Teri Jones, SUNDT As a professional working in the Business Development world, you are probably acutely aware that the reason for your existence is to Develop Business and that entails more than fine dining and golf! Pre-Winning plays a large role in your company’s ability to secure the type of work, and build the type of relationships, that will produce the desired results.

In January of 2015, the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) began a new practice of deleting E-Verify transaction records that are more than 10 years old. As a result, employers lost access in E-Verify to cases created prior to Dec. 31, 2004, unless data was downloaded using USCIS’s new Historic Records Report prior to December 31 of the prior year. For employers who want to maintain data from 2005, the Report must be downloaded before Dec. 31, 2015. Employers that were not using E-Verify on or before December 31, 2005, need not download the report.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) added new reporting requirements for those employers that are subject to the ACA’s Employer Mandate. The reporting obligations of IRS Forms 1094-C and 1095-C are mandatory with respect to 2015 and forms are due to affected employees and the IRS in early 2016. The reporting applies to all full-time employees including non-union and union employees. Employers that contribute to one or more multiemployer health and welfare plans on behalf of their employees may also have questions on how to complete the reporting for their union employees and what information they will need to do so. AGC’s webinar, Affordable Care Act Update for Construction Employers, will assist construction employers with understanding the reporting requirements of both forms. The webinar will be held on December 17 from 2:00-3:30 PM EST and is just $79 for AGC members and $99 for non-members.

AGC of America’s Union Contractors Committee will hold its next conference call on Monday, December 14, at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The agenda includes updates on recent legal and labor developments and a roundtable discussion of activities of interest to union contractors. Participation is free and open to all AGC-member union contractors and chapter staff, regardless of committee membership. (AGC nonmembers may not participate.)

The Davis-Bacon and Related Acts (DBRA) impose numerous, confusing mandates on construction contractors that work under federal and federally assisted contracts. Failure to comply puts covered contractors at risk of catastrophic consequences, from high-dollar penalties to debarment from future federal work. On December 10 and 15, AGC will conduct a two-part webinar to help such contractors avoid those risks by educating staff tasked with DBRA compliance and administration on coverage, requirements, pitfalls, and enforcement of these laws. Each session will take place from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. EST.

New Measure Ends Requirement for Firms to Automatically Enroll Employees This week, President Obama signed into law a bipartisan budget package that included AGC of America-backed legislation to eliminate the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) mandatory automatic enrollment provision. The mandatory automatic enrollment provision would have required employers with more than 200 full-time employees to automatically enroll employees into coverage if an employee did not voluntarily chose or decline a plan. As AGC CEO Stephen Sandherr noted, the "new measure protects countless construction workers from being forced to pay deductions for health insurance they may not need or cannot afford."

Colleen Kelly, Beacon Occupational Health & Safety Services Has all of the romance drained out of your business proposals? You used to spend hours thinking about the client’s needs and wants. What would their ideal contractor look like? How could I show that we’re the perfect match? But lately, things have become stale. You’re less interested in them and would much rather talk about yourself. If your win rate is going down the tubes, now’s the time to rethink your proposal writing strategy.

On September 4, AGC submitted comments to the U. S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) regarding proposed changes to the overtime regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). If implemented, the proposed rule would increase the salary threshold for the executive, administrative and professional exemptions from $455 per week ($23,660 per year) to $970 per week ($50,440 per year) – an increase of more than 100%. The threshold for highly compensated employees would also increase from $100,000 per year to $122,148 per year. Both thresholds would be adjusted annually based on one of two proposed methods.

Jon O'Brien, Master Builders Association LinkedIn has been called Facebook for professionals, the virtual rolodex, and the headhunter’s haven to name a few. Regardless of what you call this online network, LinkedIn can be important for business development. Before delving into LinkedIn business development advice, let’s look at why LinkedIn is beneficial for the construction industry.

Cynthia Paul, FMI Corporation Have you ever noticed that some people and companies just seem to stand out, and everywhere you turn, they are being quoted or interviewed or are consistently receiving better scores on proposals? They are not much different than others; but, like the old E.F. Hutton advertisement asserts, when they speak, people listen. So what is the difference? In a world of specialized expertise, everyone, from owners of construction projects to your company looking for new talent, wants people with deep expertise and a proven track record of generating results. Being good at what you do, however, is not enough to make you or your company shine; people need to know that you are good at what you do. If you want to stop being that hidden jewel or are looking to make your company’s proposals stand out more, try these few quick tips for getting recognized in writing.