Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) has presented its Contractor of the Year award to Henry Kelly, president and chief operating officer of Austin Industrial Inc., Houston, TX.

ABC presents this award each year, at its national convention, to an ABC member who has demonstrated significant accomplishment for ABC, the merit shop and the construction industry. This year, ABC held its national convention Feb. 19 to 22 at the Walt Disney World Dolphin hotel in Orlando, FL.

“Henry Kelly embodies merit shop construction leadership, and it is a pleasure for ABC to honor him as its Contractor of the Year,” said Kirk Pickerel, ABC president and CEO. “ABC salutes Henry Kelly for all he has done to advance the association, the construction industry and the principles of free enterprise. Most notably, Kelly has made honoring construction craft professionals his top priority, and this commitment has been reflected in all the industry leadership roles he has been chosen to assume.

“Kelly served as ABC’s national chairman in 2001 and in that role he set the highest standards for honoring craft professionals in the construction industry,” Pickerel added. “In fact, it was Kelly who developed the Craft Professional of the Year competition that we have featured at every national convention since 2001. But Kelly’s service to the industry transcends his leadership at ABC. Last year he also served as the national chairman of the National Center for Construction Education and Research. Today, Kelly remains committed to this industry and the future generations of craft professionals it will produce."

In addition to his service as ABC’s 2001 national chairman, Kelly was a member of ABC’s executive committee from 1997 through 2002 and served as ABC’s Region 3 vice-chairman from 1997 through 1999.

He also was a long-time member of ABC’s national industrial council and served on national committees including the association’s chapter standards committee, chapter improvement task force, image task force and planning and futuring committee. At the chapter level, Kelly was president of the Greater Houston chapter in both 1996 and 1993. He also served on numerous chapter committees.

For more than 35 years, Kelly has advanced through a series of positions at Austin Industrial Inc. Today, he serves as the president and chief operating officer of this regional contractor that provides construction and maintenance services to the chemical, petrochemical, refining, power and manufacturing industries along the Texas and Louisiana coastline, and in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Austin Industrial is one of three operating companies of Austin Industries, Dallas, which is one of the largest and most diversified construction companies in the United States. As president and chief operating officer of Austin Industrial, Kelly also serves as a vice president of its parent firm, Austin Industries.

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