Backlog for contractors reached 9.1 months in May and experts said the climb was due in part to data center investment across the nation.

The 9.1 score was from a member survey taken between May 20 to June 3. It was higher by 0.3 months from April and 0.7 months from May 2025, officials said.

“Backlog rose to a nearly three-hear high in May,” said Anirban Basu, chief economist at ABC, in a statement. “This increase largely reflects the massive data center investments taking place across the nation.”

Basu noted 14 percent of ABC members were under contract to work on data centers and experienced higher backlog of 11.6 months compared to firms that aren’t with 8.6 months.

“The way this boom is disproportionately benefiting larger contractors helps to explain why contractor confidence slipped in May even as backlog continued to climb,” he added.

Data center projects have been widely credited with keeping the industry afloat at least since July 2025.

Backlog increased in every region except the South. However, the South remains the region with the longest backlog of 10.3 months and the largest year-over-year increase in backlog of 0.9 months. In the middle states, backlog grew since last year by 0.7 months, according to ABC.

Readings for sales, profit margins and staffing levels fell in May, the association’s confidence index showed. However, the readings for the three components were above 50, suggesting growth for the next six months.

The American Institute of Architects reported its fell to 48.3 in April, compared to 49.8 in March. This means the share of architecture firms that reported a decline in billing was more than the share the reported an increase.

National architecture firm billings haven’t crossed the 50-point threshold since January 2023, AIA officials said. Officials noted the value of new design contracts was close to returning to growth and three consecutive months of inquiries of new projects in April.

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At long last, there is light at the end of the tunnel for Susan and Dwight Sheets.

The couple, who grew up in Salem and live in Sisters, has been restoring the historic Santiam Pass Ski Lodge for seven long years. Now, they’re within striking distance of finishing the ambitious project to restore one of the six lodges originally built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s and ’40s.

“This was a very good year as far as progress goes,” Dwight said in November 2025.

“We’re going to get it done,” Susan added. “It has been a long project but I really want people to not give up hope.”

If all goes to plan, the lodge could have a grand opening around Christmas 2026. But there does remain a big year of work and fundraising before it becomes a reality.

The goal is for the 6,000-square foot lodge, with 26 surrounding acres, to become a public gathering place on Santiam Pass in winter and summer — a scaled-down version of Timberline Lodge. The lodge is right next to Santiam Sno-Park and across Highway 22 from Hoodoo Ski Area.

“When it’s finished, we want it to feel like 1940s when you walk in the door,” Susan said.

In winter, skiers, snowshoers and sledders will be able to warm up with hot cocoa and café items. In summer, travelers, hikers and backpackers can stop for a bite while the lodge hosts festivals and educational activities.

It’ll also be open for rentals.

“We’d love it to be for weddings, parties, family reunions — really any reason that people want to gather,” Dwight said. “But it will always stay open to the public.”

The lodge won’t offer overnight stays, although overnight stays on site could be considered in the future.

A long road back to Santiam Pass Ski Lodge

Susan and Dwight both grew up in Salem with Santiam Pass as their recreation backyard. In the early 1980s, both spent time at the ski lodge.

The lodge was originally built between 1939-40 as part of the New Deal projects by the CCC. At its peak, it offered overnight accommodations, a large lounge with a stone fireplace, a dining room and ski rental and maintenance.

But it struggled to stay afloat economically and closed by the mid-1980s, beginning a long stretch of falling into disrepair.

By the time Susan and Dwight returned to Oregon in 2015 and laid eyes on the building in 2016, it had been falling apart for decades.

“It was in just horrible shape,” Susan said of a visit in October 2016. “It was filled with rats and droppings.

“It felt like, ‘somebody needs to do something with this wonderful building,’” she added. “It’s our history and it shouldn’t sit empty for 30 years. It needs to be brought back.

“We knew that trying to restore it would be a huge job — we weren’t blind to the situation,” she added.

‘Huge job’ spans years of work

A “huge job” was the correct assessment.

The first phase of the project included restoring the full exterior, replacing the electrical system and septic system, among other projects.

The work was only possible during the dry and non-snowy season, which is fairly short. They also hit major roadblocks with the pandemic, cost of materials and the reality of doing restoration in a highly remote area.

“We really got slowed down,” Dwight said.

But, thanks to the dedicated Friends of Santiam Pass Ski Lodge nonprofit, which has raised money through donations and grants, and volunteer labor, the project kept chugging forward.

Project enters home stretch

2025 marked a big moment — the phase I projects were completed so Susan and Dwight can focus on the interior.

“I’m happy to say all the utilities are in,” Dwight said.

The home stretch will require some fundraising — around $500,000 to complete a commercial kitchen and ADA-accessible restroom.

Susan said the Friends group has raised $1.36 million throughout the span of the project. Of that, they’ve spent $1.1 million.

“With $500,000, that would bring us to completion of Phase II and allow opening the lodge,” she said. “We’ve had wonderful granting organizations that have stood behind us. It’s just about as grassroots as it gets. It’s really been a community coming together to fund this project.”

In addition to funds, the other item they could use help with is snow removal, and in particular, a Skid-Steer.

“It would be a long-term investment that we’d use at the lodge for many years,” Dwight said. “It would make a huge difference.”

Both lamented that most of the remaining work is skilled labor, meaning there isn’t as much for volunteers to do as in the past.

“Once we get close to finishing, we’ll need to put in a lot of sealer, so we’ll definitely have lots of volunteers up for that,” Dwight said.

Keeping the lodge affordable

The project is close enough that Dwight and Susan have started to plan priorities for the lodge, and a big one is affordability.

In the 1980s, they remember staying at the lodge for a few dollars and getting a bed and a meal.

“When this lodge was built, they’re just coming out of the Depression, they want to get people outdoors and it’s supposed to be affordable for every income,” Dwight said. “We really want to continue that tradition. Over the years it was hard to balance that — it’s hard to keep it affordable and keep the lodge maintained. But we’re committed to that idea.”

Ultimately, the hope is to have a place where people can come together in a beautiful setting, in a historic building, in one of the most stunning parts of Oregon.

“We’ve heard so many stories over the years — about families who came up here for generations, about how special a place it was and how happy they are that it’s being restored,” Susan said.

The goal is to become the next chapter of that story.

“I really think that once people come up and see it, they’ll want to come here a lot and bring their friends and family. It’s a special place,” Dwight said.

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By Haleigh Kochanski
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

A limited liability company representing multiple homeowners have sued a Springfield engineering firm for negligence after a landslide in March made three homes uninhabitable along Rockcress Road in Eugene’s Moon Mountain neighborhood.

The landslide caused significant property damage, “including destruction of one of the homes, loss of use of all three homes, and need for emergency stabilization and mitigation work on all three properties,” according to the lawsuit filed in December in the Lane County Circuit Court.

Former homeowners Brendan Driscoll and Mandy Tang, Tristan McDonald and Sarah Anderson, and Keith Kulyk informed residential homebuilder MonteVista Homes of potential ground destabilization in February.

A month later, the city manager’s office posted “Do not enter” signs on the front doors of the three homes. The notices deemed the homes uninhabitable, forcing owners to evacuate as crews worked to save the structures.

In a Substack blog describing her experience, Tang wrote that she and her husband, her children and two cats evacuated the home, moved their belongings into storage units and relocated into a temporary apartment while awaiting the fate of their single-family home.

“In the past 72 hours, I learned that there was a sinkhole forming under the foundation of my house, my house was deemed uninhabitable by the city, the foundation fell by six feet and I was forced to evacuate,” Tang wrote in her blog published March 24. “… When something so enormous happens, you don’t really know how to write about it or where to start.”

The homes impacted by what Tang called a sinkhole were constructed in 2022 and all sold for more than $600,000.

Contracted geotechnical engineers and other experts who assessed the cause of the ground destabilization confirmed the soil instability was a result of improper structural fill that had been engineered and overseen by Branch Engineering, Inc, the defendant in this case, prior to MonteVista Homes purchasing the Moon Mountain development.

Starting in 2021, BEI provided professional engineering services to MonteVista as homes were constructed starting in 2022, as they were completed and sold in 2023 and 2024, and after homeowners made claims in February about ground destabilization. BEI was tasked with assessing the stability, safety and sufficiency of the property for vertical construction. Ronald Derrick, another defendant in the lawsuit, is a licensed professional engineer who oversaw the project for Branch Engineering, according to court documents.

The lawsuit alleges Derrick failed to properly perform professional engineering services before MonteVista’s involvement at Moon Mountain and failed to disclose to the company the issues related to the slope stability and structural fill.

MonteVista Homes resolved the claims by the former homeowners before the lawsuit filing.

In the lawsuit, MonteVista and the homeowners claim a financial loss in excess of $3 million. The rights and interests of MonteVista and the homeowners have been assigned to Gritstone LLC, a limited liability company that is the plaintiff in the lawsuit.

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By Bill Poehler
Salem Statesman Journal / USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The owner of an unlicensed waste pit on a farm outside of Aurora, Oregon, argued that she had done nothing wrong and that the waste accepted for a fee from industrial vacuum excavation companies for about three months in 2023 and into 2024 is farm use.

Marion County hearings officer Jill Foster heard arguments on Dec. 18 about the appeal of Marion County’s Sept. 25 determination that filling the pit with waste is not farm use.

Foster did not give a timeline for when she would make a decision in the case.

Property owner Denise Burnham’s attorney, Thomas Benke, shot back at the county’s decision.

He argued county staff defamed the pit when it said the material deposited there was not necessarily clean as it had not been tested when it was brought there.

“County officials felt like it was necessary to fill their decision with a lot of disparaging information about what this dirt and water could be, which I think is inappropriate and defamatory,” Benke said.

Waste pit was built in 2023, but was quickly shut down

The 200 foot by 100 foot wide, 20-foot deep pit was built on the hazelnut farm at 21875 Butteville Road outside of Aurora in 2023. It includes six asphalt dumping bays marked by painted white lines on the ground and yellow safety railings.

Benke argued that the dam built on Burnham’s property is in the best interest of the environment as an erosion control structure that keeps dirt from flowing into bordering Ryan Creek.

Marion County determined the dirt berm on the west side of the pit needs to be removed along with the asphalt dumping stations, yellow guardrails and other components of the site. Those have yet to be removed.

A gravel road leading to the pit was also improved, and Burnham testified that those improvements were to make it usable year-round.

The county determined that none of what was being done there is allowed under the exclusive farm use zoning of the location.

“We do not believe this is what’s taking place on the subject property,” Marion County principal planner Austin Barnes said.

Does being paid to take waste make it a commercial activity?

Much of the arguments to the hearings officer centered on if the waste being deposited was a commercial activity.

“Applicants received a compensation for each truck that dumped based on evidence submitted to the record for receiving $300 per load and receiving 238 loads from November 2023 to January 2024,” Barnes said.

“It should be noted that once these companies, namely (Portland General Electric) and NW Natural found out this pit was not licensed by DEQ and the county, they immediately told their drivers to stop hauling their waste there.”

Benke argued the farm charging money to accept waste didn’t necessarily mean it wasn’t for farm use. He used an analogy of one farmer selling dirt to another.

“Who’s business is it?” Benke said.

Burnham said the money that was accepted was put back into the farm.

“The appeal letter denies (Burnham) is getting paid,” argued Joseph Schaefer, a paralegal with the law firm Jordan Ramis. “It’s notable today that that seems to being walked back quite a bit.”

Was the dirt deposited on site fill dirt?

Benke argued that the dirt deposited there is fill dirt. He said the original dirt in that location was moved and will be put back once the site is leveled.

Ben Williams of land use advocacy group Friends of French Prairie said there was no testing of the material that was deposited at the site.

“This is the wrong way,” Williams said. “No permits were applied for for any of the facilities that are in place at this location.”

Barnes said the normal disposal method for vactor trucks – the type that deposited material at the site – is more involved than what was going on at the Aurora site.

“Based on staff research, the typical disposal method for vactor trucks is to take them to a licensed solid waste facility where the material is dumped and left to dry on a flat surface, allowing the process of evaporation to dry the soil,” Barnes said.

“This is different from dumping into a pit and drying the soils. This pit has typically been filled with water,” Barnes said.

Burnham argued the materials deposited there is intended to level that portion of land so she can plant more hazelnut trees.

Burnham argued nothing she has done requires a permit from any agency.

Attorney argues land use groups are against farmers

Benke took issue with the farmers who oppose the proposal, accusing them of being against farmers.

“I get the impression from some of the opposition to this proposal is that some of our friends are purporting to be farm friendly, but they’re not in fact farmer friendly,” Benke said.

Cheyne Fobert, the son-in-law of Burnham who managed the pit, said no dirt left the property and his goal was to turn the area into airable farmland.

He blamed the farmers who complained about the operation for getting it shut down.

“We’re pretty appalled by the neighbors,” he said.

The excavator who built and operated the pit and another in Hubbard, All-Ways Excavating owner Greg Wing, is being sued by the Hubbard property owner for $15 million for negligence, fraud and elder abuse.

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By Andrea Lillo
91��Ƶ Newswires

While the tariff situation remains fluid and breaking news occurs multiple times a day, what is known is that everyone will be affected.

Interior designers shared how they are feeling about – and preparing for – the tariffs in response to an Instagram post from the last week.

“I’m terrified,” said Maria Bortugno of B Designs in Albany, New York. “Even if products are assembled here, many of the parts and pieces are imported … Fabrics, blinds, shades, shutters [and] almost all wood is sourced from Canada. I’ve been getting price increase notices. … Right now I’m adjusting as needed, lowering margins when necessary but just because we cater to the wealthy does not mean they won’t scale back, too.”

Jill Lampe of @designrchick said she is trying to spend as little as possible “in case things get really bad. I already have started a side hustle of consulting clients design on a budget. Making do with what you have and selling my own curated dÉcor and home goods. It’s good extra money.”

Hilton Head Island, South Carolina-based Christina Richardson regrets not being more prepared. She had to reorder faucets for an entire primary suite because she received a notice that the Canadian-made ones she ordered would be delayed four months.

Kevin Twitty has been planning ahead, ordering lighting even if it’s not needed until the fall or later. “I would rather store them until then,” said the Portland, Oregon-based designer. “My markup is a percentage on cost, so other than that, the plan is like every business owner, client’s prices will go up. It’ll be a time to source a little differently and get creative for lower-budget areas of the house.”

Many designers cited using more vintage items in their projects. Orlando-based Bryan Frost named the Original Round Top Antiques Fair and online sourcing for vintage as two great resources, and “we have a lot of local people doing great things with the restoration of vintage in the Orlando metro, too.”

Megan Thompson of said vintage and consignment sourcing is one strategy designers can do to prepare themselves, and she’s even creating a process guide on how to source vintage. (On her own IG feed, she has a video with four tips.)

Even less expensive is repurposing and reusing what the client already has, Thompson said in her video. “When you’re going into the client’s house, start looking [at it] with a different lens,” she said. Instead of demoing everything or throwing out all the furniture, perhaps items can be reupholstered or refinished, or even reused elsewhere in the home, she said.

Others said they were going to source from within their own countries. “As a Canadian, I’ll be specifying Canadian made as much as possible – but certainly some products won’t be easy to replace,” said Sylvie Allain of Bureau Living in Moncton, Canada. “Just hoping and praying that it doesn’t come to a tariff war that drags on and creates financial hardship for both Canadians and Americans.”

When U.S.-based designers are sourcing here, Thompson suggested designers build a list of where manufacturers source from or visit resources such as the for more information. Manufacturing in the U.S. is different from assembling here, she added.

On her IG video, Thompson also recommended designers add 25 percent to every cost in future projects – both for furnishings and building materials – to account for price hikes due to tariffs.

Commenting on its post, IDC suggested designers get as much as possible to receivers now. “You absolutely should have in contracts and communication that prices can go up and you are not responsible for changes after quote. This is the state of things. You need not bear the costs.”

Thompson recommended sending a newsletter to all of one’s current clients to let them know that the pricing they’re shown is good for 48 hours – if the client does not “make a decision and payment within 48 hours, we will have to reprice those goods because things will be ever changing.”

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By Grace Fiori
Buffalo’s Fire

WAKPALA, S.D. – On an unseasonably hot day in mid-October, three apprentices learning to install solar panels clambered on the roof of a community building in the small township of Wakpala, on the Standing Rock Reservation. Three weeks into their apprenticeship, they had a practiced ease on the roof as they attached solar panels to anchor points. Before the week was over they moved north on Highway 1806 to install a solar array for the small riverside community of Kenel.

The technicians are part of an run by Lightspring Solar, a solar panel installation company, and the community development corporation for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, , leading renewable energy projects on the reservation.

Great Plains tribes are eager to capitalize on the burgeoning clean energy economy and are creating training programs to empower tribal members. Rather than competing with the region’s dominant wind industry, some tribal communities are focused on solar power programs. By prioritizing local workforce development, they’re reimagining the job site and a utility system rooted in community ownership.

This was the first time the young men had done work like this, and they applied after seeing social media posts from SAGE Development Authority. Besides crawling in some dusty attics and stray wasps, they all agreed hands-on training outweighed a classroom lecture.

“It’s a good crew and I’m learning something new,” Joseph White Mountain III said. He previously worked in oil and gas, and said this job site was much different. That’s largely due to the guidance of Wes Davis, Lightspring’s general manager, who leads the installation crew.

He envisions the job site as “an environment where everybody is part of the process,” he said. “This is something more than just a job. It’s giving back to your community.”

Through tax credits, grants and loan programs, the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act provides $369 billion for and climate change mitigation. The IRA makes funding accessible for various organizations —  from local and tribal governments to educational institutions and private businesses. Northern Great Plains states have been notably absent in .

In this region, “Native Americans and Native American tribes are going to lead the effort in the next five years,” when it comes to solar development, said Cody Two Bears, executive director of Indigenized Energy, a nonprofit focused on tribal energy sovereignty. The group says program development and workforce training are essential.

The massive federal investments prioritize apprenticeship programs because of the need for skilled workers in the renewable energy sector. Since 2020, solar jobs grew more than 5% nationally, but 40% of (non-unionized) employers reported it was “very difficult” to find qualified workers.

Northern Great Plains tribes are taking a grassroots approach to solving this need and utilizing these funds. “How can we create this industry on our reservations to give our communities resiliency,” said Davis, a citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa.

Betting on solar in a wind economy

Energy is a big industry in North Dakota. Fourteen percent of the state’s workforce is employed by the energy sector. The strongest renewable energy sector has been wind, providing about 1,700 jobs and a majority of the for the state, according to American Clean Power.

Tribes looking to expand renewable energy in their regions want to see more Indigenous people employed in the energy sector, but face significant barriers to wind energy development. Wind projects require a lot of land, upfront costs, and complicated agreements for regional grid connectivity, said Lizana Pierce, deployment supervisor with the Department of Energy’s Office of Indian Energy. Tribes are instead focusing on solar.

They hope training programs like Lightspring Solar will help capitalize on the clean energy boom. SAGE Development Corporation CEO Joe McNeil Jr. envisions Standing Rock employing tribal members to operate a grid powered by solar and wind.

But some are skeptical. “We need to be honest with ourselves,” said Chéri Smith, founder of the Alliance for Tribal Clean Energy. In the Dakotas, “it’s not solar friendly, the state incentives aren’t there, the state support isn’t there,” she said. In other words, there’s insufficient solar demand to support new jobs.

While she has seen multiple solar trainees go on to start their businesses or work for solar companies, the industry’s potential workforce benefits in Great Plains tribal communities “should not be overstated,” she warned.

“We don’t want solar installers to just become solar installers,” said Smith, a descendant of the Mi’kmaq Nation. There’s not enough demand yet, she said, to support solar specialists. These training programs should also include basic electrical skills, so “they’re not stuck with only one skill set.” Smith views this as a holistic solution to the persistently high unemployment of Standing Rock Reservation’s young population.

Solar also faces tough competition. Wind is king in the clean energy economy. Nationally, wind supplies more energy than solar because commercial wind technology was developed decades before solar, and there have been more federal incentives. That trend is extreme in North Dakota, where 36% of all energy is supplied by wind, compared to just 0.01% by solar. And the state gets plenty of sunshine – it’s one of the sunniest states along the Canadian border.

Wind turbines and the technical experience required to maintain them require a lot more certifications, training and upfront cost. The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa in northern North Dakota tried it out – but without a local wind technician they could not afford to maintain the turbines.

These issues have proven contentious in the state, where lawmakers have pushed the wind industry to employ locals. A failed 2021 bill would have required companies to prioritize hiring local workers for their state-funded projects. In September, a local labor union criticized the high number of out-of-state workers in the state’s wind industry.

So rather than try to muscle in on the wind sector, they’ve decided to start with solar. Solar’s costs have dropped almost 90% in the last decade, reducing barriers to entry. Storage advancements have improved solar reliability.

“Solar is here to stay and is only going to grow,” said Pierce.

Community ownership model

The apprenticeship program is just the beginning of SAGE Development Corporation’s broader vision, McNeil said. Tribal energy advocates know training community members is crucial to tribal energy sovereignty.

“I’m excited to have the opportunity to have someone from here who has been trained professionally and certified through our process…and know they have our best interest at heart because our community supports one other,” McNeil said.

The six technicians who completed this summer’s installation apprenticeship have a promising future in the Dakotas. White Mountain is an independent general contractor based out of Standing Rock. He plans to incorporate solar installation into his services. “We’ve got plenty of work,” said Kambeitz. Even during winter when installation work virtually stops, Lightspring tries to keep staff employed through additional training and certification.

Indigenized Energy is working with the Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin to develop similar workforce development programs and include business skills for their solar operation. “The biggest thing” is the tribe’s capacity to manage their utilities operation, according to Two Bears. These efforts could speed up development region-wide. By adapting the Menominee Tribe’s model, other tribes won’t have to “recreate the wheel,” he said.

“The biggest thing is we’re an Indigenous crew and we’re installing for an Indigenous community,” Davis said. He acknowledged that some potential apprentices hesitate to commit to solar training when there is “no historical data in North Dakota supporting it.”

But the sun’s potential is not new to the tribes. “This is something we as Indigenous people have known for time immemorial,” Davis said. “We’re able to use these alternative energy resources to give us our power back.”

This story is a product of the , an independent reporting network based at the University of Missouri. Support our independent reporting network .

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By Kevin Oklobzija
91��Ƶ Newswires

As employees, tenants and investors give more consideration to a business’ environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices, construction and real estate companies need to be proactive with their strategies and policies, according to industry experts.

“Incorporating ESG into a corporate strategy is not only a response to social and regulatory expectations, but it’s also a strategic move that can contribute to long-term success and efficiency,” said Nancy Cox, industry leader for construction and real estate at New York-based The Bonadio Group.

Traction for ESG concepts is increasing and the willingness of a business to embrace implementation can attract workers, tenants and customers while also providing long-term cost efficiencies.

That’s why The Bonadio Group is suggesting that real estate developers, property owners and construction firms analyze their policies and practices to see if they reflect ESG trends in the industry.

“While ESG certainly isn’t a new concept, it’s definitely gaining more and more attention, especially as it pertains to construction and real estate companies,” Cox said. “Embracing these changes can be difficult, but we want to stress why it’s important to start thinking about it now.”

Two big reasons to do so center on possible regulatory compliance. More of the world is moving toward ESG regulations and a company’s policies and practices could someday be considered when borrowing money. Those ideas have already been discussed.

In July 2023, the European Commission adopted the first set of sustainability reporting standards. Closer to home, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in March 2022 proposed regulations relating to disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions and climate-related risks by public companies.

For now, it’s just a proposal, but it’s very likely to gain momentum, and not just for publicly traded companies.

“It will take years for it to happen, but it will happen,” Cox said. “There has been a lot of discussion in the banking industry regarding ESG considerations as part of the loan review process. That’s another reason that businesses should start considering putting some of these policies in place, because if lenders are going to start caring about it, then they have to start caring about it.”

There’s also the risk associated with ESG-related matters.

“There’s potential reputational risk, financial risk and the inability to attract talent or tenants,” Cox said. “So ESG risk has become a regular business risk.”

But that’s not difficult to address, she said; in fact, many companies follow ESG guidance already without necessarily knowing it.

“Most likely companies have policies or are practicing certain policies related to ESG, there’s just no formal, defined ESG program,” Cox said. “So, formalizing the program and putting it into policy form, that just makes it sure it’s clear to the entire organization: your customers, potential employees, potential customers.

“That’s why we think it’s important to consider from a risk standpoint.”

At the same time, the policies adopted by a company can make a firm stand out within the market to investors, employees and customers. And any edge in employee retention or attraction in the construction industry is important, Cox noted.

“Implementing ESG policies — for instance, related to health and wellness and DE&I (diversity, equity and inclusion) — they can help in attracting and retaining talent,” she said. “As far as new customers or tenants go, a healthy and sustainable environment is what people want when deciding where to work and live.”

Air filtration methods, natural light and green cleaning standards often are considerations for job candidates as well as tenants. Also, global real estate investors and real estate investment trusts increasingly are looking toward ESG-compliant companies.

“So real estate organizations looking for outside investment would want to make sure they have policies in place,” Cox said.

Building upgrades can come with a cost, but those costs are recouped over time in many cases.

“If you’re thinking about sustaining your business into the future,” Cox said, “you have to think about ways to reduce costs, because quite frankly it’s not going to get any cheaper. This is a big way of doing that.”

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By Ethan Duran
91��Ƶ Newswires

Stephen E. Sandherr, the CEO of the (AGC), on Monday announced he will retire in spring of 2024 after serving in commercial construction leadership for nearly 30 years. The association’s chief operating officer, Jeffrey Shoaf, will step in as the next CEO.

Sandherr has been CEO of the association of the commercial construction industry for 27 years and served it for 37 years in different capacities, AGC officials said. His retirement will be effective March 31, 2024.

AGC National President Lester Snyder, who also serves as executive vice president of Brightline West in Las Vegas, shared a farewell message.

“While we support Steve moving on to the next phase of his life, our members are grateful for his strong leadership for more than a quarter of a century. He has built a fantastic team at AGC, elevated our advocacy efforts and committed the organization to address all issues affecting the construction industry,” Snyder added.

“I am grateful to have retained the confidence of AGC’s officers and Board for these many years,” Sandherr said in a statement. “I am also fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with smart and talented colleagues to advance AGC’s mission throughout my career.”

The association selection committee named Shoaf the new CEO, and he brings nearly 30 years of experience to the new position, officials said. Shoaf served as COO since 2017 and joined AGC in 1994, officials added.

Shoaf graduated from James Madison University in Virginia, officials said. Before joining the AGC, he was a staff member for the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Shoaf oversaw AGC government relation activities before his promotion.

“This is a great honor for me and a heady responsibility. Steve has enhanced AGC’s stature within the construction industry with key decision makers for more than 30 years,” Shoaf said in a statement. “We will continue to utilize that stature and the skilled people who work here to innovate and advocate for the industry.”

The selection committee is made up of seven former AGC presidents. Dan Fordice, the 2022 president, is the chair and serves as vice president of Fordice Construction in Vicksburg, Mississippi.

“Our selection committee viewed our responsibility to choose a new CEO who would maintain AGC’s status as ‘The Construction Association’ while protecting the staff culture that has contributed to many successes. Jeff’s background, experience and dedication to our mission made him the right choice for the job,” Fordice said in a statement.

AGC has 80 chapters and over 27,000 member firms, according to officials.

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By Nate Beck
91��Ƶ Newswires

Federal officials are requiring contractors and subcontractors to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Dec. 8 under a mandate President Joe Biden issued in early September.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration last week issued guidance for contractors after Biden signed an executive order on Sept. 9 requiring all executive branch workers to get the vaccine, including contractors. OSHA‘s memo stipulates that employees of contractors must be fully vaccinated to do business with the federal government, except in “limited cases” where an employee can legally claim an exemption.

OSHA’s guidance requires federal agencies to include a clause in contracts requiring employees of firms competing for work to be vaccinated — a stipulation that could begin to appear in bid solicitations as soon as Oct. 15. The agency is implementing the requirement through its Emergency Temporary Standard, or ETS, process, which allows OSHA to bypass its own lengthy rulemaking process. The rules would apply to firms with more than 100 employees.

Jason Miller, deputy director for management of the Office of Management and Budget, said in a statement last week that the new rules are aimed at getting more people vaccinated. Miller said the requirement would “decrease worker absence, reduce labor costs, and improve the efficiency of contractors and subcontractors performing work for the federal government.”

The Associated Builders and Contractors, a mostly nonunion trade group, said while it encourages contractors and their employees to get vaccinated, the new requirement would exacerbate a skilled workforce shortage in the industry and lead to compliance costs for companies.

In a statement Monday, Ben Brubeck, ABC National’s vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs, called the new rules the “most far-reaching standard” ever issued by OSHA. The trade group this week sent a letter to OSHA officials asking the agency to seek input and consider questions before issuing its ETS.

“Despite the efforts of a range of stakeholders, vaccine hesitancy remains an ongoing, complicated reality in countless industries,” Brubeck said. “How the ETS is crafted will have significant, lasting impacts by driving workers away from larger firms and disrupting construction projects without raising the vaccination rate.”

According to guidance from OSHA’s Safer Federal Workforce Task Force, contractors will be required to collect documentation showing their workers are vaccinated — whether or not an employee works remotely. The guidance also leaves it up to contractors to determine if an employee’s request for an exemption from the rules is legitimate.

Firms must designate a coordinator to oversee compliance with OSHA’s mandates.

“The contractor is responsible for considering, and dispositioning, such requests for accommodations regardless of the covered contractor employee’s place of performance,” according to the memo.

Contractors may be able to claim a limited, 60-day exemption for showing their workers are fully vaccinated if an agency has an “urgent mission-critical need” for employees to work on a particular project.

OSHA’s guidance also requires federal contractors to follow masking rules in areas with high transmission of COVID-19 — including requiring workers to wear masks indoors and practice social distancing.

Federal officials are expected to publish the clause requiring vaccines by Oct. 8. OSHA’s guidance directs agencies to begin including the clause in bid solicitations beginning Oct. 15, and include the language in contracts issued after that date.

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 has announced the winners of its 2021 Wood Design Awards, which include two projects in Oregon. The awards celebrate excellence in wood building design and spotlight its continued rise in popularity across the U.S. Awards, are an opportunity to recognize building designers for their skill and ingenuity, and to showcase projects that demonstrate the attributes of wood.

Nominations from across the country were evaluated by an independent jury that included:

• Clare Archer,����ice president/senior director, Gilbane Building Co., Washington, D.C.;
• Kate Diamond, FAIA, LEED AP, civic design director, HDR, Los Angeles;
• Julie Hiromoto, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, WELL AP, director of integration, principal, HKS Inc., Dallas; and
• John Mitchell, associate partner, Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture, Chicago.

National award categories include:

Wood in Schools:�� | Corvallis, OR

DEVELOPER/OWNER: Oregon State University
ARCHITECT: MGA | Michael Green Architecture
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: Equilibrium, a Katerra Co.
CONTRACTOR: Andersen Construction

Commercial Wood Design – Mid-Rise:�� | Hood River, OR

DEVELOPER/OWNER: Key Development
ARCHITECT: Skylab Architecture
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: Valar Consulting Engineering
CONTRACTOR: Key Development

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