BTEA Experiments with Self-Promotion

The Building Trades Employers’ Association of New York is spending $1 million on its ‘Recognition Campaign.’ Also, the American Council of Engineering Companies of New York State honors 24 projects with its Diamond Award.

BTEA Launches Promotional Campaign

The Building Trades Employers’ Association of New York City’s leadership says it is encouraged by the early response to a campaign to boost awareness among political and industry leaders regarding the organization’s impact on local infrastructure, economic growth, and social development.

The campaign has even succeeded in spurring conversations with developers who are new to the union sector, says Lou Coletti, BTEA president.

“We’ve been getting phone calls from [developers] who have primarily built non-union projects,” he adds. “They’re now saying, ‘We’d like to talk to you.’”

The BTEA kicked off its “Recognition Campaign” in December with a 30-second television spot on NY1, a local cable news network, and a companion radio spot that aired on WINS-AM and WFAN-AM. In the ads, the association touts itself as the “foremost authority of construction in New York,” whose members have built “every major structure” in the city and continue to be responsible for 80% of all new projects.

“We’re not an industry that promotes itself very well,” Coletti says. “We wanted to take the lead in changing that.”

The campaign has now moved to direct mail and print publication advertising that promotes BTEA contractors as the best and safest builders.

Coletti says the campaign – into which the association will pump nearly $1 million by the end of the year – has engaged a target audience of public officials, lawmakers, real estate owners, and developers, some of whom have already contacted the association in response to the mailings and ads.

“From the public policy side, we’re getting a tremendous response,” Coletti says. “This is a fragmented industry, and a lot of times it’s difficult to know who you’re supposed to be talking to. This gives them a point of focus.”

ACEC Recognizes Top Designs

A handful of engineering designs, plans, and studies by New York State consulting firms were honored as the year’s best by the American Council of Engineering Companies of New York at its annual Diamond Awards held recently in New York. The Diamond Award is the highest honor given out by the association.

The council issues the award to projects in several categories, including: Studies and Research, Building/Technology Systems, Structural Systems, Surveying and Mapping Technology, Water Resources, and Transportation.

This year’s ACEC Diamond Award-winning projects, and the engineering firms that submitted them, were:

• Pavement Assessment-Management Plan, Oyster Bay, N.Y. - Sidney B. Bowne & Son, Mineola N.Y.

• N.Y.C. Transit Fan Plant Vibration Study, New York - PB Americas, New York

• Catskill Turbidity Control Studies, New York - Gannett Fleming/Hazen and Sawyer,

New York

• LEED-Certified Office Design-Construction, New York - Dagher Engineering, New York

• New York Stock Exchange Generator Plant, New York - Jaros Baum & Bolles, New York

• IAC/InterActiveCorp. Headquarters, New York - DeSimone Consulting Engineers,

New York

• Replacement of Jamaica Avenue over Van Wyck Expressway, New York - HNTB Corp., Kansas City

• Joel & Joan Smilow Research Building Foundation, New York - Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers, New York

• Hearst Tower, New York - WSP Cantor Seinuk Group, New York

• Stormwater Systems Inspection-GIS Mapping on 360 mi of New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway - KS Engineers, Newark

• MTA/LIRR East Side Access Project, New York - Medina Consultants, New York

• Neptune Regional Transmission System, New Jersey and New York - HDR/LMS, Pearl River, N.Y.

• Micro-Tunneling, Fort Hamilton Parkway, Brooklyn - HDR/Daniel Frankfurt, New York

• Gilboa Dam Fast-Track Improvements, New York - Gannett Fleming/Hazen and Sawyer, New York

• River Street Waterfront Redevelopment, Rochester - FRA, Henrietta, N.Y. >>

• Sanitary and Storm Sewers, Construction-Management, Lenevar Avenue, Staten Island - HAKS, New York

• Arch Street Yard and Shop, Long Island City, N.Y. - Edwards and Kelcey, Morristown, N.J.

• Midtown Ferry Terminal, Hudson River - HPA Engineers, New York

• Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge Outer Loop Bascule Span, Potomac River (Maryland/Virginia) - Hardesty & Hanover, New York

• Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Transit: Port Imperial to Tonnelle Avenue, New Jersey - Washington Group International, New York

• Passage Facility for Upstream Migrating American Eel, Massena, N.Y. - C&S Engineers, Syracuse

• Helmsley Hotel Cooling Towers, New York - Concessi Engineering, New York

• SmartTrips Carpooling Program, Fort Collins, Colo. - Ecology and Environment Engineering, Buffalo

ABC Honors Connecticut Members

The Connecticut chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors recently announced its annual quality and safety award winners, with two Connecticut firms, Konover Construction of Farmington and New England Mechanical Services of Vernon, taking home the highest honors in both categories.

ABC each year honors members that show dedication to quality, their workforce, and their community, with an Accredited Quality Contractor designation. This year’s AQC firms were: C&H Electric, Electrical Contractors, Konover, New England Mechanical Services, and Petra Construction.

The ABC chapter also recognized 18 firms for safety and training achievements. The Safety Training and Evaluation Process Awards are given to companies that show the greatest commitment to keeping their workforce safe on the job through training initiatives. This year’s STEP award winners were:

• Platinum Level - EMCOR/New England Mechanical; Konover; Notch Mechanical Constructors; United Steel

• Gold Level - All State Boiler & Construction; BCI; DBA Butler; C & H Electric; Cianbro Corp.; Electrical Contractors; Enterprise Builders; Harrington Engineering; Joseph Gnazzo Co.; Kronenberger & Sons Restoration; Network Interiors; Petra Construction; Titan Mechanical Contractors

• Silver Level - Hop River Concrete

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