0820_AUG Comstock's Magazine 0820 August | Page 68

Construction & development CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION Associated General Contractors of California has been changing the state’s landscape for 100 years BY EVA ROETHLER In 1920, when the Associated General Contractors of California was just forming, construction on the Golden Gate Bridge wouldn’t begin for another 13 years. “It’s just such an iconic part of California now that we all take it for granted,” says Peter Tateishi, CEO of AGC of California. AGC of California has been advocating for infrastructure construction — including the Golden Gate Bridge — through policy and advocacy over the past 100 years. It has helped shape the landscape of the California we know today. This year is the organization’s centennial celebration. AGC of California headquarters are in Sacramento, and the association has more than 1,000 members divided among 11 districts throughout the state. Tateishi, a born-and-raised Sacramentan, acknowledges the region’s growth. “It’s very cool to see the Sacramento region continue to grow and reach a potential that is beyond just a state capital and beyond just a state-worker town,” he says. “We have so much that can amplify and define us differently and support the diversity and unique secret sauce of Sacramento.” AGC of California has tackled many issues, including crumbling bridges and unmaintained infrastructure. “Decay drives future opportunities away from California,” says Tateishi. This is why AGC of California advocated for Senate Bill 1, the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017, which is estimated to allocate $52.4 billion over 10 years toward infrastructure maintenance through a gas tax. In September 2019, after the construction industry’s workforce continued to decrease, AGC of California launched Build California, a workforce-development initiative. Build California works to engage with young people through platforms like Instagram and, eventually, TikTok to distance the industry from its perception as a career of last resort. “We have lost our narrative as an industry. We’ve allowed stereotypes and other people to define what we are,” Tateishi says, like “the idea of a lazy construction worker who was sitting around on a job site not doing anything or the old plumber’s butt-crack dynamic.” Instead, what is guiding the industry is innovation. Locally, that can be seen in new eco-minded buildings. Christine Mahon, the associate vice president of strategic communications at AGC of California, points to Sundt Construction, a Sacramento member that worked on the (Ernest E. Tschannen Science Complex) at Sacramento State as an example. The complex is designed to have low environmental impact and has earned a LEED Gold Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, which assigns points for various green building strategies. “Construction is a champion of green building and environmental sustainability,” says Mahon. In January, AGC of California held a gala to kick off what it anticipated would be a yearlong celebration of its 100 years. Clearly, circumstances have changed because of the pandemic and the organization has been focused on advocacy for construction as an essential business. “It’s not the celebration we thought it would be, in truth,” says Tateishi. “If anything, our centennial year became less about a celebration of the past and more about a celebration of action.” Eva Roethler is special sections editor of Comstock’s. Find her online at EvaRoethler.com. 68 comstocksmag.com | August 2020