AGC Seattle District Report: Virtual district meeting, Sept. 16 | Election endorsements | Public-safety Town Halls

Seattle District membership meeting, Sept. 15

Join us for our first virtual Seattle District monthly meeting on September 15th, featuring an informational program on changes to Seattle building codes. Every three years, Seattle’s construction codes are updated to address new technologies and to incorporate lessons learned from real-life performance of buildings and structures. The latest significant code changes that were planned to go into effect on July 1, 2020 have been delayed to November 1, 2020 due to COVID-19 and other factors. Representatives from DCI Engineers and Langan will be highlighting some of these pending code changes as they relate to structural, geotechnical and energy sectors of our building projects. Register today…

Opportunities on WSDOT's I-405 widening project

The Flatiron-Lane JV will provide information at this virtual outreach event on the I-405 Renton to Bellevue Design-Build project, with details on upcoming contracting opportunities. This $705 million WSDOT design-build project will widen 12 miles of I-405 between Renton and Bellevue. This is a state-funded project with a voluntary goal of 10% MBE, 6% WBE, 5% VBE, and 5% SBE. Click here for more information and to register for the webinar on Thursday, August 27 from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.

Construction & trades careers
in historic preservation
Free Zoom webinar - August 4, Noon to 1:00 pm

The Washington Trust for Historic Preservation will host a discussion about the many different career paths in the field of historic preservation and cultural resources, focusing on preservation careers in construction and the trades. These industries are crucial pieces of the cultural and historic resource landscape and provide a wide range professional opportunities— from carpentry and window restoration to project management and engineering— for those interested in saving places that matter.

Attendees will have the opportunity to submit questions for the panelists before and during the event. If you can’t make it live, a recording will be made available to all registrants after the panel concludes. The webinar is free and open to all. Click here for more information and to register.

Public safety in Seattle - make your voice heard!

Overshadowing public discourse about meaningful ways to address racism and equity in our city, Saturday's riots shed a spotlight on the need for functioning system of law and order. What started out as a peaceful protest became destructive, including the targeting of a local construction project where an AGC member had its construction trailers set on fire and experienced other significant equipment and property damage. As a construction community, we are thankful that no one working that site was injured – in what could have been a very tragic situation.

This week, the City Council will begin to reshape the 2020 SPD budget and there are a couple of important places to elevate concerned voices in this conversation.

Mayor Durkan held a town hall yesterday and Downtown (D7) Councilmember Andrew Lewis are hosting town halls starting today to hear from stakeholders, and the City Council will hold a Budget Committee this Wednesday. Voices need to be heard at all of these meetings.

Councilmember Andrew Lewis’ D7 Town Hall on Public Safety
Format: Town Hall Meeting
Date: Tuesday, July 28
Time: 5:00 p.m.
When to register: Anytime prior to the meeting
Register online…

City Council Budget Hearing on SPD Funding
Format: City Council Hearing with Public Testimony
Date: Wednesday, July 29
Time: 10:00 a.m. (follow this link to confirm the meeting info)
When to register: 8 a.m. (exactly 2 hours prior to the meeting)
Register online…

Another record year for Group Retro

While AGC Retro members were not able to gather to celebrate the highest combined refund ever at $85,119,965 (including $767,075 from favorable appeals on a finalized year), top companies will still receive recognition awards for their achievements.

"Our individual top performers in all three years in cycle achieved NET premium refunds over 50% (59% in our 26th year) which is outstanding. These results reflect our participants' commitment to safety and light duty, the quality of our AGC staff assistance, the plan design, and our continual underwriting of the pool," said Van Hardy, Retro Chairman.

"Most of our members have lower rates than average which makes our refund results that much more impressive. Award winners are those with EMRs that are as low as you can go (at .60), those lower than .60, those with EMR decreases of 25%, those with EMR decreases over 25%, and cumulative-refund milestone awards," said Lauren Gubbe, Retro program director. Read more...

AGC Culture of CARE

The importance of storytelling in messaging suicide prevention in the workplace

AGCW safety director Mandi Kime authored this article in a recent issue of Construction Executive magazine.

Just the mere mention of suicide can make people uncomfortable. Now imagine trying to have that uncomfortable conversation with coworkers. But the reality is that ignoring this topic will not make it go away. Creating a culture that supports your workers is vital to organizational success. Frankly speaking, no organization will run without its people.

Suicide rates were on the rise even before the gigantic curveball named COVID-19 came and hit every workplace, neighborhood and family in the world. But one thing is certain: everyone has been hit differently, and everyone started in a different place mentally, emotionally and physically before COVID-19 became a nebulous force of change, confusion and chaos. Read more...