Message from the President: Thanks for the Silver Lining
The recent turmoil in the stock market provides another reminder – as if we needed one – that the construction industry will continue to experience a rocky road to recovery.
At the mid-point of the association’s fiscal year I want you to know that AGC is striving to be of even greater value for members during this difficult period. AGC staff and leaders are creatively working to develop new value-added programs for members and to enhance current ones. We hope to announce another offering soon.
Not surprisingly AGC itself has been hit by the downturn. AGC dues are primarily based on volume and well volumes are down everywhere. Over the last two years (and next) AGC’s Board and Officers have responsibly reduced the size of the association’s budget.
But for AGC of Washington there is a notable silver-lining to the current situation: The number of members continues to grow. To our knowledge AGC of Washington is unique among the 96 AGC chapters nationwide in the sense that our membership is up even in the current economic climate. Our member retention rate is an impressive 91 percent; and 42 new companies have joined so far in 2011.
There are other ways to demonstrate strong continued interest in AGC programs this year:
- AGC’s Safety Team® achieved another all-time high in qualified members.
- An above-average number of 19 additional companies have qualified for membership in AGC Group Retro (16 of those firms were brand new AGC members).
- Participation in AGC’s legislative advocacy is as strong as ever and contributions to our political action committee BUILD PAC have already surpassed last year’s total.
- More companies are taking advantage of AGC’s employee retirement plan and we’ve seen significantly greater interest in the AGC Health Plan.
- We’ve had a 16 percent growth in the number of participants in our Office Depot program which is only one of many valuable AGC discount opportunities.
Despite the economic backdrop we seem to be in a positive feedback loop: More members bring additional energy and ideas; new energy and ideas seem to be attracting more members.
And there’s another notable bright spot: the AGC Building a significant source of revenue for the association. While other office buildings in the city average vacancy rates of about 18 percent our building is nearly 100 percent full. This is an enviable achievement for AGC staff and our Property Committee and serves as one more opportunity to express appreciation for the foresight and courage of the AGC contractors who established the building 40 years ago.
I want to thank all of you for continuing to make AGC a priority. If you have any ideas regarding what we could do better please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Pat McGarry
Manson Construction Co.
President AGC of Washington