The American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) honored a number of industry organizations with the 2002 "Chapter Excellence Awards" during the association’s mid-year meeting, held Oct. 26 to 30 in New York City.
The competition recognizes the key role ARTBA state chapters play in advancing the interests of the transportation construction industry. An independent panel of journalists, congressional staff and federal officials selected the winners.
Awards winners included:
Public Relations and Education Campaigns:
This category recognizes one-time or on-going programs and activities that are aimed at shaping public opinion about the transportation construction industry and/or specific industry issues in a positive way.
Contractors Association of West Virginia (CAWV) was recognized for its creative multi-year "Hard at Work" campaign, which is focused on promoting the positive impacts of transportation construction on the West Virginia economy and quality of life, and attracting more people to careers in the industry.
The association utilized effective television, radio and print ads to reach the thousands of state residents with key messages.
CAWV also developed and widely distributed to its members logos, banners, license plates and other "Hard at Work" promotional items for placement at hundreds of job sites.
Honorable mention was awarded to the Mississippi Road Builders Association for its C2 "Construction Careers Program."
Legislative and Regulatory Advocacy Campaigns
This category recognizes one-time or on-going programs and activities that are mounted to achieve important transportation construction industry legislative or regulatory objectives.
The General Contractors Association (GCA) of New York waged an aggressive lobbying campaign to win support for an indemnification insurance program to protect all city and contractor activities related to the recovery operations at the World Trade Center following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Many of the firms involved rushed to the site immediately without insurance protection and subsequent attempts to obtain traditional insurance from commercial companies failed because of the high risks involved.
GCA of New York and its individual member companies sent numerous letters and met with members of Congress and its staff, top level White House staff, officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and state and city officials to advocate for a plan to protect industry companies from lawsuits that could put them out of business.
The association is credited with securing a commitment from FEMA to help provide liability insurance to the firms involved in the recovery efforts.
Honorable mention was awarded to AUC — Michigan’s Heavy Construction Association for its "$1-Billion Sewer Bond Issue Program."
Training and Education
This category recognizes one-time or on-going programs and activities that improve the level of professional skills among the state association’s member firm employees.
The Ohio Contractors Association (OCA) was recognized for its comprehensive training and education program, which included 30 seminars with more than 1,600 participants on issues such as labor contract agreements and safety training.
The program also included a "Constructor for a Day Program" and a "Young Leaders Group" meeting aimed at recruiting the next generation of industry executives.
Honorable mention was given to the Mississippi Road Builders Association for its "C2 Construction Careers Program."
Civic and Community Programs
This category recognizes one-time or on-going programs and activities that make a positive statement about the state association’s commitment to building better communities in the state through volunteerism and good will.
AUC — Michigan’s Heavy Construction Association was recognized for its efforts to help restore the deteriorating infrastructure of Greenwich Village at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn.
Since the fall of 2001, AUC members have donated their time, expertise and engineering skills to planning the restoration of the village’s approximately 75-year-old sewer/water/gas/electrical infrastructure and its deteriorating roads and sidewalks.
AUC helped coordinate and fund the $800,000 initial engineering study for the project, and the actual renovation work is scheduled to begin in November, with 10 AUC members and over 30 suppliers participating.
The association’s members’ generous donations of time and expertise helped reduce the final costs of the project by $15 million.
Honorable mention was given to the Ohio Contractors Association for its contributions of time, effort and financial resources to the Haven of Rest Ministries charitable organization in Akron.
Overall Membership Communications Program
This category recognizes an association’s on-going, comprehensive member communications program.
Alabama Road Builders Association (ARBA) was recognized for developing a comprehensive member communications program.
The association utilizes a variety of tools to share information with its members, including a revamped quarterly Alabama Roadbuilder magazine, a newly redesigned Web site, a customized membership directory, weekly fax reports with breaking news from Washington, D.C., and the Alabama state house that impacts transportation development, as well as several other member mailings, such as relevant newspaper articles, bid tabulations, and progress reports on all road construction projects in the state.
Honorable mention in this category was awarded to the Tennessee Road Builders Association.
Chapter Membership Development Program
This category recognizes the state association’s on-going membership recruitment program, placing emphasis on quantified results.
Alabama Road Builders Association (ARBA) developed an incentive program for current members to get them actively involved in trying to recruit new member firms to the association. ARBA members earned points for each new recruit.
The member credited with recruiting the most new member firms received a free registration to ARBA’s annual convention — a $2,000 value. Since 1999, more than 65 new members have joined the association.
For more information, visit www.artba.org.
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