Dear ASA Members,
Are you as excited as I am to see the trees begin to bud? There is something about springtime that always feels incredibly hopeful. New flowers are pushing through the ground and new opportunities are on the horizon. I know I speak often of how excited I am for what the future holds for all of us at ASA, but I feel like each month gives us something new to celebrate.
To those of you who were recently honored at the ASA Awards Presentation, I want to give my loudest congratulations. Many of you have worked so hard over the last year, one that for many of us was the most difficult and challenging we’ve ever faced, and you have shown how much we can excel in the midst of struggle. Please know that all of ASA is proud to stand with you.
ASA celebrated this year’s Women in Construction (WIC) Week, March 7-13, 2021, by hosting two podcasts. We interviewed Sheila Ohrenberg, an ASA member from our Kansas City Chapter and Chair of Women Construction Owners & Executives (WCOE); Dana Thompson, WCOE’s Washington Representative; and Bethany Beck, Chair of ASA’s Attorneys’ Council. Together, these women candidly identified the “roses” and “thorns” about their experiences working in and/or representing the construction industry.
Link to Sheila Ohrenberg and Dana Thompson interview
Link to Bethany Beck interview
WIC Week, first announced in September, 1960 in Amarillo, Texas, highlights women as a viable component of the construction industry, and raises awareness of the opportunities available and expanding role of women in this industry.
Beyond identifying their experiences working in and/or representing the construction industry, these women addressed the following issues during their podcasts. The need for
- building a diverse and inclusive workforce;
- expanding the number of women in the industry;
- explaining the enormous gender gap in the industry;
- planning for the growth of women in the industry;
- increasing the number of women-owned construction firms;
- highlighting the challenges and opportunities women face in contract law;
- improving recruitment and retention of women in the industry;
- advocating for schools and educational programs recognizing the value of women in the industry; and
- educating members of Congress and their staff about women in the industry.
I highly encourage you to listen to these podcasts, and I am confident you will find them invaluable. More podcasts are planned for the remainder of the year.
Since the beginning of the new 117th Congress, ASA has been closely monitoring the sixth COVID-19 relief package, which is expected to be finalized before federal unemployment benefits expire on March 14th. To that end, ASA, along with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and many other organizations representing small businesses, continues to urge Congress to extend the deadline for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) through December 31, 2021. Congress created the PPP through passage of the bipartisan Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and in the past 12 months more than 5 million small businesses received PPP loans. That aid allowed between 1.4 and 3.2 million employees to stay on payroll even when their employers were forced to close their doors.
On regulatory issues, ASA in conjunction with the Construction Industry Safety Coalition (CISC), sent a second letter to OSHA outlining several issues the agency should consider while they deliberate the need for an emergency temporary standard (ETS) on COVID-19. Per the letter, “we call on OSHA to be more transparent about the process of developing the ETS and also raise concerns about the need for a COVID-19 ETS in construction and potential burdensome provisions in a COVID-19 standard.”
Finally, I offer my sincerest gratitude to the 30 participants in ASA’s Attorneys’ Council’s Subcontractor Legal Defense Fund (SLDF)’s “Suds for Subs” virtual beer tasting fundraiser that took place on March 3, 2021. To date, we have collected $14,500 for the SLDF, which underwrites the legal costs of filing “friend-of-the-court” briefs to inform the Court regarding the broader impact of relevant construction industry cases throughout the country. ASA has won dozens of these cases since 1997, vindicating subcontractor rights today and into the future.
As always, I look forward to the day when we will be together in person. If we can’t be together before then, please set your sights on one year from now, March 2-5, 2022, for SUBExcel. The community of ASA members is one of the strongest in the industry, and I know we’ll be together again soon,
God Bless,
Brian Cooper
ASA President 2020-2021
