Page 10 - BusinessWest January 8, 2024

EDITORIAL >>
A Packed Year at BusinessWest
In the 40 years BusinessWest has been delivering key business news, trends, profiles, and much more to our readers, the econ- omy has swung back and forth many times, from the downturns
of the early ’90s and ’00s to the Great Recession of roughly 15 years ago to the recent, hyper-challenging pandemic years — and, of course, the brighter, more robust stretches in between those downturns.
In most cases over those years, business owners could read the signs and pinpoint what kind of economy they were dealing with — good or bad, promising or worrisome.
The current landscape, though, is mixed in an unusual way, with low unemployment and a soaring stock market on one hand and persistent inflation and too-high home prices on the other, just to name a few competing trends. As the Economic Outlook that begins on page 16 shows, there’s plenty of concern out there, but optimism, too, as we enter a year of global uncertainty, from what promises to be a wild presidential election in the U.S. to serious geopolitical conflicts overseas.
What is more certain is that BusinessWest will continue to reflect these times, these trends, and these stories from a local perspective — that is, through the eyes, minds, and stories of busi- ness owners and economic experts throughout the 413.
In our very next issue, we’ll reveal our 28th annual Top Entre- preneur — an intriguing, outside-the-box choice you’ll be excited to read about. One issue after that, we’ll unveil our 16th annual class of Difference Makers, the first of four very popular recogni- tion issues throughout 2024, along with 40 Under Forty in April,
OPINION >>
Healthcare Heroes in September, and Women of Impact in Octo- ber. Please note that BusinessWest accepts nominations for all four programs all year long.
We’re also introducing a few regular features to accompany our town-hopping Community Spotlight and the monthly Profes- sional Development story, which focuses on how area colleges and universities are connecting with the business world to help people access better career opportunities.
The new, quarterly offerings in 2024 will include Where Are They Now? — a visit with a past winner of one of the four awards mentioned earlier, detailing how their life and career have evolved since — as well as Nonprofit Spotlight, a quick look at one of the region’s nonprofit organizations and the important work they do, and our Faces of... series, which will offer thoughtful perspectives from leaders in the worlds of construction (in February), educa- tion (May), finance (August), and healthcare (November). That’s, of course, on top of our regular coverage of dozens of sectors (see the calendar on page 39).
Oh, and did we mention 40 years? We’ll be celebrating that milestone in a big way in our May 13 issue, with a comprehensive look at how several key industries and sectors have evolved since BusinessWest (then known as the Western Mass. Business Jour- nal) first appeared in 1984, and a celebration of the people who made it all happen.
So, as another uncertain year takes shape (and, really, aren’t they all?) we’re excited to bring it all to you — on the page, at our recognition events, and at businesswest.com. Happy New Year. BW
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Final Rule Will Face Legal Challenges
BY BEN BRUBECK
The Biden administration’s final rule, “Federal Acquisition Regulation: Use of Project Labor Agreements for Fed- eral Construction Projects,” implements Executive Order 14063, which requires federal construction contracts of $35 mil- lion or more to be subject to controversial project labor agree- ments (PLAs).
The Biden administration’s burdensome, inflationary, and anti-competitive PLA mandate rule will needlessly raise costs on taxpayer-funded construction projects and steer contracts to unionized contractors and workers. Absent a successful legal challenge, this executive overreach will reward powerful special interests with government construction contracts at the expense of taxpayers and the principles of free enterprise and fair and open competition in government procurement.
When mandated by governments, PLAs increase construction costs to taxpayers by 12% to 20%, reduce opportunities for quali- fied contractors and their skilled craft professionals, and exacer- bate the construction industry’s worker shortage of more than a half-million people in 2023.
Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) will continue to fight on behalf of quality, experienced contractors harmed by this rule and the 88.3% of America’s construction industry who have made the choice not to belong to a union and want a fair opportu- nity to participate in federal construction projects, but cannot do so because of PLA schemes.
In addition, ABC condemns Biden administration policies independent of this rulemaking that push PLAs on competitive grant programs administered by federal agencies, affecting nearly $260 billion worth of federally assisted infrastructure projects procured by state and local governments, as well as schemes by the Biden administration to coerce private developers of hun- dreds of billions of dollars’ worth of clean energy and domestic
microchip manufacturing projects to mandate PLAs. Biden’s PLA policies circumvent congressional intent as none of these policies were passed in funding legislation.
Some background: on Aug. 19, 2022, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council issued its proposed rule implementing Execu- tive Order 14063. In October 2022, ABC submitted more than 40 pages of comments to the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Coun- cil, calling on the Biden administration to withdraw its controver- sial proposed rule.
ABC’s opposition was shared by more than 50 members of the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives, 19 Repub- lican governors, and a diverse coalition of construction-industry, small-business, and taxpayer advocates urging the administration to withdraw its proposal and additional policies promoting PLA mandates on federal and federally assisted construction projects.
At least 8,000 stakeholders across the country — including 2,500 ABC member contractors — submitted comments opposed to this proposed rule during the 60-day comment period. In
a September 2022 survey of ABC contractor members, 98% opposed this proposed rule, and 97% said a construction contract that required a PLA would be more expensive compared to a con- tract procured via fair and open competition.
ABC plans to challenge this Biden administration scheme
in the courts on behalf of taxpayers and the majority of the con- struction industry. In the interim, ABC will continue to oppose
its special-interest-favoring policy using all tools in our advocacy and legal toolbox while educating stakeholders about the negative impact of government-mandated PLAs on federal and federally assisted projects. BW
Ben Brubeck is vice president of Regulatory, Labor, and State Affairs at Associated Builders and Contractors.
10 JANUARY 8, 2024
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