ABC-SEMI Southeast Michigan Contractors Issue 1, 2022

2 Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc. ABC Members, Happy New Year! What a great year 2022 will be. The Southeastern Michigan Chapter of ABC celebrates our 50th year in 2022. That’s 50 years of promoting the Merit Shop philosophy. What does that mean? It means workers and company owners earn money based on work performance, not seniority, age, race, or preferred demographic status. It means promoting free enterprise and competition instead of political favoritism. Over 50 years, the Southeastern Michigan Chapter of ABC has fought hard for these principles. We’ve done this through political advocacy. We’ve also done it through litigation. Even when you’re focused on your business, we’re working to ensure a fair and even playing field for everyone. In Michigan, we’ve led some remarkable successes. Workers are no longer forced to join labor unions that don’t support their values because ABC successfully pushed for Right to Work. ABC rooted out Project Labor Agreements—contracts where the government forced companies to join unions or pay into their fringe benefit funds in order to be awarded government contracts. ABC led the elimination of Prevailing Wage—an effort to artificially raise labor costs for some construction companies in order for union contractors to remain competitive. And, ABC fought to Unlock Michigan when government leaders forced the shutdown of Michigan’s economy. While we will spend 2022 celebrating these successes and recognizing many of the leaders who played a role, we will also continue to evolve in areas of importance to contractors. We will continue towards our goal of 1,000 apprentices in our skilled trades school to create a pipeline of talent for the industry. We will be providing professional development programming to help develop your next generation of company leaders. We will connect you with like-minded construction companies to help you find new business partners. And we will continue to fight against “quality bidder” ordinances and other laws that give preferential treatment to companies that don’t look like you. Cheers to the New Year! This is what 50 looks like! Sincerely, Keith Ledbetter | President and CEO ABC Southeastern Michigan Chapter KEITH LEDBETTER ABC SEMI President President’s Letter

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