WINTER 2014

P.6 Featured Member

FREE ENTERPRISE REPORTER

BOOM DAYS AHEAD

FOR NATURAL GAS

SECTOR

Page 2

Executive Committee

Chairman of the Board Andy Michielli, Merit Electrical Group

Vice-Chairman Frank Shipley, Shipley Brothers Construction, Inc.

Secretary/Treasurer Brian Smith, Ruzomberka Holland Renk Smith

Safety, Education & Training Vice-Chairman Keith Impink, Westmoreland Electric, Inc.

Past Chairman Jason Boyd, Hampton Mechanical, Inc

Board of Directors

Bob Fitzgerald, BRIDGES & Company, Inc. Gary Sapp, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Vicki Gass, J&J Fire Protection Co. Inc. Mark McClymonds, McClymonds Supply & Transit Company Shannon Leach, Labor Ready

Chapter Legal Counsel Tom Weiers, Thomas E. Weiers, Jr., Esquire

Michael Newman, Newman Plumbing, Inc. Jason Yarbrough, Meyer, Unkovic & Scott, LLP Russ Spicuzza, ModSpace Andrea Weider, Weider Services Vince Fontana, Vince Building Company

ABC Staff

R. Pete Gum, President Kim Grosel, Director of Education and Workforce Development Sadie Scully, Events Manager Mary Jasper, Controller Dawn Gobble, Communications Coordinator

2360 Venture Drive Gibsonia, Pennsylvania 15044

Phone: 412-213-3556 Fax: 412-213-3595

Web: www.abcwpa.org

Search: “ABC of Western Pennsylvania” Search: @abcwpa

Use your smart phone to scan this code

or Click to sign up for mailing list.

Page 3

CONTENTS

P.6 Featured Member

Diehl Automotive Group, serving Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, offers great low prices, rebates, and incentives for new & used cars,

vans and SUVs to all of our neighbors in Butler, North Hills, Mars, and Cranberry. Our expert Service & Parts staff help our

Pennsylvania customers keep their vehicles in great shape.

16 Cover Story

BOOM DAYS AHEAD FOR

NATURAL GAS SECTOR

TABLE OF

4 Chairman’s Address

5 President’s Address

8 Changes to Mechanic’s

Lien Law

10 Annual Sponsorship Pro-

gram (S.T.A.R. Program)

12 Government Affairs Up-

date

14 Member Discounts

20 Using Social Media to

Your Advantage

22 Annual Christmas Party

23 Save the Date: Meet the

General Contractors Event

24 Looking Forward to a

Safe 2015

Visit our new website

abcwpa.org

Page 4

Andy Michielli Merit Electrical Group

Chairman’s Message

W orkforce Development is the buzz phrase most commonly heard at the ABC

national conferences that I have attended over the last few years. Workforce

Development is a key component of the ABC National's strategic plan. Young

people are not being taught that learning a trade is a legitimate career avenue while

they are going through grade school and high school, and there is a huge shortage

of construction workers projected in the near future.

Workforce development is what first attracted me to the association, because, in

my electrical contracting business, I needed the means to develop young workers

into knowledgeable productive electricians. The ABC apprenticeship program has

provided that resource and I now have fourteen journeyman employees who have

successfully completed the program and five men currently enrolled.

Now that our team has grown over the last nine years I have discovered that just because someone is an excellent

electrician does not mean that they have the skills required to effectively manage and lead multiple crews to

complete larger projects. Our chapter is now offering the Exploring Leadership Program that provides exposure to

some of the leadership and management skills and concepts that can help our foremen and superintendents learn

how to manage people. I had one of my superintendents ask me after his last class, "What is our company vision

and mission?" and this made me realize what the potential benefit really is of exposing the key people in my

company to this type of training.

Even as a company owner, it is good to continue learning. I recently explored ABC’s Peer Group opportunity. This

is something that ABC National offers to all of its members. The idea is to meet with like-minded business owners

and talk about business opportunities and ideas as well as sharing challenges you have had and how you overcame

them. Ultimately, you can use each other as a networking resource with the goal of growing your business. So far, I

have gotten a lot out of the program and I am excited to see what I can get out of the relationships I am building. In

order to get the most out of ABC, you have to get involved.

Getting involved in the life of ABC will not only benefit your company, but it can also make ABC of Western PA a

better organization. Giving your input will ensure that you company needs are being met. The upcoming Strategic

Planning Conference will be held at the ABC of Western PA office on February 9, 2015. This is your opportunity

to help OUR chapter create smart goals that can be reached for the 2015 year. It is your opportunity to have your

voice heard on issues that impact your business and help ABC form a plan to address those issues. Remember this

is OUR ABC chapter, and in order to make it that best chapter it can be, we need your help.

I would like to wish everyone Happy Holidays and I look forward to seeing you at upcoming ABC events.

Andy Michielli

Andy Michielli

Chairman of the ABC of WPA Board

Plan to Work and Work the Plan

Page 5

R. Pete Gum President, ABC of Western PA

President’s Address

The ABC of Western PA staff has been working very hard to put together programs

for 2015. The most frequent event will be the Monthly Membership Networking

events. These events are just casual meet and greets that enable you to reconnect and

make new connections with your fellow ABC members and others in the industry.

These networking opportunities will be held in the South Hills, North Hills, and East

of the city. January’s meeting will be held at Latitude 360 in Robinson Township on January 8th from 5:00 pm to

7:00 pm. It’s time we get off of our smart phone, stop emailing, and come talk to those in the industry face-to-

face. Because, after all, construction is STILL a relationship business. Remember to bring a prospective member

and that attendee is free.

There are lots of other new events happening in 2015. We will be attending a Pirates game against the Phillies in

July and we’ve reserved the Bowtie Bar for ninety ABC members and prospective members. Another event we

are planning is “A Night at the Races” at the Lernerville Speedway. This should be a fun an entertaining event for

all of you who like racing. We are also planning to have ABC’s full-time Government Affairs Director for

Pennsylvania come out to speak about what’s happening in the PA Legislator that affects YOU. We hope to see

you at one of the upcoming events we have planned.

We also have lots of educational programs that will be available for the New Year, including our Erosion &

Sedimentation class to be offered January 13, 2015 and February 24, 2015 FREE of charge to all ABC Members.

We had the first class on November 21st and the feedback was incredible. Some of the comments included,

“Everyone in the industry should attend this!” and “You should have 300 people here for this!” So what are you

waiting for? Sign up today and spend a day “in the dirt”.

Lastly, there is an opportunity coming up that allows you to give your input on what goes on at YOUR ABC

Chapter. We have a Planning Conference scheduled for February 9th here at the office/training facility. We want

YOU to participate and have a say in the strategic direction of YOUR ABC of Western PA. It’s an opportunity to

really voice your thoughts on what you want from YOUR ABC Chapter and where we’re headed in the next few

years.

As you can see, there are plenty of things for your company to get involved in for the New Year at ABC of

Western PA. If you want to get the most out of your membership, you need to take advantage of the networking

events and training programs today!

Have a Happy Holiday and I look forward to seeing you at one of the upcoming ABC events.

R. Pete Gum ABC of Western PA President

New Year, New ABC

Page 6

Page 7

Page 8

On October 14, 2014 and

previously, on July 9, 2014.

Governor Corbett signed into

law two acts which

significantly change

Pennsylvania’s Mechanic’s

Lien Law (the “Act”). The

amendments to the Act are the

creation of a Construction

Notices Directory, limits on

residential mechanic’s lien

claim amounts and additional

protection for open end

mortgage holders, which are

outlined below.

Creation of a

Construction Notices

Directory

One of the changes brings

Pennsylvania in line with many

other states by creating a more

structured notice procedure for

owners and subcontractors to

follow together with a central

repository to file notices under the

Act. Owners and general

contractors supported these

changes to be able to better

identify subcontractors and

suppliers who may have lien

rights on a project. Currently, it

is difficult for owners and general

contractors to know if all persons

who may have lien rights have

been paid. The new amendments

are intended to give owners and

general contractors a better

opportunity to protect against the

situation where they may be

required to pay twice for the same

work.

The amendments create an

internet based “Construction

Notices Directory” that is

intended to be operational by

December 31, 2016 which will be

maintained by the Pennsylvania

Department of General Services.

This directory will apply to

commercial projects costing at

least $1.5 million. Four types of

notices can be filed with the new

directory: 1) Notice of

Commencement; 2) Notice of

Furnishing; 3) Notice of

Completion; and 4) Notice of

Nonpayment.

Notice of Commencement

This notice is filed by the owner

and must be filed before any

labor, work or materials are

furnished for a project. This

notice will provide subcontractors

with, among other information,

the name of the owner and a legal

description of the property that

could be used if a lien must be

filed. This notice is also to be

posted at the project until the

project is complete. If this notice

SWEEPING NEW CHANGES TO PENNSYLVANIA’S MECHANIC’S LIEN LAW

Page 9

is not timely filed,

subcontractors are relieved from

an obligation to file a timely

Notice of Furnishing.

Notice of Furnishing

If the owner has properly and

timely filed a Notice of

Commencement, then

subcontractors must timely file a

Notice of Furnishing to preserve

the right to file a lien. This notice

must be filed by a subcontractor

within 45 days of first

performing work on a project or

it will lose its lien rights. This

notice must contain the name of

the subcontractor and a general

description of the work, together

with other project specific

information.

Notice of Completion

The owner is permitted to file,

for informational purposes, a

Notice of Completion within 45

days of final completion of the

project work which is

transmitted to all subcontractors

who have filed a Notice of

Furnishing.

Notice of Nonpayment

Subcontractors are permitted to

file this notice for informational

purposes.

New Required Contract

Clauses

Once the Directory is operating,

subcontracts must contain a

notice that expressly warns that a

subcontractor’s failure to file a

Notice of Furnishing may result

in the forfeiture of the right to

file a lien. This notice must also

convey that it is unlawful for an

owner or general contractor to

request or encourage a

subcontractor not to file a Notice

of Furnishing.

Subcontractors should pay close

attention to the new notice

requirements that will come into

play once the Directory is

operational. Forgetting to file

the Notice of Furnishing during

the hectic 45 days after starting

work on a project may result in

the subcontractor losing its right

to file a mechanic’s lien. For

general contractors, these

changes will eliminate the

historic problem of having

second tier subcontractors with

lien rights without even knowing

the identity of these

subcontractors.

Limits on Residential

Mechanic’s Lien Claim

Amounts

Before this amendment to the

Act, which became effective

September 8, 2014, a residential

owner could be required to pay a

subcontractor’s lien amount

despite already fully paying the

general contractor. Now, a

residential owner or tenant who

lives in the residence may have a

subcontractor’s mechanic’s lien

discharged if it can be shown

that the owner paid the general

contractor in full. Further, a lien

amount can be reduced by the

owner or tenant equal to the

balance owed to a general

contractor. This amendment

solves the dilemma facing

residential owners or tenants

who pay in full a general

contractor who does not

thereafter pass through monies

owed to its subcontractors.

Additional Protection

Given to Open End

Mortgage Holders

Effective September 8, 2014,

mechanic’s liens are

subordinate to open end

mortgages recorded after

commencement of

construction work at a project

if at least 60% of the proceeds

of the open end mortgage is

used to pay for the costs of

construction. This amendment

was in response to a 2012

Pennsylvania Superior Court

ruling which interpreted the

2007 amendments to the Act,

to require that none of the open

end mortgage proceeds could

be used for soft construction

costs such as design, permits,

taxes, insurance or closing

costs for subsequently filed

open end mortgage to have

priority over a mechanic’s lien.

The new amendments provide

that an open end mortgage will

have priority over a

mechanic’s lien if at least 60%

of the proceeds are used for

hard construction costs.

If you have any questions

concerning the recent

amendments to Pennsylvania’s

Mechanic’s Lien Laws, contact

the Chapter’s legal counsel,

Thomas E. Weiers, Jr. at (412)

874-5298 or at

Tom.WeiersEsq@gmail.com.

Page 10

ABC Unveils It’s New Annual Sponsorship

Campaign

Everything is new at ABC of Western PA this year. We have

revamped our Annual Sponsorship Program and it is now the

S.T.A.R. Program. There are new levels of sponsorship, new benefits

of involvement and the program allows you to make sponsorship

choices once for the entire year.

Our most exciting benefits we have added this year are the Training

and Flex Credits. This allows you to upgrade any sponsorship, send

employees to training classes, sponsor other events, sponsor

training classes and much more. The choice is yours and the

possibilities are limitless.

Don’t miss the opportunity to have your company at the forefront

of ABC of Western PA. Download an application today and choose

to become a S.T.A.R. Member. If you have any questions regarding the S.T.A.R. Program, please contact Dawn Gobble at (412) 213-3556 or

dgobble@abcwpa.org.

Click Here To View The S.T.A.R. Program Brochure

Page 11

Page 12

W ith the 2014 midterm elections in the

books, this year’s sweeping change

proved to be the most drastic in nearly a

century and by far the most expensive ever.

In March of 2014, York County

businessman and former Revenue Secretary

Tom Wolf emerged as a contender for the

Democratic gubernatorial nomination. In a

crowded field that began with seven

candidates, Wolf invested early, utilizing a

$10 million personal loan to increase name

recognition through saturated television

advertising. 60 days later, the costly gamble

paid off: Wolf won the Democratic primary

by a landslide, picking up 57.9% of the vote

statewide and instantly becoming a strong

contender to unseat incumbent Governor

Tom Corbett.

Meanwhile, Governor Corbett was facing

more immediate problems. Fresh from

signing a $2.3 billion transportation funding

bill in November of 2013, Corbett outlined

legislative priorities that remained since his

election in 2010. Despite working around

the clock to resolve outstanding issues by

House and Senate members, the two biggest

issues – pension reform and liquor

privatization – remained ensnared in

gridlock between the House and Senate.

Corbett’s plan was to leverage the June 30th

budget deadline to urge members of both the

traditionally more conservative House and

the often more moderate Senate, led by

Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R-

Delaware), to pass some version of both

priorities.

With an amended version of House Bill 790,

Making History

Brent Sailhammer, Director of Government Affairs

Lobbyist Update

Page 13

House Majority Leader Mike Turzai’s

plan to revamp the state’s liquor sales

business, sitting in the Senate, the

Governor’s office reconvened House

and Senate leaders in an effort to

invigorate stalled talks. In the midst

of an election year however, House

members were not willing to

compromise on the hardline

divestiture that they had worked so

hard to pass. Similarly, southeast

Republicans in the Senate could not

violate the promises they had made to

beer distributors and state employee

constituents back home that their jobs

would be protected. And so, just like

that, gridlock claimed its first victim

of 2014.

As budget talks intensified, a fiscal

issue was becoming readily apparent:

the $41 billion (and growing) pension

obligation owed to retirees and vested

state employees. The generous

retirement system provided to retired

and current state employees was

providing for more than 300,000

current retirees and costing the

Commonwealth $8 billion annually.

With nearly a million employees in the

vested program, the more immediate

budgetary issues were only further

exacerbated by the looming crisis of

an unsustainable program in years to

come.

House leaders set to bring the

Governor an election year win and

quickly found themselves torn

between two conflicting proposals.

The first, introduced by Rep. Glen

Grell (R-Cumberland), proposed an $8

billion bond to gradually reduce the

obligation to pensioners while

maintaining the state’s current level of

obligation for future retirees. The

second, introduced by Rep. Mike

Tobash (R-Schuylkill), created a hybrid

plan based on income levels. For future

state retirees, the first $50,000 of income

would provide a guaranteed benefit,

similar to the benefits of current retirees.

Any income above the initial $50,000

would be subject to a guaranteed

contribution structure, similar to private

side 401(k) programs. More

conservative members found themselves

siding with the Tobash plan while House

members who represented large numbers

of retirees and/or state employees found

themselves supporting the Grell plan.

Ultimately, despite several weeks of

intense corralling, House leaders could

not provide a consensus on either plan

and so, in late June, gridlock claimed its

second victim.

As retribution for squandering several

opportunities to pass vital policy, a

furious Governor Corbett delayed

signing the budget for 10 days, only to

then announce that he was exercising his

line-item veto power to strike out $65

million in legislative expenses. The

move only further infuriated House and

Senate leaders, who had growing

animosity for Corbett since 2009, when

he campaigned on his actions as

Attorney General to prosecute

legislators.

And so, in July of 2014, Governor Tom

Corbett found himself dangerously close

to making history for all the wrong

reasons. In 1968, the legislature

changed the structure of gubernatorial

elections, allowing sitting Governors to

run for a second term. Since that

change, no incumbent Governor had

ever lost his bid for a second term. But

with a strikeout on policy and a well-

heeled Democratic opponent who was

polling with a double digit lead, Corbett

moved toward that fateful day of

November 4th.

As polls closed at 8 pm on the 4th,

news outlets predicted the largest

Republican sweep of the United States

in decades. Two minutes later,

Pennsylvania provided the lone

exception. The Associated Press

called the Pennsylvania gubernatorial

race for Tom Wolf at 8:02 on

November 4th, while the rest of country

celebrated a U.S. Senate that changed

hands to a 53-46 Republican control, a

Republican U.S. House that picked up

14 additional seats, and a Pennsylvania

House and Senate that picked up 8 and

3 seats respectively.

Even with the 55%-45% victory, Tom

Wolf admits that he won’t be changing

Pennsylvania’s landscape any time

soon. With 30 of the 50 seats in the

Senate now Republican, upcoming

leadership elections are already

signaling a change to a more

conservative Senate, with Majority

Leader Dominic Pileggi potentially on

his way out. And as the House

Republican caucus welcomes its 8 new

members, giving them 119 of the 203

seats, leadership is changing there too.

With the retirement of Speaker Sam

Smith (R-Jefferson), Rep. Mike Turzai

is the heir apparent to the speakership,

with a fight between Indiana County’s

Dave Reed and York County’s Stan

Saylor for the next Majority Leader.

Whatever the outcome in the coming

weeks, 2014 has certainly been historic

for Pennsylvania politics. And no

matter what, 2015 will definitely be an

interesting year.

Brent Sailhammer, Director of Government Affairs

Page 14

Page 15

NEXT PUBLICATION WILL BE IN MARCH 2015

ABC Office

Does Notarization!

As a service to our ABC Members, we are now

offering free notarizing to all ABC of Western

Pennsylvania members. Our Events Coordinator, Sadie

Scully, is now an authorized notary public. In order to

take advantage of this service, we ask that you

contact her by calling the office or by emailing

sscully@abcwpa.org to set up a time when she is

available to notarize your document. If you have any

further question please feel free to call the ABC office and we will be happy to answer them.

Page 16

Boom Days Ahead

A renaissance is under way in the

natural gas sector, and the numbers

say it all. At least 100 new mega-sized

industrial facilities will be operational by

2020, driving change throughout the U.S.

economy and creating thousands of

construction jobs for civil and industrial

contractors. As natural gas supplies have

gone up, so has the demand to build the

infrastructure to store, transport, pump,

process and refine the newly abundant

resource.

“Natural gas production is at an all-time

high,” says Jennifer Fordham, vice

president of markets for the Natural Gas

Supply Association (NGSA). “Natural

gas production peaked in 2010 for the

first time since 1975, and it’s still

growing. This new growth impacts other

industries—including the industrial,

power generation, petrochemical,

fertilizing and steel markets.”

According to the NGSA’s estimates,

project owners are investing $90 billion

to $100 billion in natural gas facilities

between 2012 and 2019. About 60

percent of the projects in the pipeline are

brand new, 30 percent are expansions and

10 percent are restarts of existing

facilities.

Breakthroughs in fracking technology

have unlocked the industry’s ability to

economically develop natural gas that is

found in abundance in shale formations

across the United States, leading to a

Continued on Page 18

For Natural Gas Sector

BY: LAUREN PINCH

Contributing Writer for

Construction Executive

Page 17

Page 18

remarkable 40 percent increase in

annual production in just the last

decade alone, NGSA says. Utility

companies are retiring coal

facilities and moving toward

natural gas facilities, which is a

cleaner burning fossil fuel and has

smaller siting and acreage

requirements than other energy

sources.

“Before, activity was

concentrated only in the Gulf of

Mexico. With shale production,

natural gas is entering the market

from several geographical

locations,” Fordham says. “There

are still pipeline constraints, but

the fact that natural gas is now so

geographically diverse in terms of

where it enters the interstate grid

really changes the availability in

the market. In Pennsylvania,

Ohio, Louisiana and Texas, we

are seeing hundreds of wells

along with new pipelines going

in, and this is also where we see

new gas-fired power plants and

new industrial facilities. We are

also seeing major infrastructure for

the fertilizer industry in the

Midwest: Illinois, Iowa, Michigan

and Indiana. The trend for the

foreseeable five years is nothing

but growth.”

While the rest of the economy

faltered during the recession,

natural gas exploration was

booming, setting the industry up

for a massive supply, and now the

demand to use it.

With this more affordable

feedstock available to various

industries downstream, energy

projects that would have been built

overseas during the recession are

now feasible in the United States,

driving strong job growth during

construction, as well as local

economic benefits once these mega

-projects begin to reach completion

within the next few years.

“The United States is sitting on

one of the largest natural gas

reserves in the world, and we can

now tap into it. With a massive

supply of natural gas, the price has

plummeted,” says Brandon Mabile,

business development director for

Performance Contractors’ Houston

office. The company performs

construction, turnaround and

maintenance services for the

chemical, petrochemical, pulp and

paper, fertilizer, refinery, power,

automotive and steel industries, and

it operates three pipe fabrication

facilities in the Gulf Coast. “The

petrochemical sector was slowing

during the recession, but now it’s

really seeing a renaissance because

of low natural gas prices.”

The lower cost comes down to

science. Before the abundance of

cheap natural gas, industrial

systems had to crack the chemical

naptha (an oil byproduct that is

more expensive to process) to

Nationally, there are about 100 new mega-projects on the horizon for the upcoming years, but what does that

mean for the Western PA area?

According to the Pennsylvania Independent Oil and Gas Association (PIOGA), locally there are about 30 main pro-

jects that are currently underway to lay pipeline for natural gas production. The largest project Is the Sunoco Lo-

gistics Mariner East which is a multi-billion dollar project whose primary goal is to lay pipe from Western PA to

the Marcus Hook facility.

Pennsylvania has gone from 14th in production of natural gas in 2010 to 2nd in production behind Texas. With

this jump in natural gas production comes the need for the infrastructure to haul the gas. There are 7700 wells

drilled in Pennsylvania, but only 5500 are producing natural gas. The other 2200 wells do not have the infrastruc-

ture in place to get the gas to the necessary markets. This is where heavy equipment contractors are needed.

As you can see, there is a need for skilled workers in this market and ABC is dedicated to help train.

Natural Gas Opportunities in

Western Pennsylvania

Continued from page 16

Page 19

produce ethylene and propylene,

Mabile explains. Ethylene is used

as the basis for plastics such as

beverage containers, food wrap,

polyvinyl chloride (PVC),

polyester and chemicals found in

antifreeze, solvents, urethanes

and pharmaceuticals.

Heavier feedstocks, such

as naphtha and crude gas oils,

require cracking furnaces to have

at least two quench towers

downstream to process water and

recirculate the derived gasoline.

On the other hand, only one water

quench tower is required to run

ethane crackers, which take

ethane, a component of natural

gas found in abundance in the

Marcellus shale, and process or

“crack” it into ethylene by heating

and breaking apart its molecular

bonds. Natural gas also has a

higher energy output.

MEGA-PROJECTS ON THE

HORIZON

Construction is booming in the

earlier stages of the natural gas

project life cycle. Ref-Chem, a large

Houston-based heavy industrial

construction, engineering and

maintenance company, is involved

in the midstream of the cycle:

building compressors and pumping

stations to safely move the gas

where it needs to go before it’s used

for power generation, refined into

other chemicals or converted to

liquefied natural gas (LNG) for

export.

“With U.S. exploration finding

more and more natural gas sources

and with the fracking of the shale

formations, there is a significant

need for natural gas producers to

build infrastructure from where they

are drilling to where they’re

processing the product,” says

Rodney Page, chief financial officer

for Ref-Chem. “In North Dakota and

Pennsylvania, where there are a lot

of reserves, old facilities are at

capacity and need new infrastructure

to be built from scratch. This is a

need in South Texas, as well. The

need creates a lot of work for us.”

Ref-Chem’s business volume

has increased from $100 million

during the 2008-2009 downturn to

$225 million now that several

pipeline-related projects are under

way.

For example, Ref-Chem recently

finished a nearly $50 million job

that involved the construction of a

metering and pumping station along

a natural gas pipeline that extends

from Colorado to the Texas

panhandle.

“This natural gas growth pushes

into enormous projects for the

chemical and refining industry,

and eventually into projects to

build LNG terminals for export,

affecting the global economy. It’s

all coming together to create an

explosion of demand,” Page says.

“It’s quite a boom going on, and

capacity needs to get higher to

handle that boom.”

SEVERE WORKFORCE

SHORTAGES AHEAD

With the natural gas renaissance

comes a powerful demand for

skilled labor. At the Port Neal

nitrogen fertilizer project in Iowa,

the workforce is currently at

approximately 900 employees,

with that number doubling at peak

construction before the project is

completed in 2016.

“The big challenge for everyone

is going to be workforce

development and finding skilled

employees to perform these

projects in the next few months to

the next few years,” Mabile says.

To overcome the challenge,

Performance Contractors is

reaching out to even younger

future candidates than they were

before the boom. Recent

legislation passed in Texas allows

high school students to receive

vocational training while they’re

earning credits toward their

diploma, which Mabile says should

help attract future workers sooner

rather than later. In addition, the

company is recruiting within the

military, reaching out to

discharged veterans and working

with the U.S. Department of

Defense to open a life skills

reorientation and construction job

training center at Fort Polk, Texas.

“While we have not had any

trouble recruiting so far, we fully

expect that the workforce is going

to dwindle right as project demand

increases. We’re working with

Associated Builders and

Contractors (ABC) and as many

training organizations as possible

to get as many people into the

workforce as we can,” Mabile

says.

Likewise, Ref-Chem is devoting

significant effort toward training

helper-level workers to become

certified craft professionals through

programs offered by NCCER, ABC

and the Construction

Manufacturing Education

Foundation. “It’s going to be very

tough for the industry to find

workers for all the upcoming jobs.

It will hurt the whole industry if we

cannot meet this need,” Page says.

Reprinted from Construction Executive, November 2014, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors.

All rights reserved.

Page 20

Are you using social media to your

advantage? The average person in

the United States spends about 2

hours per day browsing various so-

cial media outlets. So what are you

doing to make your company visi-

ble during those two or more hours

per day?

Brand Visibility

Let’s face it, as a business owner,

one of your main goals is for peo-

ple to recognize your work as qual-

ity and decide to use your com-

pany. This is what is known as

brand visibility. You can use social

media as a platform to increase

your brand’s visibility. How can

you do that?

1. Be authentic. People want to

know that there are real people be-

hind the computer that will take

care of their needs. Post pictures of

your workers in the field working

on a job. Post photos of the fin-

ished product of that job. If you

can, post some testimonials from a

client about how great the project

went or how everything came in

under budget and on time.

2. Leverage your network. Did

you do a job recently and received

excellent reviews on the finished

product? Make sure to highlight

those on your social media outlets.

Post a link to the article that de-

scribed the project and how your

company participated. Ask your

customers for a testimonial and

highlight it on your social media

page.

3. Be consistent. First and fore-

most, make sure your customers

and potential customers know that

you are on social media. Be consis-

tent with your postings as well as

what kind of content you are post-

ing. Like with any marketing and

branding tool, you want to stick to

what your company is known for.

Make sure everything relates back

to your company’s brand.

So which social media outlet is

right for your company? Here is

a list of the most popular social

media outlets along with a brief

description on how best a company

like yours can use them. Remem-

ber, you are not limited to just one.

The amount of social media plat-

forms you use depends solely on

your company’s needs, and the

amount of time you want to devote

to keeping it updated.

Facebook

Facebook has been around for

about 10 years and is the most used

social media outlet. According to

the Huffington Post, as of 2013

over 500 million people are regis-

tered with Facebook. This means

that your potential customers are

out there now. If you are new to

Using Social Media To Your Advantage By: Dawn Gobble, ABC of Western PA Communication Coordinator

Page 21

social networking and you feel

you only have time to update

one social networking medium,

start with Facebook. It allows

you to post pictures, share links

that can drive people to your

website, share videos and much

more. You may want to use

Facebook as a way to store pro-

ject photo albums. There are

drawbacks with using Facebook,

just like with any other social

media site. Because there are so

many people and so much infor-

mation vying for their attention,

you have to be strategic and

know who you are marketing to.

Twitter

Twitter is the social media outlet

that is constantly talking. It is all

about the words. Although you

are limited to 140 characters,

there are lots you can do in the

limited space. Just like Face-

book, you can add links to drive

people to your business website

and images so that your custom-

ers can see work you have done

or accolades that you may have

received. Another benefit of

Twitter is the “trending” feature.

The iconic #hashtag allows peo-

ple to follow a particular conver-

sation, when that topic is given a

hashtag moniker. You can see

what topics are popular with

people that day and if one inter-

ests you or your company, you

can incorporate that into your

tweet. Even better, create your

own #hashtag and keep track of

when people talk about your

product or service.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is all business. It’s all

about industry news, company

pages and potential employees.

While nothing is better than face to

face time with an important busi-

ness partner, LinkedIn could get

your foot in the door. The industry

news is also an important feature

that could be interesting to you,

whether it be safety, new equipment

or regulations, LinkedIn can be an-

other outlet where you can find

relevant information for your busi-

ness.

Instagram

While Twitter began as all words,

Instagram is its all pictures counter-

part. Since a picture is worth a thou-

sand words, let Instagram help tell

your story. You can use this platform

to highlight projects, post short videos

or post links that can drive people to

your company website. It can be help-

ful to have a place to put all of those

pictures you have been taking of your

job sites or finished projects.

What Do I Post?

If you have never used social media

for your business or if you are using it

and feel that you are running out of

ideas on what to post on your various

sites, here is a simple schedule that

can help you get started or give you

some inspiration.

Simple Posting Schedule

Theme Example

Big Ideas Share expert advice or a short

quote

Humor Share a comic, humorous image,

meme or phrase.

Interaction Ask a question, share a photo

contest or quiz, or post a fill-in-

the blank sentence.

Current News Share POSITIVE news about your

business, your industry, or your

community.

Giving Back Feature customers, launch/share

a giveaway, or make a coupon or

discount available.

Day in the Life Share candid photos from your

business or feature an employee.

Education Tell people about your product or

services, what it can do, or teach

people how to use it better.

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*CLICK TO VIEW ABC CALENDAR OF EVENTS*

ANNUAL CHRISTMAS PARTY ABC’s Christmas Party is always a great time. It’s a time to kick back and

relax and celebrate yet another great year for the organization. This is a

family friendly event, so bring out the whole family. Don’t forget to

bring a toy for the toy drive. Santa will also be making an appearance!

ABC would like to thank all of our Board members, both past and pre-

sent, for leading this organization with great pride to help ABC get to

where it is today. We couldn’t think of a better way to end the year

than by spending it with our members. Thanks for another great year!

Membership Networking Event The first member networking event was a big hit. All the members had the

opportunity to talk with everyone in the room. This networking opportunity is going

to be occurring monthly in 2015. The next event will be held Thursday, January 8,

2015 from 5-7 pm. at Lattitude 360 Grille in Robinson Township.

Come Meet and Greet

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MEET THE GENERAL CONTRACTORS

ABC’s Meet the General Contractors event

provides a great opportunity for members to

interact with some of the top GCs in the

Western Pennsylvania area. The event is open

to ABC’s subcontractors, associates, and

supplier members, allowing them 15 minutes

to sit and chat with each general contractor in

attendance. The event is run in a speed-dating-

for-contractors format, with each general

contractor being given a table and forcing a rotation of all attendees so that each one gets

a chance to speak with all the GCs.

Since changing this new format, we have seen a great response from those in attendance.

Members love the value the event provides and the structure and fairness of being given

time to sit down with each general

contractor.

This year’s event is going to be held on

Thursday, February 26, 2015, from 6-9

pm. More specific details will be coming

soon.

February 26, 2015

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Looking Forward to a Safe 2015

2 014 is coming to a close and

what a year it’s been for ABC

of Western PA! I am excited about

the training options that will be

available for our members in the

coming year. In January alone we’ll

be offering OSHA 10 and 30, CPR

First Aid and AED Training, Erosion

and Sedimentation Control

Compliance training and NCCER

Train the Trainer.

I’d like to take a minute and share

some more information about a

few of the classes.

The NCCER (National Center for

Construction Education and

Research) Instructor Certification

Training Program (ICTP) is designed

as an intensive train the trainer

workshop. The NCCER’s mission is

to build a safe, productive and

sustainable workforce of craft

professionals. Their vision is to be

TRAINING Kim Grosel

Director of Education and Workforce Development

TODAY

Instructor Certification Training - Daytime

Offerings

January 7-9, 2015

Instructor Certification Training - Evening Offerings

January 7-10, 2015

OSHA 10 Hour Training

January 15 & 17, 2015

OSHA 30 Hour Training

January 15, 17, 22, 24 & 29, 2015

AWP Training For Managers and

Supervisors

February 19, 2015

- 2015 TRAINING CLASSES -

More To Come!!!

universally recognized by

industry and government as the

training, assessment,

certification and career

development standard for

construction and maintenance

craft professionals. The ICTP

course will be taught by a NCCER

Master trainer and will allow

those who attend to get valuable

credentials to those that they

instruct; in both craft training and

apprenticeship programs.

Then on Tuesday January 13th we’ll

be holding a second session of the

Erosion and Sedimentation Control

Workshop. We were happy to have

Jason McCabe, Project Manager

for Rhea Engineers & Consultants,

as our primary instructor and

guests, Kelly McLaughlin, Head

E&S Control Technician at

Allegheny County Conservation

District, Elizabeth Vail,

Administrative Assistant at

Allegheny County Conservation

District and Greg Kramer, CPESC,

from ACF Environmental, at the

session. We hope that all of the

guests will be available for the

January session as well.

This is a FREE class for all ABC

members. Plan to attend and make the

most of your membership!

This class was very highly rated by the

attendees of the first session. So what

are you waiting for? Don’t get fined

when moving dirt, attend this free

training session and learn the safe

practices you need to know.

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“Everyone in the construction industry should attend this class.”

“I learned more from this workshop than I did from days long conferences.”

Class Feedback

“You’re going to need a bigger room next time, I think you’re going to have 300 people.”

Want to learn how NOT to get fined when moving dirt?

Attend the FREE Erosion and Sedimentation Training

Tuesday, January 13, 2015 | 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Tuesday, February 24, 2015 | 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM

ABC Office

FREE Erosion and Sedimentation

Control Training

Upcoming Classes

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Inside Back Cover Still Available. Please contact Dawn Gobble (dgobble@abcwpa.org) for questions about

advertising.

2014

Annual Sponsors

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