Kirk Pickerel, CAE President and CEO of ABC National sent out an update today containing information that may be useful to our members. Here is some of what he sent:
THE RELEASE of ABC's latest Construction Backlog Indicator (CBI) containing one year's worth of data resulted in a surge of media interest, including a Fox Business Channel interview with ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu scheduled for this afternoon. United Press International, CBS MarketWatch, MSN Money and CNET reported on the CBI, which assesses the nation's economic progress and measures work to be performed by contractors. Articles on the CBI also appeared in 46 newspapers across the nation, including The Dallas Morning News, The Sacramento Bee, The Kansas City Star, The Salt Lake Tribune and The Charlotte Observer. Additional stories appeared in American City Business Journals, including South Florida Business Journal, Jacksonville Business, Business Journal of Greater Milwaukee, Nashville Business Journal, Orlando Business Journal, San Francisco Business Times and Wichita Business Journal. More than a dozen local television station websites—WABC-TV in New York City, KABC-TV in Los Angeles, WBZ-TV in Boston, WBBM-TV in Chicago, KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh and KCNC-TV in Denver—featured the latest CBI news as well.
IN ITS annual union membership report, the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that union membership in the U.S. private construction workforce decreased to 14.5 percent in 2009 compared to 15.6 percent in 2008. For ABC's analysis of the report, as well as sample letters to the editor, contact Karen Livingston at livingston@abc.org.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS ...
Feb. 1-2: National Executive Committee Meeting, San Diego
Feb. 3: National Board of Directors Meeting, San Diego
Feb. 3-7: ABC National Convention, San Diego
Feb. 4: Excellence in Construction Awards, San Diego
Feb. 19: Congressional Tax Update for Contractors, webinar
Feb. 25: BIM Basics for Contractors, webinar
April 8-9: HR Construction Professionals Conference, Arlington, Va.
May 5-7: Construction Education Conference, New Orleans
June 15-17: Legislative Conference, Washington, D.C.
Aug. 18-20: Chapter Presidents Management Conference, Newport Beach, Calif.
Nov. 9-11: Institute for Leadership and Professional Development, Rancho Mirage, Calif.
Dec. 7: ABC Green Building Symposium at Ecobuild America, Washington, D.C.