Cover Story

OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW

JULY 2021 | 2021 ABC of LA State Convention By: Lindsey Russ, Director of Member Services

NEW was the keyword for this year’s 2021 ABCLA State Convention. New location, new state, new agenda, new keynote speaker, new sponsorships, and new faces! After 37 years in San Destin, ABC of Louisiana made the decision to move the State Convention to Gulf Shores. The Convention was held at The Lodge at Gulf State Park, on the beach of Gulf Shores, Alabama.

After a canceled Convention in 2020 and over a year’s worth of planning for the 2021 Convention, the ABC staff was excited to get to the beach to celebrate the merit shop with members from all across Louisiana. This year’s agenda was a little different than year’s past. Wednesday started with check in, sponsored by Hancock Whitney Bank and Grady Crawford Construction, for members to grab their bags, sponsored by Gainey’s Concrete and Convention t-shirts sponsored by Turner Industries, Trade Construction Company, Hannis T. Bourgeois and Bengal Crane & Rigging and a welcome reception, sponsored by Bottom Line Equipment, where members were able to cruise through ‘Vendor Alley.’ Vendor Alley featured 7 sponsors who set up booths for the duration of the Convention. These sponsors included; Autodesk Construction Cloud, Prime Occupational Medicine, Industrial Fabrics, Inc., 24HR Safety, Universal Data, Inc., TorcSill Foundations, LLC & Griffin Dewatering, LLC. We kicked off Thursday morning and the first full day of Convention with a member breakfast where Scott McKnight, 2021 State Convention Committee Chairman, provided a full update on the planning that went into this year’s improved agenda and the new location. McKnight recognized and thanked the convention committee members who dedicated their time to planning the event all year. Next up was the chapter updates provided by Robbie Wooderson of Durr Heavy Equipment for New Orleans/Bayou Chapter and Shawn Worsham of Worley for Pelican Chapter. Milton Graugnard then provided the membership a regional ABC update, with a call to action to get involved in our current political climate now more than ever – your voice can be heard and make a difference. Following the breakfast, members attended two educational breakout sessions. The first was a Political Update Session featuring ABC National’s Director of Political Affairs, Melanie Pfieffenberger and Vice President of Legislative and Political Affairs, Kristen Swearingen. The two ABC National staff members shared the current political view of the construction industry and where they expect it is headed. The second educational session of the day included State Representative Scott McKnight who moderated a construction legal panel with panelists Murphy Foster, Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson, Adrian D’ Arcy, Shields | Mott and Jon Forester, Reiss LeMieux. These industry experts discussed new construction laws taking effect and what those mean for our industry.

This year’s keynote speaker is a very well-known, rightwing activist that we were so thrilled to have speak to our members. Candace Owens joined our Keynote Lunch. She spoke to our members about the importance of educating our younger generation and the need to change the state of mind our country is in, to succeed in properly educating the next generation. She applauded our work at our training centers and our political advocacy for the current and future states of the construction industry. We would like to thank BXS Insurance for sponsoring our Keynote Lunch, Cecelia Crawford (daughter of Trey Crawford, Grady Crawford Construction Company) for welcoming Owens to our Convention and Performance Contractors for their support in getting Owens to Gulf Shores. Our members were moved by her speech and empowered to continue their efforts in living merit shop proud!

We ended Thursday night with the annual PAC reception to honor and thank all the 2021 Political Action Committee donors followed by the “Adult Night.” Adult night consisted of dinner and drinks, sponsored by Triad Electric & Controls and Alliance Safety Council, a silent and live auction, and dueling pianos, sponsored by Performance Contractors, as the night’s entertainment. Gallagher was the sponsor of the photobooth. Our “auctioneer” Donn Peterson, Turner Industries Group, auctioned off five live auction items, such as, a year’s worth of date nights, BBQ Grills & more while other attendees took a stab at winning one of the 10 silent auction items, such as, Airpods, wine and whiskey baskets, Dyson vacuums, rounds of golf and more. It was a fun night full of laughs, friendly competition, good conversations, and even better people.

Owls, snakes, and baby alligators all came out for our Friday morning Family Breakfast, sponsored by Milwaukee Tool . The local state park brought over animals native to the park for our members and their children to view up close and learn about while enjoying breakfast. Friday presented three more educational sessions for attendees.

First, Matt Abeles, ABC National’s Vice President of Construction Technology talked to our members about the current and future state of safety technology in the construction industry. Kyle Love, with Human Dynamics, Inc. spoke second. He helped companies create succession plans and start the conversations about the future success of their companies. Julie Laperouse of Screaming Peacock taught our members some valuable lessons on dealing with this “new normal”, post-pandemic.

The always exciting and much anticipated Beach Bash, sponsored by Five-S Group and Primoris Services Corporation took place Friday afternoon. Members and their families built sandcastles, tossed mullets, paddle boarded, kayaked, played dodgeball, tugged on tug of war rope and of course, played the famous Pelican Chapter vs. Bayou Chapter volleyball tournament. The Performance Contractors team (Joel Thames and Kenny Derouen) won the sandcastle building contest, Jared Poche (adults) and Jackson Day (children), both of Trade Construction Company won the mullet toss competition. And finally, after an intense competition, lots of sand, some smack talking and a score of 1 to 1, the Pelican Chapter won the last of 3 volleyball games to bring the trophy back home to Baton Rouge! The trophy was awarded to the “MVP” of the game, Matthew Allen, MMR Group, also our hotel room key sponsor, and will be displayed, proudly, in the ABC Pelican chapter office. Go Pelicans!

The finale of the Convention was Family night, sponsored by EXCEL Group. Members and their families enjoyed a “picnic style” dinner with hamburgers and hotdogs along with hot, sugary funnel cakes and cold ice cream sandwiches. Chad Pierce of EXCEL Group was the DJ and MC for the night. The kids showed off their flexibility in limbo, painted their faces like tigers and unicorns, got airbrushed tattoos, participated in scavenger hunts, and ended the night showing off their moves with a dance glow party!

Thank you to our Convention Sponsors; Peterson Beckner Industries, Renaissance Hotel Baton Rouge, Shields | Mott LLP, Trinity Integrated Services, LLC, Lard Oil Company, Patriot Construction & Industrial, LLC, Cory, Tucker & Larrowe, Palmisano Contractors, ACE Enterprises, Hebert Steel Company, Inc, Beard Construction Group and Bengal Crane & Rigging.

Thank you to our Auction Sponsors; Cajun Industries, Great River Industries, Catering Cajun, Trade Construction & Beard Construction.

A very special thank you to all our committee members and volunteers. We could not have made this event happen without your help and dedication!

It was definitely a week to remember, and we hope every attendee enjoyed it as much as we did! Save the dates for next year, where we will be back in Gulf Shores July 27-29!