Did you know that July is National Hot Dog Month?  It is also National Eye Exam Month, Hitchhiking Month, Baked Bean Month, National Ice Cream Month (my favorite).  Also, Blueberries Month, National Lamb and Wool Month (in summer?), National Recreation and Parks Month.  It is also National Anti-Boredom Month.  There seems to be something for everyone.  I figure I’ll do my part in celebrating about half of these commemorations before the month is out.  A picnic with a well-stacked cooler would take care of many.  You can bring a wool sweater in case it gets cool for the July 7 summer outing with LCCA to the Brewer/Cubs game!  I might even get my ice cream on this trip as well.

Summertime is the ideal season for boredom.  Some people call it vacation.  I think being bored is an undervalued state of mind.  Obviously, it’s not a place one wants to stay all the time, but only when you are bored do you let yourself fully pay attention.  When you are a kid, that’s when you lie on the ground and watch the industry of ants, or look for shapes in the clouds, or find four leaf clovers.  Later on in life, it’s when, well, it’s when you do the same sort of stuff.  But while you’re watching the ants or scouring the skies, you’re also imagining all kinds of other things, making connections, sorting out your life, sensing the patterns that give your life its shape.  That doesn’t happen when you’re in a hurry.  It doesn’t happen when every day has a full agenda.  Those things rarely happen when you want to make them happen.

Boredom is one of those gifts life gives us that we often think we’d just as soon do without, and it would surely be a curse if it was unrelieved.  But for most of us, it’s a temporary state of grace that we visit from time to time, temporarily without our bearings, when we discover all the ways we human beings are made for wonder.

As summer arrives, I hope for a good boring July – full of ice cream.  This is our opportunity for authentic boredom.  After all, everyone knows August is National Canning Month, so you know we will be busy then! 

You can win a $500 prize by just sponsoring a new member. The LCCA Membership Committee, chaired by Mike Temple, Mechanical, Inc., wants everybody to help with LCCA’s membership efforts and you have a chance to win. The names of everybody who sponsors a new member by September 1 will be put in a hat and one lucky person will leave the September Membership Meeting with a nice prize. Already in the drawing are:  Ken Coslet; Mike DeNinno (2); Chris Dietz, Gerry Dumalski (2); Dee Frost, Graycor Industrial Contractors, Dave Henderson; Joe Henderson; Kroeschell Engineering, Mike Ryan, Ed Stuckey, and Mike Temple. 

Chairman Allan Pickus, Pickus Construction & Equipment, reports that the 2007 Winter Workshop to China and Tibet is over half filled. The sixteen day tour features stops in Beijing, Pingyao, Xi¢an, Lhasa (Tibet) and Shanghai. The cost will be $5,500 per person double occupancy, and include air, hotels and many meals.

Unfortunately, one of the stops (Pingyao), only has 23 hotel rooms available so the trip is limited by this restriction.  LCCA members will have first preference until August 1. After that we will confirm reservations based on the date the reservation form and deposit are received.

Chairman Mike Ryan, H.H. Holmes Testing Laboratories, reports the LCCA’s Annual Conference will be held jointly with the ASA of Chicago in Jamaica next year. The details:

Date:  January 11-15, 2007

Location: The Ritz Carlton Rose Hall Resort, Montego Bay, Jamaica

Cost: $1,895 per person double occupancy

The five-star Ritz Carlton Rose Hall is an “all-inclusive” resort and the package includes all meals, premium drinks and much more. Also included in the price is round trip non-stop air aboard Air Jamaica, a welcome reception and all transfers, tips and international departure taxes.

The Annual Conference would not be complete without a top notch program and that is what is in store for convention travelers. Workshops on legal issues and technology are planned.

This is a great price for an exceptional resort and an opportunity to get to know others in the industry you might not come in contract with on a regular basis. Maybe even find a business partner for a future project.

Rooms are very limited and will be available on a first come first served basis. Please call the LCCA office for more information.

LCCA’s Annual Golf Outing will take the course on Friday, August 4 at Countryside Golf Course. While we can accommodate 288 golfers in the afternoon thanks to Countryside’s 36 holes, the afternoon will sell out quickly. And if you want a more leisurely round, ask for the morning shotgun. This year we will have Beer Stations conveniently located on some of the course’s Par 3’s. Sponsors company name and logos will be prominently displayed. Four Beer Tent Sponsorships are available.

Platinum Beer Tent Sponsors :

West Side Tractor Co.

Gold “Cool Your Can” Sponsor:

Waukegan Roofing Co., Inc.

Silver and Bronze Hole Sponsors so far include:

The Blue Book Building & Construction

Blue Boy Portable Toilets

Cecchin Plumbing & Construction

Dan, Snell & Taveirne, Ltd.

IBEW – Local 150

McCann Industries, Inc.

Meyer Material Company

Multiple Concrete Accessories

Vulcan Materials

You can register on the LCCA website at www.lcca-il.org/events.

LCCA still has a limited number of MARBA Labor Contracts on CD. The CD contains all the MARBA negotiated labor agreements as of January 1, 2006, in a format that is searchable. This can be great help when looking for a particular condition in a lengthy contract.

The CD is free of charge to any member who has assigned bargaining rights for any agreement that MARBA negotiates. To receive a copy, just contact the LCCA Office and we will send you a copy. Quantities are limited.

Over the years apprenticeship programs have been slighted by some Illinois legislators as under inclusive of minorities.  This has led to statements by legislators that are unsubstantiated criticisms of apprenticeship programs.  The Illinois Foundation for Fair Contracting (FFC) has begun an initiative to uncover the truth about participation in apprenticeship programs.  Over the next twelve months the FFC intends to investigate various apprenticeship programs and the Federal and State regulations that govern these programs to determine the reality or misconceptions about whether or not these programs are discriminatory against minority participation.  This is the first step in trying to remedy the disconnection between apprenticeship programs and the minority legislators known as the black caucus.  Hopefully once the study is complete there will be one common goal to reach for all.

Here are a few facts about apprenticeship and minorities from the United States Department of Labor Apprenticeship Database.

• Between 1989 and 2001, union programs enrolled 51,800 minorities, almost three times the number in the non-union programs.
• Between 1989 and 2001, union programs enrolled 15,298 women, over four times the numbers enrolled by non-union programs.
• Between 1997 and 2001, union programs graduated over three times as many females and minority apprentices as the non-union programs.

State Apprenticeship Studies, the studies produced by state building trade councils, along with data obtained by the Building and Construction Trades Department, again reveals that unions enroll the vast majority of female and minority apprentices.  It is time to clear the air and limit the debate to facts.

The AFL-CIO lost another union with the official withdrawal of the Laborers who joined the Carpenters, Teamsters in the “Change to Win Federation.” While the Laborers were a founding member of “Change To Win,” they continued paying dues to both organizations until last month. The Laborers were also played a lead role with the Carpenters and Operating Engineers in founding the National Construction Alliance to work on construction issues.

The top four seniors in the Lake County Tech Campus Building Trades program were recognized by LCCA during the annual Awards Program at CLC. Recognition Plaques and $250 gift certificates were presented by Education Committee Chair Tim Staples, Camosy, Inc. to: 

• Kevin DeKind, Antioch High School
• Joseph Reasland, Round Lake High School
• Tim Schnaebele, Antioch High School
• Michael Sims, Antioch High School

The awards are presented annually by LCCA to the top seniors in the class. Students are not only judged on their skill with the tools, but also their attitude and dependability – traits we look for in construction.

A Permitting Task Force has been formed under the auspices of the Business & Government Relations Committee of Lake County Partners.  The Task Force is a joint effort on the part of the Village Managers’ Association, the Lake County Municipal League and Lake County Partners.

The idea for the Task Force got its start with the Lake County Economic Developers Network, an informal group of municipal developers who get together monthly to discuss economic development issues.  There was interest in learning what other communities (both within Lake County and outside) were doing in the area of permitting, learning more about the improvements being made in the County’s permitting process and exploring ways in which municipal and county permitting processes could occur concurrently.

The Permitting Task Force held its first meeting in May and plans to meet regularly. Gary Dowty, LCCA has been appointed to the Taskforce which will also include developers and engineers in the decision making process.

“This Taskforce is looking at some very important issues.  Having transparent, efficient permitting processes is an increasingly key element in economic development and our community’s ability to attract and retain high-quality businesses.  The challenge is to create systems in which projects can proceed as quickly as possible while still providing safeguards for residents, workers, and the environment,” said Tracey Bosman, Lake County Partners.

LCCA’s Safety Committee chaired by Fred Rodheim, Abbott Laboratories, has been working for almost a year to update the 2000 Safety Manual developed by LCCA. Safety Committee members took sections of the manual and updated them to meet current OSHA standards and best practices in the construction industry. If you are looking for a new manual with the very latest information, stay tuned. The manual is scheduled for release the end of June.

As with the 2000 version, the manual will be available in digital format (Word 2003 or Rich Text Format). With this version, you can make your own changes to the document to customize it for your company. We also offer, for an additional charge, a completely personalized manual that you can use immediately.

Check your safety manual and if the paper is yellow, the dates on the book begin with 1 or you cannot even find it, plan on letting LCCA bring you into the 21st Safety Century.

To order go online at www.lcca-il.org/store  and click on “Order Form” for an order form with all LCCA products for sale. 

Congratulations! The construction industry has been selected to help the government cut the budget deficit. Your contribution to this effort will be in the form of mandatory withholding of taxes on payments to government contractors beginning in 2011. Supporters say withholding 3% from payments will raise $7 billion, and ensure that contractors pay their bills!

Obviously not everyone agrees with this assessment. All small business groups are condemning the action, and state and local officials are worried about new paperwork requirements. Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) has already submitted a bill to repeal the provision. Hopefully Congress will come to their senses and do the right thing – before 2011!

The Capitol Development Board has replaced the Bid Information Newsletter with a user-friendly website page that is continuously available to our partners in the design and construction industries.  The BIN no longer will be published in its current form as a single document.  In its place is a web-based information page on the CDB website that will be updated directly by our project managers.  Everyone with an interest in CDB procurement opportunities will still receive periodic e-mail notification that the agency’s procurement information has been updated.  You can sign up for these e-mail notices by visiting the “on-line request for notification” icon on the CDB homepage.

From now on, the notices you will receive about new procurement information will direct you to the “Procurement Opportunity Information” web page.  Once there, you’ll be able to view or print information on:

• Schedule Bid Openings in Springfield, Chicago, Carbondale and Peru
• Future CDB Projects
• Change Orders Approved by CBD
• The Unofficial Results of Previous Bid Openings
• Re-Bid and Revised Bid Dues
• Certified Payroll Reporting
• Information on the Buy Illinois Programs
• A List of Participating Plan Rooms
• Prevailing Wage Rate Information
• CDB News and Information

Like the BIN, The Procurement Opportunity information Page will be updated twice a month, on approximately the 15th and the 30th.  The new website page will constitute the agency’s legal procurement advertisement as required by the Illinois Procurement Code.

To view this new page, please visit: www.cdb.state.il.us/procurement.html