Go Build Alabama receives national award for student engagement
Accepting the Spirit of the ECC award (from left to right): Bill Boyd, general manager, Southern Company, Ashley Baker, retired and founding board member, Jason Phelps, executive director of ACRI, Jeff Rodgers, president of AGC Services, and David Campbell, COO and general counsel of the Subcontractors Association of Alabama. (Contributed)
Go Build Alabama and the Alabama Construction Recruitment Institute (ACRI) were presented with the “Spirit of the ECC” award recently at the 48th annual Engineering and Construction Contracting Association (ECC) national conference in Palm Desert, California.
The award was accepted by Bill Boyd, ACRI board chairman and general manager for Southern Company; Ashley Baker, ACRI founding board chairman and retired vice president for Southern Company; Jeff Rodgers, ACRI board member and president of AGC Services; David Campbell, ACRI ex-officio board member and COO/general counsel for the Subcontractors Association of Alabama; and Jason Phelps, executive director of ACRI.
A shot from a Go Build Alabama promotional campaign, which recently won a national award from the Engineering and Construction Contracting Association. (Go Build Alabama)
“The ECC endeavors to identify and recognize successful organizations that are making a positive and innovative difference in the world of engineering and construction,” said Manuel Junco, senior vice president with Jacobs and a member of the ECC Executive Advisory Committee. “In Go Build Alabama, the Alabama Construction Recruitment Institute has developed one of the most effective models we have seen for addressing the critical issue of worker shortage in the construction industry, and we are proud to recognize them for this exceptional work.”
The ECC is an international organization composed primarily of the largest and most influential engineering and construction companies in the world. Participation is also open to academics and individuals or representatives of all industry sectors in which the ability to develop large-scale capital projects is critical to achieving business goals. Its mission is to promote thought leadership across multiple fields and serve as a resource for owners, contractors and suppliers in the global engineering and construction industry.
Lily Baria is Go Build Alabama’s Student of the Month. The award is part of its effort to encourage students to look at construction industry jobs. (Go Build Alabama)
“It is a special honor for Go Build Alabama to stand here today and receive this prestigious award,” Phelps said. “To be recognized by an international organization with the credentials and reputation of the ECC is testament to the importance of our efforts to educate, engage and inspire young people to join the construction industry. It also speaks volumes to the support we have received over the years from our board of directors, industry partners and the state legislators who collaborated to create the ACRI back in 2009.”
Each year, the Spirit of the ECC is awarded to an individual, group or organization that exemplifies the true spirit of the ECC, as determined through a vote by the national board of directors. To qualify for consideration, a nominee must meet three key criteria: strategic response to a fundamental challenge or opportunity; application of thought leadership; and stewardship toward the betterment of the industry, its participants and the people it serves.
Past winners of the Spirit of the ECC award include US First (2015), Engineers Without Borders (2014), the Mitchell Energy Barnett Shale Team (2013) and Team Rabbit (2012), a group of three independent companies that combined efforts to rescue the 33 Chilean miners who were trapped underground in Copiapó, Chile, following an earthquake in 2010.
Go Build Alabama: The Future is for Workers from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
About Go Build Alabama
In 2010, ACRI implemented the Go Build Alabama initiative to educate young people on the value of learning a trade, dispel misconceptions about the construction industry and inspire youths and others to consider pursuing a career as a skilled construction tradesperson. ACRI aims to provide better opportunities for construction tradesmen, more highly skilled employees for construction businesses and enhanced economic development for Alabama and the nation.
Besides Baker, founding board members Jeff Masters, retired president of the Alabama Associated Builders and Contractors, and LeRoy Nicholson of the AFL-CIO. Besides Boyd and Rodgers, current board members are: Donnie Stanley, Alabama Building Trades; Gail Braswell, Subcontractors Association of Alabama; Brad Condray, Alabama ABC; and Chris Newell, Alabama Road Builders. For more information, visit GoBuildAlabama.com.
