A Successful BuildersConnect is in the Books!

The mood was festive as Jeff Raday, Chair of the Association, kicked off the evening's activities following the Reception generously sponsored by Chicago Area LECET. The following member companies were recognized for milestone anniversaries:

• Assurance Agency (10 years) 
• Essex Crane Rental Corp. (10 years)
• McShane Construction Co. (30 years)
• Joseph J. Duffy Co. (70 years)

Dan McLaughlin, BA Executive Director, acknowledged the hard work put in by the Association's Board of Directors:

• Jeff Raday, Chair (McShane Construction Co.) 
• Ken Egidi, Vice Chair (Pepper Construction Co.)
• Steve Lenz, Treasurer (The George Sollitt Construction Co.)
• Jimmy Akintonde, Immediate Past Chair (Ujamaa Construction)
• Mark Bernhard (Bernhard Woodwork Ltd.)
• Mike Meagher (James McHugh Construction Co.)
• Mike Mozal (Joseph J. Duffy Co.)
• Dave Trolian (Clark Construction Group Chicago)
• Ray Wojkovich (Bulley & Andrews LLC)

Props were given as well to Phil Diekemper of Ceco Concrete Construction, for serving on the Builders Scholarship Foundation's Board of Directors for over a decade. His term ended following the selection in late December of the 2015 scholarship winners. We were thrilled to have two previous award recipients in the BuildersConnect audience: Laurie DeHaan, now with Clark Construction, and Stipo Zeba, employed by McShane Construction. (Aside: Save July 15th for the Scholarship Foundation's annual golf outing which funds this very worthwhile Foundation.)

Ken Simonson, Chief Economist for the AGC of America, presented a comprehensive economic forecast to our members, and answered many questions from the audience. His financial outlook was generally positive...very welcome news!

The Builders Association was honored to confer two of its prestigious awards to very deserving construction industry professionals during BuildersConnect. The first, our Community Builder Award, was presented to Ms. Carol Lord, Executive Director of Mid-America Regional Bargaining Association (MARBA). Ms. Lord achieved many accomplishments as she led MARBA for the past 25 years in its mission to promote stability and unity through improved labor-management relations. Ms. Lord will retire this spring, and we wish her continued success and happiness, although her expertise will be sorely missed by the Association.

This year's Corporate Citizenship Award was bestowed upon Barton Malow Company for its philanthropic programs, contributions and commitment to public service. Barton Malow is involved in many not-for-profit organizations, including Habitat for Humanity, The American Heart Association, the United Way, Toys for Tots, Lurie's Children's Hospital, and the Anti-Cruelty Society, among others. This past August, the firm introduced its first annual "Communities Day" at its offices nationwide.

The evening ended with some good, clean humor after Keynote Speaker Sponsor Textura Corporation introduced Rex Havens, comedian, to the stage. Textura, founded in 2004, is a provider of construction industry cloud-based virtual collaboration and productivity tools...we greatly appreciated their sponsorship support.

 We wish you all a wonderful 2015 and look forward to seeing you at Association events and programs during the year.

 Special thanks to all of our BuildersConnect Sponsors:

• Reception Sponsor Chicago Area LECET 
• Speaker Sponsor Textura Corporation
• Dinner Sponsors Ceco Concrete Construction & DLZ Industrial

Be sure to check out pics from the event on our Flickr page!