Feb. 22, 2012 Associated Builders and Contractors Endorses Mitt Romney for President

PRESS RELEASE from Associated Builders and Contractors

February 22, 2012

ABC Endorses Mitt Romney For President

Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) today endorsed Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney to be the 45th President of the United States. The association’s endorsement of Romney came during the ABC National Board of Directors meeting in Phoenix.

“The election of Mitt Romney as president is a top priority for the commercial and industrial construction industry and the millions of Americans it employs,” said 2012 ABC National Chairman Eric Regelin, president of Granix, LLC, Ellicott City, Md. “He has articulated a clear position on issues important to ABC members, including opposing federally mandated project labor agreements, returning the National Labor Relations Board to a neutral arbiter of labor disputes and supporting the free-market, merit shop philosophy.”

In his speech before the ABC board, Romney said, “If I become President of the United States I will curb the practice we have in this country of giving union bosses an unfair advantage in contracting. One of the first things I will do - actually on day one - is I will end the government’s favoritism towards unions in contracting on federal projects and end project labor agreements.

“I also will make sure that workers in America have the right to a secret ballot and I will fight for right to work laws.”

About ABC
Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) is a national association with 74 chapters representing 22,000 merit shop construction and construction-related firms with nearly two million employees. ABC's membership represents all specialties within the U.S. construction industry and is comprised primarily of firms that perform work in the industrial and commercial sectors of the industry.

ABC is the construction industry's voice with the legislative, executive and judicial branches of the federal government and with state and local governments, as well as with the news media.
ABC's mission is the advancement of the merit shop construction philosophy, which encourages open competition and a free-enterprise approach that awards contracts based solely on merit, regardless of labor affiliation.
Through its national office and chapters, ABC's objective is to provide its members with an organization to deal with issues on an industry-wide basis.
ABC's activities include government representation, legal advocacy, education, workforce development, communications, technology, recognition through national and chapter awards programs, employee benefits, information on best practices and business development through an online contractor search directory.

ABC was founded in 1950 when seven contractors gathered in Baltimore, Md. to create an association based on the shared belief that construction projects should be awarded on merit to the most qualified and responsible low bidders. Their courage and dedication to the merit shop philosophy spread rapidly, and within time, ABC became the fastest-growing association in the United States. Today, ABC is recognized as one of the leading organizations representing America's business community and the merit shop construction industry.

Board of Directors
In the truest sense of the word, ABC is a member-run association. Members identify issues critical to merit shop construction and work together to find solutions using the resources of one of the largest construction-related groups in the world.

The association is governed by a 200-member board of directors composed of delegates from each of ABC's chapters. The board meets three times each year and, because ABC wants to ensure participation from both large and small contractors, the association reimburses travel expenses.

All members of the association are eligible to serve on the board. Anyone interested should contact their local chapter for additional details.