The AGC and You

November 28, 2016
By: Len Toenjes, President, AGC of Missouri

Stay Calm and Keep Going

At the recent AGC of Missouri Construction Awards gala, I had the opportunity to make a presentation related to your association’s activities.  This event was held two days after the November elections, and with the changes going on at both the national and state levels, there was lots of speculation about all the things that could occur going forward.

I had my prepared remarks about the awards and AGC of Missouri activities, but felt that something needed to be said about the surprises we all received on election night.  I added one slide into the prepared presentation.  Quite simply, it was the message we have seen on a thousand tee shirts; “Stay Calm & Keep Going”.  Why was this my message? 

First, until appointments are made, legislative bills are introduced, analysis done, and all the facets of the political process unwind, there is no one who can say definitively exactly what will happen.  There are some very informed guesses we can make in preparing for the most likely direction that issues will go, but the political and legislative processes are full of compromises, surprises, and unknowns.  This applies to labor issues, environmental regulations, healthcare issues, transportation funding, and every other issue we are following.  AGC of Missouri responds to these issues by carefully developing sound principles, tracking legislative developments, and making timely judgement calls based on the principles developed by our governmental affairs policy committee and approved by the Board of Directors.

Secondly, every AGC of Missouri member can stay calm and keep going because they are active supporters of the largest commercial construction association in Missouri, and in the United States.  AGC of America has a team of lobbyists in Washington D.C. who are tracking every move of every department in our nation’s capital.  AGC of Missouri has the largest team of commercial construction industry lobbyists in Missouri, both at the state and local levels.  With this team doing the governmental relations work on behalf of the industry, AGC of Missouri members can keep going in performing the important construction work that they do the best.  The AGC of America and AGC of Missouri teams are planning any number of events in the next few months to keep our members informed, prepared, and able to continue to grow and build their businesses.

So my message was simple.  Stay Calm because you have the strongest legislative team in the industry working for you.  Keep Going in doing what you do best; building the quality of life for our communities.

Len
#AGCMO