93% saying the convention met or exceeded their expectations.

Georgia Branch, AGC is especially pleased to report more than 25% of attendees were first time participants.

submitted by Scott Shelar, Executive Director of CEFGA

Georgia had a great reminder recently of the importance of investing in our high school construction programs.

A young man named Corey Smith represented our state at the SkillsUSA National Championships in Kansas City on June 28. Corey is from Cedartown, about 70 miles northwest of Atlanta. He is a proud graduate of the construction program at Cedartown High School.

Corey Smith had one goal to achieve before closing out his high school career: Win the SkillsUSA National Championships in carpentry. In 2006, he came close, placing second in the nation. This year, with his father and construction teacher Todd Tillery looking on, Corey won the Gold Medal – beating out 40+ of the nation’s best carpentry students.

Corey’s trip to Kansas City was made possible by CEFGA and the Georgia Branch, AGC Young Leadership Program, which paid travel expenses for Corey and 13 other Georgia state champions.

Corey plans to enroll at Southern Polytechnic State University this fall and work in commercial construction, probably with a general contractor.

So think about this if you are spending time on college campuses looking for good project manager or superintendent candidates. Think about Corey Smith winning the SkillsUSA National Championships in carpentry, and his plans to pursue a career in construction.

Continue to recruit from and support your construction management programs. But, you may want to think about adding a new tool to your recruitment tool box: the high school construction and drafting program. After all, there are more than 280 of these programs with more than 20,000 students enrolled in Georgia. Support them; get involved; get to know the high school construction teacher; get to know the students who are the future leaders of our industry.

CEFGA is a nonprofit organization in which Georgia Branch, AGC is a major partner and underwriter. CEFGA is dedicated to promoting careers in construction and addressing the industry’s labor shortage. CEFGA achieves its mission by connecting the construction industry and the education system in Georgia. To learn more or to view a list of CEFGA-accredited high school construction programs, visit cefga.org or call 678-889-4445.

South Georgia/Valdosta Region

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A Fall Protection Course is scheduled on Friday, August 3 from 8:00 am - 4:00 pm at Austin's Cattle Company. Please register online with your member login and password by clicking here or contact Shana Freeman, Administrative Services Assistant, at 678-298-4112 for more information.

Southwest Georgia/Albany Region

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John Dietrichs with Geotechnical Environmental Consultants, Inc. is educating members on EPD’s asbestos regulations such as notice of demolition, removal of materials containing asbestos and disposal of the hazardous materials. He also plans to explain the proper way to protect everyone on your jobsite from the harmful affects of being exposed to asbestos.

You won’t want to miss this opportunity to learn from a Georgia Branch, AGC industry specialist. Contractors, subcontractors, project managers, field superintendents will all benefit from this program.

For more information on this event, please contact Denise "DD" Latham, Meeting and Event Planner, at 678-298-4118.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007
4:30 - 6:00 pm
Albany Technical College
Albany
View Brochure

You are invited to attend a Special Joint Meeting and Planning Session for the 2007-08 school year. This is a follow up to the brainstorming session Southwest Georgia Alliance members held in June. The goal for the meeting is to put together the goals, strategies and specific tactics the group wants to accomplish in addressing the industry’s workforce shortage needs. 

Who attends:
* Georgia Branch, AGC general contractor and specialty contractor members
* Georgia Branch, AGC senior staff members
* CEFGA representatives (Construction Education Foundation of Georgia)
* SGCMC Members (South Georgia Construction Maintenance Council)
* Local high school and technical college instructors and school officials

You are welcome to attend even if you have not participated in previous workforce development alliance meetings. There is no charge for attending.

To RSVP your attendance and/or receive more information, please contact Cherri Watson, Director of Safety, Education & Workforce Development at 678.298.4104.

A Basic Blueprint Reading Course starts in Macon on July 31 and August 1 from 8:00 am - 4:00 pm at the Goodwill Conference Center. (Online Registration or Printable Registration Form)

An OSHA 10-Hour Course starts in Macon on August 10 from 7:00 am - 6:00 pm at the Goodwill Conference Center. (Online Registration or Printable Registration Form)

For more information on these courses, please contact Shana Freeman, Administrative Services Assistant, at 678-298-4112.

Maynard Spence was a member of the Georgia Branch, AGC Safety & Health Committee at the time of his tragic death on September 11, 2001. He was attending a business meeting in the Twin Towers in New York City when terrorists attacked our nation. In honor of all the great gifts he gave to the construction industry and especially his knowledge and passion for teaching safety to jobsite personnel, Georgia Branch, AGC along with other industry partners have organized a scholarship for safety professionals. We encourage you to nominate a qualified candidate for this great educational opportunity.

The Maynard Spence Scholarship for Construction Safety Education:
This scholarship consists of the OSHA Training Institute (“OTI”) 500 Trainer Course in Safety and Health Standards for the Construction Industry, this being the qualifying course to teach the OSHA 10-Hour, 30-Hour, and 40-Hour courses. This scholarship also provides two additional core courses, and three elective courses, to comprise a complete 6-course certificate program in construction safety offered through the OSHA Training Institute Education Center at Georgia Tech Research Institute.

The Maynard Spence Safety First Scholarship Award
This scholarship consists of the OTI 510 Occupational Safety and Health Standard Course for the Construction Industry offered through the OSHA Training Institute Education Center at Georgia Tech Research Institute.

For more information and details on each of these scholarships, please visit the Maynard Spence Foundation's Website.

Smith, Currie & Hancock, LLP is offering programs on Thursday, August 2 & Friday, August 3 at the Georgia Branch, AGC Training Center for contractors needing Florida Licensing Credits. 

• Thursday's program provides 8 Hours of class credit, including the required Worker's Compensation and Business Practice Credit.
  
• Friday's program provides 7 Hours of class credit, including Work Place Safety and Business Practice Credits.

While these courses convene at the Georgia Branch, AGC Training Center, all interested parties must register with Smith, Currie & Hancock, LLP.

Please click on this link to view more information.

The following courses are available through Georgia Branch, AGC's Education and Safety Program. To view a course description, click on its name. All courses are held at the AGC Training Center at I-75 and Windy Hill Road, unless otherwise noted.

• OSHA 10-Hour - July 20 (Full) or August 10 in Macon
  (next available Atlanta course is on October 12)
• OSHA 30-Hour - July 24-26 (Full) 
  (next available Atlanta course begin October 4)
• Basic Blueprint Reading - July 31 and August 1 - Macon
• Courses meeting Florida Continuing Education Requirements - August 2 & 3 
• Fall Protection - August 3 - Valdosta
• CPR, First Aid and Bloodborne Pathogens - August 10
• Scaffold Safety - August 15
• NPDES Stormwater Seminar and Exam - August 17
• LEED 2.2: Preparing for LEED AP Exam - August 22 (Full) 
  (next available Atlanta course is on October 24)
• CPT: Trenching and Excavation - August 24

Georgia Branch, AGC proudly offers its members the following technology-related courses through a partnership with Evans Technology.

• Introduction to Primavera Contractor - July 19-20
• Managing Project Controls with Expedition - July 23-25

To view a listing of all currently scheduled courses for 2007, please click here.

For more information on any of the courses listed above or if you want to discuss adding a new course to meet your needs, please contact Shana Freeman, Administrative Services Assistant, at 678-298-4112.

The latest figures for June 2007 show the following project leads published for Georgia Branch, AGC members to review.

Building	124 or 68%
Civil	44 or 24%
Highway/Roads	15 or 8%
Utility	3 or 2%
Total Project Leads	183

For those of you who are familiar with the Daily Project Update service, you also know there is an ability to view plans and specs for the projects that are listed by subscribing to the AGC iSqFt Internet Plan Room. That's right - no driving to the plan room, looking for the right roll of plans or calling around town to locate the plans. All you have to do is subscribe to a very reasonable and valuable Internet Plan Room system and see everything pertaining to a project (including word search capabilities to determine if a certain trade is needed on a project) right there on your monitor. All aspects of what is online can be printed in many formats should you desire to do so in the comfort of your office.

If you are new to learning about Daily Project Updates, you can click here to see a sample of the information that is delivered each morning to a member's in-box. If you would like to begin receiving this daily update, please email Machell Harper with your name and company. She can set up an account for your email delivery and then email you back with your password and directions to use the service.

If you want to learn more about the Internet Plan Room geared toward Specialty Contractors and Suppliers in the industry or the Construction Office, which is specific to General Contractors, visit iSqFt or call 800-364-2059.

Nonfarm payroll employment increased 132,000 in June, seasonally adjusted, in line with the gain of 2,008,000 (1.5%) from June 2006 to June 2007, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today. The unemployment rate remained steady at 4.5%. Construction employment rose 12,000 for the month to 7,681,000 but was down 10,000 (-0.1%) from June 2006. Among BLS’s five construction categories, residential building and specialty trades employment was unchanged for the month and down 118,000 (-3.5%) over 12 months.

Nonresidential building, specialty trades and heavy and civil engineering employment climbed 12,400 for the month and 108,000 (2.6%) over 12 months. The actual swing from residential to nonresidential employment was probably even greater, because many specialty trade contractors that were listed as residential may have been doing nonresidential work recently without changing their industry code for reporting purposes. Average hourly earnings for construction workers reached $20.95 in June, seasonally adjusted, an increase of 92 cents (4.6%) from a year earlier, and 21% higher than the average for all private-sector production and nonsupervisory workers, whose wages rose 3.9% over the 12-month span to an average of $17.38 per hour. Architectural and engineering (A&E) services employment, a harbinger of future construction demand, increased 2,700 for the month and 51,000 (3.7%) over 12 months . . .

Read entire DataDIGest from Ken Simonson, Chief Economist with AGC of America