LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

As Philadelphia and Pennsylvania work toward building better, safer, and stronger communities, all eyes are on our elected officials. It has been quite a year already. Gov. Josh Shapiro has been making bold moves since he stepped into office in January, and in short order we will elect Philadelphia’s 100th mayor.

With new leaders, change is inevitable. What remains constant is GBCA’s commitment to serving as the voice of the union building construction industry. Speaking to elected officials through a unified voice, particularly in times like these, is critical. Proactively advocating for the shared interests of our members is one of our most important priorities and is a responsibility we take very seriously. In fact, this issue features an op-ed from Erin Dwyer Harvard, our Director of Government Affairs, about what our industry and city needs from our next mayor, along with the next 100 mayors, in order to continue building a thriving city.

The strength of Philadelphia’s union construction industry has been on full display with the remarkable collaboration to reopen I-95 just 12 days after its collapse. I would like to personally thank every professional who worked tirelessly to complete this incredible feat, especially those from our GBCA member companies. I would also like to thank Gov. Shapiro for his outstanding leadership, which enabled us to show the world what we’re capable of here in Philadelphia. We’re honored to have Gov. Shapiro share his thoughts on lessons learned from this experience in this issue.

It goes to show that with the right support from our elected leaders, our industry can and will continue building a city that makes us all proud.

Benjamin J. Connors, Esq., CAE

President & CEO General Building Contractors Association