550,000 additional workers needed to meet demand in 2020, based on 2019 data. Despite the recent impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry still needs additional construction workers going forward.

ABC's Annual Impact:

  • $1.5 Billion invested by ABC members in workforce development
  • 1.1 million course attendees

Many Pathways to Success

At Associated Builders and Contractors, we believe in building people through the merit shop philosophy: that projects and personal advancement should be awarded based on performance, skill and achievement. ABC has been setting the standard for safety, quality and integrity in the construction industry since 1950.

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800 Programs

69 ABC Chapters

Nationwide

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Best of the Best

  • The ABC Construction Management Competition is a hallmark competition that promotes careers in construction management. This competition gives the nation’s top construction management students a glimpse into the real world of construction, as well as an opportunity to showcase their talents.

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    about CMC

  • The National Craft Championships draw some of the nation's most talented craft apprentices and journeymen to showcase their skills and compete on a national level, highlighting the important role that skilled trades education plays in the construction industry.

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    about NCC

Building America

  • ABC, its 69 chapters and its 21,000+ members are doing their part to educate craft and management professionals using innovative and flexible learning models like just-in-time task training, competency-based progression, work-based learning and government registered apprenticeships to build a safe, skilled and productive workforce.

    Policymakers must commit an all-of-the-above strategy for workforce development where workers and employers have the freedom to choose the best way to provide value and build America.

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    Building America

Education

  • Our flexible, affordable craft and safety education leads to industry-recognized, national credentials for today’s leading construction positions. Together, we help individuals pursue meaningful careers that advance their potential and build strong communities.

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    skilled trades

  • Founded in 1991 by ABC and leading contractors, NCCER is the industry’s source for craft education, assessment and certification. Today, NCCER develops standardized curricula and industry-recognized, portable credentials for more than 70 crafts that have been used in all 50 states and in 20 countries.

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    industry recognized credentials

  • The ABC National Student Chapter Network connects local ABC chapters to colleges and universities with construction management programs with the ultimate goal of building the construction management pipeline and mentoring future leaders of the industry.

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    student chapters

Diversity

  • Founded on the merit shop philosophy, ABC helps its minority business enterprise members develop people, win work and deliver that work safely, ethically and profitably for the betterment of the communities in which they work.

    ABC demonstrates its commitment to shaping an industry that is welcoming to all people—where employees and suppliers are limited only by their own potential—by hosting an annual Diversity & Inclusion Summit, recognizing member leadership through the National Diversity Excellence Awards and creating Diversity Resource Groups. DRGs bring people with common interests and characteristics together to help articulate, promote and support the needs of certain constituencies. Each group has a leader who is dedicated construction industry’s workforce, workplace and marketplace from the perspective of a single demographic faction, and participation is open to all members of ABC.

    Diversity Resources

Safety

  • ABC members work to establish a culture that is passionate in the belief that all accidents are preventable and train the workforce to that culture throughout their careers. Member firms at the highest level of performance in ABC’s STEP safety management system are 680% safer than the industry average.

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    ABC's safety performance

Veterans

  • More than half of ABC member contractors are actively recruiting active military personnel and veterans. Service men and women will be able to translate their skills into high-wage construction careers through connections to GI Bill education benefits, alignment with military training that fast-tracks qualifying for NCCER credentials, free online courses and more.

    Veteran
    opportunities

  • ABC’s Veteran Resource Group play a vital role in articulating, promoting and supporting the needs and goals of veterans.

    Veteran Diversity Resource Group

Workforce Development

  • ABC member companies annually invest an estimated $1.5 billion to build a construction workforce that is safe, skilled and productive using flexible, competency-based and market-driven education methodologies. This all-of-the-above approach to workforce development has produced a network of ABC chapters and affiliates in 1,400 locations across the country that offer more than 800 apprenticeship, craft, safety and management education programs—including more than 300 U.S. Department of Labor-registered apprenticeship programs across 20 different occupations—to build the people who build America.

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    workforce development