I recently attended an organizational meeting for this year’s Membership Committee. The Committee is chaired by Mike Henderson who is assisted by his two “Captains”, Steve Dalbec and Gerry Dumalski. One of the first issues that came up in the meeting was, predictably, “what can we do to reduce the turnover of members?” This year’s edition of the Committee has already taken the proactive approach of making member retention a top priority, to the extent of making the Committee operational for the entire year rather than ceasing operations at the end of the recruiting period. They plan to concentrate on finding ways to make membership in this Association a necessity to everyone in the industry.

In addition to my position with this organization, I also serve in various capacities on committees of the Mechanical Contractors Association of Chicago. I serve as chairman of a newly formed committee titled “Member Services”. It is our charge to look for ways to make membership more valuable to our current and prospective members. One of the first things we are exploring is potential savings to our members through group purchasing arrangements with a wide variety of vendors. We will continue to explore this and other avenues to enhance the value of membership.

My question to all of you is “WHAT CAN WE DO FOR YOU?”

I know that a lot of you have opinions about things that you think we could do differently, things that you think we could do better, things you’d like to see us do, that we aren’t currently doing. Please let us know your opinions. Call us, fax us, e-mail us, talk to us at the monthly meetings, tie a note to a rock and throw it through the window (just kidding), but let us know what you want from us. This is your Association and we need your continuous input and feedback to know what we can do for you. You very likely have an idea that is shared with other members that none of us in “leadership” positions have thought of. Don’t keep it to yourself. Your idea could be something that turns into a dynamic and exciting program or service that the Association can provide.

We look forward to hearing from you.
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JAYMOR ELECTRIC, INC.
500 Park Avenue, Suite 204
Lake Villa, IL 60046
Phone: (847) 245-4700
Fax: (847) 245-7300
CONTRACTOR
Maureen Jung, President
Jim Pinkos, Project Manager
Tom Ferrell, Chief estimator
Chris Bonin, Estimator
Joe Petrucci, Superintendent
Electrical Contractor
SPONSOR: Karen Johnson, Roughneck Concrete Drilling & Sawing Co., Inc.

NESLUND & ASSOCIATES
115 S. River St.
North Aurora, IL 60542 Phone: (630) 896-8880
Fax: (630) 896-7381
CONTRACTOR
Fred Neslund, President
John Scapin, Vice President
Frederick P. Neslund, Superintendent, Safety Director
Jeff Truax, Chief Estimator
Sanitary/storm sewers, water distribution, lift stations & light excavating
SPONSOR: Steve Dalbec, Jos. J. Henderson & Son

WUNDERLICH-MALEC SERVICES
937 National Avenue
Addison, IL 60101
Phone: (630) 827-0200
Fax: (630) 827-0208
SUPPLIER
Bill Graham
Electrical Controls and Automation Integration
SPONSOR: Steve Dalbec, Jos. J. Henderson & Son
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2003 Members

• 133 Contractors – 52% of membership
• 73 Suppliers – 28% of membership
• 51 Associates – 20% of membership

Contractor Members

• 102 are Building Contractors. Of these 29 would be considered a General Contractor, 73 are Building Subcontractors
• 31 are Excavating, Highway, Underground

Supplier Members

• 50 provide materials incorporated into a construction project
• 12 sell, lease, rent and/or service heavy equipment
• 11 sell, lease, rent and/or service small equipment

Associate Members

• 26 provide professional services
• 12 provide insurance and/or bonds
• 7 provide financial services
• 6 provide other services

We have other statistics that we will include in future Newsbriefs.
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If you did not receive a questionnaire, and still want to pass on your comments, please send written comments to the LCCA Office and we will make sure they get to the Negotiating Committee. Feel free to comment on what you think the wage/benefit package should be, contract language that has given you problems, or specific working rules you would like to see included – or excluded. Time is short so get your comments in soon!
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While some testing companies continue to avoid using Operators, the IDOL is now saying that for Prevailing Wage enforcement, they will consider the Operators as having jurisdiction. This coverage is limited to “soil testing” and other core drilling appears to not be covered under the ruling.
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The second prong is that the City must demonstrate that its program is narrowly tailored to remedy the discrimination. On this point, Judge Moran stated, "It is here that I believe the program fails." He went on to cite several concerns with the City's existing M/WBE Program and entered an injunction against continuation of the City's current M/WBE Program. However, he went a step further and delayed the effective date of this injunction for six months giving the City time to rethink the many tools of redress it has available. It is expected the City will begin revising its existing program to meet the timetable set forth in this decision.
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Several ICIC members surpassed their ICIPAC fundraising goals. Thanks to the success of LCCA’s PAC Auction last April, we were able to contribute $11,000 to ICIPAC last year – and again this year. Another PAC Auction is tentatively scheduled for April, 2005.
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Eckmann referred to the group’s website, laketrafficrelief.com, which was recently launched. Lake County Residents for Traffic Relief designed the website in order to help spread the word about the March 16th Lake County transportation referendum. Voters have the ability to increase the sales tax in Lake County by a ¼% on Election Day. The roughly $15 million generated each year would be in addition to current funding and used solely for transportation congestion projects, such as adding lanes, and traffic signal synchronization.

The website contains information such as frequently asked questions, sample projects, clarification on the ballot language, and a section on how to get involved.

“The ballot language is so confusing, the committee thought that an explanation and in-depth information would help our efforts,” said Chuck Bartels, Treasurer of the organization.

Lake County Residents for Traffic Relief is a countywide organization comprised of business and civic people throughout Lake County who support the referendum. In December of 2003, the Lake County Board voted unanimously to place the question on the March 16th ballot.
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Serving with Mr. Dowty are:

Members with professional expertise:

• Jody Armstrong-Moon
• Bruce Block
• George Bridges
• Tom O’Connell
• Michael Rodriguez

Members from government agencies:

• Tony Figueroa, 4th Ward Alderman
• Barry Burton, Lake County Administrator
• Greg Petry, Waukegan Park District
• Duncan Henderson, Waukegan Port Authority
• Dr. Richard Olson, Waukegan Public Schools
• Patricia Jones, Waukegan Township Supervisor

Waukegan Mayor Richard Hyde and State Senator Terry Link are leading the charge for the casino with an eye on the economic development potential the project would bring. At the February public hearings, Executive Vice President, Gary Dowty and IBEW Business Manager Dave Barger were among the speakers testifying for the proposal.

S-L Partners includes Allan Ludwig and Ritchie Stein, two local developers. In a recent letter to Mr. Ludwig, LCCA went on record supporting the proposal as long as the project would be let to union contractors and we also suggest that LCCA members be considered for contracts.

The complex is expected to generate 1,500 construction jobs and up to 2,000 permanent jobs. The winning bidder will be announced on March 15.
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"Unquestionably, it was the strong housing and residential construction markets that were the major forces driving the level of gypsum board usage in the past calendar year," comments Michael Gardner, Executive Director of the Gypsum Association. "What is interesting is that shipments of some gypsum board products not typically incorporated into residential construction also increased. We certainly hope that this trend for both residential and non-residential gypsum board use continues into the future."
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Below are all the winners. Those in Bold Italic either tied for the best record in the division with zero Lost Workday Accidents, or were the best in the division.

Special congratulations to the company’s Safety Director who is listed beside the company. Their hard work and dedication to a safe workplace is responsible for the excellent results.

Division I - Less than 20,000 Hours

• B & G Services, Inc., Beth Greenhill
• T & R Tree Clearing, Inc., Toni Edmonds
• MK Industries, Inc., Art Kopp
• F & V Construction Company, Inc., Henry DeVries

Division II - 20,001 - 100,000 Hours

• American Acoustics, Inc., Ken Hairrell
• b. Stromberg Construction Co., Inc., Jon Stromberg
• K. R. Miller Contractors, Inc., David Neidballa
• D. L. Franzen Construction, Inc., Debbie Freeman
• Car-Min Construction Co., Inc., Vince Carravetta
• Thermodyne Mechanical Services, Inc., Tony Stephens
• Roughneck Concrete Drilling & Sawing Co., Karen Johnson
• Lenny Hoffman Excavating, Inc., Larry Hoffman
• John Keno & Company, Inc., Bill Vignocchi
• Stuckey Construction Co., Inc., Chad Nate
• Electrical Contractors, Inc., Don Husko
• DK Contractors, Inc., Micky Day
• Greg Greenhill Construction Co., Inc., Mark Warnecke
• Meade Electric Company, Inc., Tim Swanson
• Rausch Construction Company, Inc., Dino Villasenor
• Capitol Construction Services, LP, Ray Edington
• Benson Electric, Inc., Dennis Teigland
• Ernie Peterson Plumbing, Inc., Ron Peterson

Division III - 100,001 - 500,000 Hours

• Becker Electrical Construction, Inc., Jim Becker
• Graycor Construction Co., Inc., Ray Edington
• Berger Excavating Contractors, Inc., Julie Berger
• Plaza Excavating Contractors, Rich Soda
• Pickus Construction & Equipment Co., Inc., Rob Schiller
• Mechanical, Inc., Joe O’Tool
• Boller Construction Co., Inc., Lynne Bach
• Thelen Sand & Gravel, Inc., Chad Broege
• Camosy, Inc., Mike Hirvela
• Bane-Nelson, Inc., Scott Nelson
• Landscape Concepts Construction, Inc., Jackie Mateja
• Ragnar Benson, Inc., Loren Whitney
• Advance Mechanical Contractors, Inc., Jennesse Jones
• Riley Construction Company, Inc.,
• International Decorators, Inc., Peter Graham

  Division IV - Over 500,000 Hours

  Aldridge Electric, Inc., O'Brien Mills

• Kelso-Burnett Company, Cathy Kay
• Continental Electrical Construction Company, Tom King
• Graycor Industrial Constructors, Inc., Ray Edington