Message from the Idaho AGC CEO, Wayne Hammon

Greetings from all your friends at the Idaho AGC. I hope you find this edition of Building Idaho informative and engaging. It’s just one more example of how the Idaho AGC strives to bring value to your membership in the state’s largest, most trusted network of construction professionals.

By now, most Idahoans are tired of hearing about record-setting growth and the boom in construction. Don’t get me wrong – we’re happy that our state continues to grow and we welcome the work – but the tremendous volume of construction has only made the shortage of labor that much more of a pressing concern for all of us. There’s no doubt about it: finding and keeping talent is by far the number one issue keeping contractors of all sizes and all across the state up at night. Accordingly, it’s the top priority for the Idaho AGC.

Working with Idaho AGC member companies and other contractors far and near, the Idaho AGC has built a consortium to tackle this priority. It brings together educators at every level, state and federal agencies, and other partners to focus on developing and implementing a contractorled talent management pipeline (TPM) to bring individuals into the industry, get them started on the road to success, and help them build a long-term career in construction.

While we’ve tried many efforts along these lines in the past, this TPM initiative is the largest workforce development undertaking we’ve ever tried. With the help of our partners, we are attempting to align all the “pieces of pipe” available across all of Idaho into a pipeline that delivers to contractors an ongoing supply of individuals prepared to work in our industry. To be frank, it’s not an easy task and we’re going to need YOUR help to make it work.

I hope your company will reach out to either myself or Kaycee Cron on the Idaho AGC team today and engage in this important effort. I firmly believe that there is no challenge too large for Idaho’s construction industry, when we all work together.

In addition to workforce development, your Idaho AGC team is hard at work tackling the other issues important to you and your bottom line. Let us know if we can help you with reducing your health care costs through the Idaho AGC Health Plan, reward your employees with participation in the Northwest AGC Retirement Plan, or keep your people safe with discounted safety training. All these benefits and many more are part of your AGC membership. Let us know how we can help! l