Majority Leader William Lamberth (R) of the Tennessee General Assembly provided a legislative resolution congratulating the ABC Greater Tennessee chapter upon its fiftieth anniversary.
The resolution stated that the legislature recognizes that the ABC Greater Tennessee chapter has made a significant contribution to the success of the construction and merit shop industries.
In addition, the resolution added that, “For half a century, the ABC Greater Tennessee chapter has made significant contributions to train the next generation of the State of Tennessee's workforce, and its members are worthy of our approbation.”
ABC Greater Tennessee president Clay Crownover stated, “To be recognized for our fiftieth anniversary and the recognition of the importance of membership in our organization and the training that our association provides is a great honor."
To our members and construction community,
In the midst of a difficult year, we are extremely proud to celebrate a number of successes at ABC Greater Tennessee. We have reached and exceeded goals, served our community, industry, and state in new ways, and provided resources to help our members safely and effectively operate their businesses during a pandemic. The following year-in-review highlights those successes and features some numbers our membership can be proud of!
Please accept our gratitude to each of you for your commitment to ABC and furthering the Merit Shop in Tennessee. We look forward to another great year with you as we celebrate our 50th anniversary in 2021!
With deep appreciation,
ABC Greater Tennessee Staff
Check out our Year in Review for 2020!
Associated Builders and Contractors Greater Tennessee hosted a virtual membership meeting on August 12th. Guest speaker J. Wallace Irvin, attoreny at law with Lewis Thomason, gave a detailed update on the Construction Industry Payment Protection Act, CIPPA, to the ABC membership. CIPPA was filed on behalf of the major trade associations that sought to make several changes to Tennessee’s construction statutes, including prohibiting contingent payment provisions while creating a stop-work procedure.
Click Here to watch a recording of our membership meeting.
At ABC Greater Tennessee, one of our main areas of focus is advocating for responsible legislation to protect our industry when payments are not made. Our industry has made positive changes to the laws of Tennessee as they relate to construction; however, many of these laws left some unintended contradictions, ambiguities, and loopholes that needed to be rectified.
Nashville, Tenn. -- Today, Governor Bill Lee established the Economic Recovery Group, a joint effort between state departments, members of the legislature and leaders from the private sector to build guidance to safely reboot Tennessee’s economy.
“COVID-19 has not only created a public health crisis, it has hurt thousands of businesses and hundreds of thousands of hardworking Tennesseans,” said Gov. Lee. “As we work to safely open Tennessee’s economy, this group will provide guidance to industries across the state on the best ways to get Tennesseans back to work.”
The group is led by Tennessee Department of Tourism Development Commissioner Mark Ezell.
“This public-private partnership will prioritize connection, collaboration, and communication across industries, the medical community and state government” said Ezell. “We’re grateful to these leaders for serving at a critical time in our state’s history.”
Read more...
To further combat the spread of COVID-19, the Metro County and Knox County Health Departments have issued a Safer at Home Order — directing all residents of Nashville and Davidson and Knox Counties to stay inside their homes, and immediately limit all movement outside of their homes beyond what is absolutely necessary to take care of essential needs.
Construction and facilities design businesses have been deemed essential at this time.For full details, follow the links below.
Read More: Davidson County
Read More: Knox County
Mike Meagher, whose construction company is building two Midtown high-rises, has ordered a dozen laser thermometers to check the temperatures of work crews. And he's limiting how many people ride in a buckhoist, an elevator that can fit as many as 30 workers.
At the Fifth + Broadway project downtown, where 550 people work each day, Dennis Georgatos has nixed the routine "stretch and flex" group gatherings that mark the start of a shift and help orchestrate the day's activity.
Hardworking people from coast to coast have hit the new decade with the economic wind at their backs. In the construction industry, for example, there are more job opportunities than people to fill them, and construction unemployment in Tennessee stood at 3.1% last December.
Wages are growing, and it’s never been easier to access low-cost education programs to launch a career in the field. Indeed, there are many reasons to be optimistic in 2020.
However, Last week, the Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives dealt a harsh blow to U.S. workers and Tennessee’s booming economy by passing a bill that would bypass America’s labor laws and give union bosses greater power to coerce employees to join unions in the face of a decades-long membership decline.
Read more at The Tennessean...
Commercial contractors know that government roadblocks and regulations can slow even the most booming construction market while business-friendly policies can stoke development.
The latter is definitely the case for Nashville, Tennessee, which boasts one of the strongest economies of any U.S. metropolitan area. These days, builders and businesses there not only enjoy unprecedented economic growth but also the support of elected officials from city council members to the governor's mansion, with Tennessee’s Republican Gov. Bill Lee, who ran a mechanical contracting business for 20 years before entering politics. A longtime member of Associated Builders and Contractors, Lee understands how the principals of a free enterprise approach supports local businesses and industry.
Hear ABC Greater Tennessee President, Clay Crownover on Nashville Morning News discuss the booming growth for Nashville and what that means for the construction trades. Link
The ABC- Greater Tennessee Chapter is pleased to announce the addition of four new members to the Board of Directors: Stephon Bishop (Brasfield & Gorrie), Blake French (The Wakefield Corporation), Ryan Frost (Glenn E. Mitchell & Company), and Ty Jennings (The Comfort Group). In the truest sense of the word, ABC - Greater Tennessee Chapter is a member-run association. Members identify issues critical to merit shop construction and work together to find solutions using the resources of one of the largest construction-related groups in the world. Clay Parkes will serve as chair of the 2020 Board of Directors. A full list of 2020 board members can be found here.
Laughter and warmth filled the ballroom of the OMNI Nashville Hotel on September 26, 2019 as ABC Greater TN hosted the Excellence in Construction awards. This annual program honors outstanding merit shop construction projects throughout Middle and East Tennessee and recognizes contractors, project architects, engineers and owners. Over 300 ABC members and guests enjoyed the program that recognized forty-three projects among thirty-one categories. In addition, ABC Greater TN recognized both the Sub-Contractor and Contractor of the Year. Congratulations toRio Grande Fence Co. and Brasfield & Gorrie, LLC! This event would not be possible without the support of our many generous sponsors. A special thank you to our Ballroom Sponsors Batten | Shaw Construction and Frank E. Neal & Co.
Event photos can be found here, courtesy of Bell & Associates Construction and Aerial Innovations.
Associated Builders and Contractors of Greater Tennessee