Associated Builders and Contractors

That is helping to offset weakness elsewhere in the economy.

particularly the housing market which has been hit hard by high interest rates residential investment which includes housing construction contracted for the sixth time in the past seven quarters interest rates have been high, input prices have been ramping higher, the midterms have been approaching, other sources of uncertainty are intensifying, and yet we are in the midst of this data center construction boom, said Erban Basu, chief economist at Associated Builders and Contractors, a trade group.

If not for AI, he said, we'd be talking about a very different economy, a very different stock market, and a very different construction industry.

Not all companies are benefiting.

We're working in Indianapolis, Indiana with Marion University on a workforce development partnership and expanding our work in the trades.

We are a partner of Associated Builders and Contractors for their apprenticeship program.

And we've recently expanded that partnership to include a prep academy, a pre-apprenticeship program around the state of Indiana for high school students wanting to go in the trades.

And the trades right now are really hot in Indiana, especially with a lot of discussion around the investment needed for data centers and things where electricians and general construction will be critical.

I was talking to I was talking to Jimmy Green, who is kind of a center, a center right independent type.

He used to lead the Michigan ABC, the Associated Builders and Contractors.

And he had actually told me on record that he does plan on voting for Mike Duggan for governor as a write in candidate, even though I won't count because Mike Duggan did not fill out the certificate for write in votes to count toward him.

I had asked Jimmy Green, where do Duggan voters go in the U.S. Senate race? And he brought up something kind of interesting to me that these independent Duggan voters, they don't like to feel nasty when they cast a ballot.

First piece of good news, and I was actually honored to be a witness to this yesterday.

which was ABC Associated Builders and Contractors, Wisconsin.

held a great event yesterday afternoon, a press conference at PGA Incorporated in Weston, Wisconsin.

Got to meet some of the great people that run that wonderful company.

A PLA basically says that it has to be bid on by union workers, thus excluding 80% of the field that could be doing these and also artificially inflating the cost of what's being done.

Now, the great organization, Associated Builders and Contractors, ABC, started a website called Don't get played Wisconsin dot com.

No apostrophe.

Just don't get played Wisconsin.

Yeah, I know.

Jeffrey, you mentioned Associated Builders and Contractors of Texas.

Associated Builders and Contractors of

Texas,

yeah.

So these contractors that thought they could get away with not training, that thought they could get away with not providing it, you've got an owner that's up here that's like wants proof, like, "Do you have a qualified workforce? Show me, show me what you have." So I think it's critical for us to, whether we're talking about winning the AI race, whether we're talking about having a strong enough economy, um, globally, locally, domestically, whatever we're talking about, we do not have enough people in our industry.

That's why we need 439,000 based on ABC, Associated Builders and Contractors.

Why we need 439,000 people in our industry now is because, look, we-- I- if you wanna talk, people are saying, "Well, I can't find a job." Come on into construction.

[laughs]

Congressman-

Jimmy Greene used to head up the Associated Builders and Contractors of Michigan.

Jimmy Greene and Associates from the Saginaw area is on our radio stage, our AT&T line right now with reaction to what he just heard from Secretary Benson, who wants to be Governor Benson.

Good morning, good afternoon, good evening.