Promoting & Protecting Austin's Commercial Construction Industry!

August 2024 - Monthly News Update

Workforce Survey Results

96 Percent of Texas Construction Firms Report Having a Hard Time Finding Workers to Hire, Undermining Efforts to Build Infrastructure & Other Projects As Industry Calls for Better Federal Workforce Policies

The nation’s failure to invest in construction workforce education and training programs is having a real, measurable impact on the country’s ability to build infrastructure and other construction projects, according to the results of a workforce survey conducted by the Associated General Contractors of America and Arcoro, the leading HR technology company supporting the construction industry.

Noting that 94 percent of contractors across America (and 96 percent in Texas) report they are having a hard time filling open positions, construction officials called on federal leaders to adopt better workforce policies.

“The most likely path to addressing construction workforce shortages is for the federal government to adopt better workforce policies,” said Jeff Shoaf, the association’s chief executive officer, during a virtual media briefing to release the results. “Federal officials need to support, instead of undermine, our national infrastructure and economic development policies.”

Additional details about the survey available here.

Texas survey results here.

CompGroup AGC Pays Out $1.5 Million in Safety

Dividends to Texas Contractors & Presents Zero Lost Time Awards

The CompGroup AGC in August officially declared the program's 2024 Safety Dividend in the amount of $1,525,208 to contractors across Texas in that insurance program. A total of 33 Austin AGC member firms received nearly $350,000 of the safety dividend.

CompGroup AGC was created in 1993 by various Texas members of the Associated General Contractors of America to provide a better option for workers’ compensation coverage.

In April 2000, CompGroup AGC partnered with Texas Mutual Insurance Company moving the group onto the next level. Their success is often measured by the policyholder dividends that are returned to members. View Dividend History Learn more getting workers comp through the CompGroup AGC here.

Additionally, seven Austin AGC firms were presented with a Zero Lost Time awards from the CompGroup. Congratulations to Andres Construction, Beckett Electric, Braun & Butler, Chasco Constructors, Emerson Construction, IE2 Construction, and W.E.O'Neill. Thank you for your commitment to construction safety!

Upcoming Austin AGC Networking Events

On September 27 our Construction Leadership Council (CLC) is hosting the annual Clay Shoot at Capital City Clays. There are flights at 9am, 11am, and 1pm. As always, proceeds from CLC events help fund the annual scholarships they present each year. Sign up here.

Next, the 4th annual BBQ Cook Off and Contractor Rodeo will take place on October 25/26 out at Bastrop's Mayfest Park. There will be plenty of delicious BBQ to enjoy, company tents for networking and awesome rodeo action! Registration for BBQ cook teams is now open, and general registration will open soon.

Last, we always join with other industry groups for a Mega Mixer which will happen on October 16 at Bouldin Acres on South Lamar. A full list of participating groups, along with registration and sponsorship opportunities is available here.

Construction Tech Talks

Join PermitFlow and the Austin AGC on September 12 for a webinar discussion about navigating the complexities of the permitting process in Austin, TX.

PermitFlow is a permit management platform designed to cut approval time in half—with none of the headaches. Through preparation, submission, and tracking, PermitFlow has a team of experts capable of handling permitting requirements nationwide, in every municipality you build in. On average, businesses that use PermitFlow experience a 60% faster time to permit—enabling them to start construction sooner and complete projects with confidence. Register here.

Also, many thanks to Rudick Innovation & Technology for hosting a very informative webinar in August about common cyber risks that can severely impact contractors, whether large or small. Among the challenges discussed were: payment scams, gift card scams, phishing scams, ransomware attacks and data breaches. A copy of the presentation is available here, along with a practical set of steps your company can take to upgrade defenses against cyber criminials.

Intelligent Leadership for Seasoned Executives

The Austin AGC is offering a NEW leadership class October 15-17 designed for seasoned executives on the construction industry.

This course is designed for C-Suite leadership, Owners, Presidents, Vice Presidents, Directors and other Senior Management professionals. In addition to teaching advanced leadership skills, this course focuses primarily on the development of individual leaders, a subtle but important difference. Using trademarked, proprietary assessments that focus on leadership actions and effectiveness rather than just personality traits, and preferences.

This class is taught by Ted Turner, a Master Certified Executive Coach with over 40 years of experience in the engineering, construction and services industries. More information and registration here.

Online Spanish

(and Construction Spanish) Classes

Following up on the success of our first online Spanish class this year,, we are offering the online Spanish 1 class again and a new Spanish 2 class, both beginning September 23.

We recently held an online informational session to share how Freestyle is working with leading construction firms like DPR and Flintco, and how your teams can participate in our upcoming AGC Spanish classes. Watch the recording here.

For more information and to register for a class, click here.

AI for Texas Projects Leads

FREE 7-day Trial for AGC Members!

Chloe Smith, Founder and CEO of Mercator.ai, and Phil Thoden with the Austin AGC recently hosted a webinar demonstrating how to eliminate time-consuming research and grow your pipeline with viable new project leads while significantly boosting team productivity.

AI-powered business development identifies and aggregates 'everything you need to know' about early-stage projects and who's involved, giving you the knowledge to expedite the right relationship connections right from the start.

Get your FREE 7-day trial of Mercator.ai here!

If you missed the webinar you can catch the recording here. Note that Austin AGC members receive 20% off a Mercator subscription and will soon enjoy an updated version of the BuildIt Permits app as well.

Austin AGC www.agcaustin.org