Between a global pandemic, sudden economic downturn, widespread social unrest and a rapidly changing political landscape, our industry faced many challenges last year. Thanks to record levels of engagement from members around the country, however, our association was able to rack up victory after victory that kept us working, kept us learning and kept us connecting with the people we need to remain successful. Through it all, we saw proof positive that the more we engage with AGC of America, the stronger our association, the better the results and the safer our businesses.

Your engagement was key to a range of high-profile victories last year, including keeping construction going in most parts of the country, ensuring the federal Paycheck Protection Program loans helped our industry and securing needed new infrastructure investments. This engagement also allowed us to successfully transition to a range of virtual education programs. It allowed us to continue offering top-quality conferences, virtually. Your engagement made our release of the national Culture of Care program a success. It allowed our Foundation to continue awarding scholarships and funding important research. And that engagement was the key to our AGC Charities completing another successful Operation Opening Doors project.

AGC of America is us. We, the commercial construction industry, gather with a shared belief that a thriving, successful and diverse construction industry is the essential foundation for America’s economic prosperity, security and well-being.

2020 put our commitment to the test. Members could have easily said they were too busy with their own problems to get involved. But you understood that we can accomplish far more when we work together than when we act on our own. You got engaged and we – all of us – were successful as a result.

Our challenge moving forward is to maintain the same levels of engagement as we work to build an even stronger future for our industry, our economy and our nation. Based on what we accomplished last year, all of that and much more is within our power.

Last year was the “break glass in case of emergency” moment for many members when it came to needing AGC of America. As this Annual Report makes clear, we more than met that moment. While our advocacy successes were often the most high-profile, we were also able to make significant changes to allow members to continue learning, meeting and connecting in 2020. As a result, while many other associations struggled, we kept our budget balanced, expanded membership and evolved into an even more nimble, responsive and relevant association.

We have spent years cultivating strong, working relationships with a wide range of government officials, from career bureaucrats, political appointees, legislators, and their staffers. They trust us because we are honest brokers – we tell the truth, and don’t indulge in hyperbole. This trust and those relationships were key to our ability to successfully make the case that the construction industry should be included in the federal list of essential industries.

Those relationships helped us make sure construction firms were eligible for federal Paycheck Protection Program loans, kept firms from being taxed for those loans, and are helping make sure those loans are being forgiven in a transparent way based on the criteria outlined by Congress when it created the program. Those relationships also helped us secure billions in needed new infrastructure investments last year.

We have also invested a lot of time and resources in our education and meetings programs anticipating growing demand for virtual delivery. This was one of the key recommendations to come out of our Centennial Future Focus effort. And while none of us expected the transition to virtual to be so sudden or absolute, we were ready when the world went virtual last March.

Our preparations allowed us to rapidly transition large parts of our educational programming – including the BIM and Lean education courses – to virtual delivery. And it allowed us to continue with already-scheduled meetings and conferences, virtually, with the same top-quality content at a time when many other associations were still trying to figure out how to use Zoom.

Last year was unusual, and hopefully unique, in the quantity and severity of challenges it posed. But there is nothing unusual about our ability to deliver success for our members. It just so happened that we had more opportunities, and a greater need, to do that in 2020. The work we do day in and day out enabled us to meet the moments of 2020 and keep America building, successfully.