ABC-Mass. chapter chairman’s message: Much to celebrate at ABC National Convention - by Luiza Mills

The recent ABC National Convention held in Las Vegas was filled with celebration. Not only because of the 75^th anniversary of our national association, but also because of the performance of three talented ABC MA apprentices who competed against the winners of other ABC chapter competitors from across the country, with each winning silver medals in the National Craft Championships.

Christian Robson of Premier Power won silver in the Electrical competition, while two DECCO apprentices, Dan Wilson and Jonathan Farr won silver in Pipefitting and Welding, respectively. Congratulations are in order for these tremendous ABC MA apprentices for their hard work and for being among the best of the best in the nation!

The accomplishments are particularly important to share as we continue to experience the construction industry’s ongoing labor shortage, which ties directly with one of our strategic initiatives and our chapter’s focus on developing the pipeline of talent our companies need to meet demand.

Last year, ABC MA took an important step in our workforce development efforts with the opening of the Gould Construction Institute’s new state of art training facility in Billerica. It’s fitting that our local Craft Championships were held there the same day as the facility’s ribbon cutting. The fact that our local competition was for the first time held in our own facility, together with getting to watch our apprentices compete in Las Vegas as part of ABC’s 75^th anniversary, made Christian, Dan and Jonathan’s achievements even more memorable.

The new GCI facility comes in tandem with ABC MA’s establishment of Building Mass Careers as a 501(c)3 charitable organization. BMC focuses on attracting workers from a wide range of backgrounds in the construction industry collaborating with state, local and private agencies and securing needed public and private grants to support our workforce development efforts and open doors for future generations in the trades.

Times change, and so do the challenges the construction industry faces. We will continue to evolve with these times and to anticipate and serve the needs of our member companies.

Luiza Mills is the 2025 ABC MA chair and senior vice president at Interstate Electrical Services Corp., North Billerica, Mass.