Blogs

The Construction Citizen series about the presentation of two possible scenarios for what Houston might be like 30 years from now continues.  In this video containing the last of the “exit interviews” which the Construction Citizen team gathered following the 2030 Scenarios Event, attendees offered their first impressions and thoughts about the presentation and the discussion that October evening.  The first scenario presented was “Learning to Live” and was given the color green as a way to identify it from the second scenario, which was “Playing to Win” and which was identified with the color blue. Read more » about Final Post-Presentation Interviews with Attendees of the 2040 Scenarios Event

The National Public Radio debate show Intelligence Squared U.S. recently aired a deliberation on whether or not “Too Many Kids Are Going To College”.  Held in Chicago on October 12 in front of a live audience, PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel and political scientist and author Charles Murray argued that yes, too many students in the United States are persuaded to go to college when that might not be the best option for all of them in the long run.  Vivek Wadhwa, the director of research at the Center for Entrepreneurship and Research Commercialization at Duke University as well as columnist for the Washington Post, and Henry Bienen, president emeritus of Northwestern University, faced off against Thiel and Murray in defense of the value of a college education.   Read more » about Is College the Best Choice for Everyone?

Loren Steffy, in his Sunday column for the Houston Chronicle, spells out the impact of payroll fraud and worker misclassification on the US deficit.  He says that two things are happening that are symptomatic of the situation.

First, by misclassifying workers as independent contractors or 1099 workers, the employers in the construction industry and in other labor intensive industries like hospitality and food service are not paying the taxes or benefits on the workers they hire.  Steffy states:

“For every $1,000 employers pay in wages, they are supposed to collect from employees $14.40 for Medicare and $42 for Social Security.  In addition, employers are supposed to contribute $62 themselves to Social Security, another $14.50 for Medicare and $25 Read more » about Budget Shortfalls Exacerbated by Payroll Fraud

Following an event at the offices of Marek Brothers Systems at which Houston professionals were introduced to two possible scenarios for the city’s future, some of the attendees offered their first impressions and thoughts about the presentation and the discussion.  In the video below, you can listen to parts of three conversations which took place as the attendees were leaving for the evening.

First you will see Donna Rybiski of the Center for Houston’s Future interviewing Bonnie McLoud and Kent Wiseman.  Donna asked them Read more » about More Post-Presentation Interviews with Attendees of the Houston 2040 Scenarios Event

Drywall and plaster contractor BakerTriangle is a company that runs their business with integrity and pays their employees responsibly.  They are one of the companies in the construction industry which plays by the rules, delivering quality work through employees who are treated right.

Johnny Barnes, President of BakerTriangle Dallas, Ltd, proudly states in the following video that for the last 38 years, BakerTriangle has paid payroll taxes, benefits, 401K and profit sharing for everyone they have hired.  Jerry Smith, President of BakerTriangle Austin Ltd, states:   Read more » about One of the Industry “Good Guys” Produces a Video

If you read my post about the Construction Education Foundation of North Texas, you might recall I recognized this organization as a pocket of excellence. In this post I would like inform you about a program that could provide a foundation for pockets of excellence across the country.

Their website explains the mission:  “Build Your Future is an NCCER (National Center for Construction Education and Research) program that is being enhanced to support the Choose Construction Initiative (CCI), which is a collaborative grassroots Read more » about Build Your Future Program Developing the Next Workforce

California’s Department of Industrial Relations, the Employment Development Department, Contractor's State Licensing Board, Board of Equalization, the Bureau of Automotive Repair, and other California state agencies have teamed up to create the Labor Enforcement Task Force (LETF), which will be established effective January 1.  This will be the newest effort to battle the underground economy where workers are not given their legal rights or wages, and to level the playing field for businesses who uphold the law.

The Department of Insurance, the Attorney General and Local District Attorneys, and others will collaborate with LETF, sharing information and using new technology to better enforce existing laws.

The news distribution website PR Newswire (registration required), quotes Labor and Workforce Development Agency Secretary Marty Morgenstern as stating:   Read more » about California State Agencies Collaborate to Level Playing Field for Ethical Companies

On July 13, Construction Citizen shared a story first reported by Dallas/Fort Worth television station WFAA about misclassification of workers on a school construction project.  Last week, the same WFAA reporter submitted an update to the story.

The original story featured a subcontractor who lost the bid for work on Mansfield Independent School District’s Center for the Performing Arts to a competitor who does not pay payroll taxes, unemployment tax, or workers’ compensation insurance.  Following the investigation and airing of the story, the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) charged Mireles, the subcontractor who was hired for the project but did not pay those taxes, for Read more » about Update on Misclassification in Texas Construction

As previously reported in the Construction Citizen series about the 2040 Scenarios event, the evening included a discussion between the group of industry leaders who attended about their thoughts and reactions following the presentation of the two scenarios.  The first scenario presented was “Learning to Live” and was given the color green as a way to identify it from the second scenario, which was “Playing to Win” and which was identified with the color blue.  The following is a transcript of the questions which Mike Holland led the discussion with, and the comments those questions generated.  This is the second of two posts on this discussion.

In these scenarios, what emerges as a leading concern for our industry?  

Did you know that research indicates that by the year 2040, there will be 7,919,901 Texans who will be eligible for adult education services?  By the way, that is a 99% increase from 2008.

How do I know this?  I learned this startling fact while serving on an advisory council to the Texas Legislature.  (See A Companion Paper to A Primer on Adult Education in Texas: Identifying the Current and Future Population in Need of Adult Education by the Texas Workforce Investment Council, published in March 2010.)  Just for clarification, to be eligible for services you must:   Read more » about A Real Challenge to our Future