Wisconsin Builders Association « The Daily Reporter

Wetlands bill targets construction conflicts (UPDATE)

Published: March 11, 2010
Tags: Bies, builder, Department of Natural Resources, DNR, Hagen, landowner, Pat Stevens, permit, Rodrian, Slottke, survey, The Sigma Group, wetlands, Wisconsin Builders Association, Wisconsin Department of Justice
Comments: 3

By Paul Snyder
Disputes between the state and builders over construction projects near wetlands have prompted a lawmaker’s attempt to force better communication between the sides.
State Rep. Garey Bies, R-Sister Bay, has introduced a bill requiring the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources provide information about wetlands to landowners, builders and local governments that issue building permits. [...]

Industry fights development conversion tax

Published: February 26, 2010
Tags: agricultural land, bill, conversion tax, developers, farmland preservation program, Foye, Pat Stevens, Schultz, Tom Larson, Trade and Consumer Protection, Wisconsin Builders Association, Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Wisconsin Realtors Association, zoning

By Paul Snyder
Builders groups are cheering on a bill that would suspend a tax developers and landowners face when they rezone agricultural land.
“The tax is a terrible thing to be doing at this time,” said Pat Stevens, general counsel for the Wisconsin Builders Association. “It just squeezed developers more in an already difficult economic climate.”
The [...]

Opposition to ironworkers bill grows

Published: January 29, 2010
Tags: Associated Builders & Contractors of Wisconsin, Associated General Contractors of Greater Milwaukee, Associated General Contractors of Wisconsin, Boullion, Boycks, Colin Teska, Department of Commerce, Emons, Iron Workers Local 8, ironworkers, Jorgensen, journeyman, legislation, licensure, master, Reihl, Sinicki, Wisconsin Builders Association, Wisconsin State Council of Carpenters

By Paul Snyder
Authors of a bill that would require licensure of ironworkers in Wisconsin are working on amendments to quell growing opposition in the construction industry.
Critics argue the bill is a thinly veiled jurisdiction grab and say passage will result in contractors losing flexibility to select workers and nonunion or other unions losing the ability [...]

Health care bill polarizes builders

Published: December 29, 2009
Tags: Associated General Contractors of America, bill, Coulson, health care, health insurance, National Electrical Contractors Association, Roehrig, Roehrig & Savola Builders, Roehrig & Savola Builders Inc., Turmail, U.S. Senate, Wisconsin Builders Association
Comments: 1

By Sean Ryan
An insurance requirement in the U.S. Senate’s health care bill targeting small contractors has opponents worried lawmakers are unfairly singling out the construction industry.
“That concerns me,” said Gary Roehrig, president of Roehrig & Savola Builders Inc., New Holstein. “I’d really like to know what we did to deserve it.”
The health care bill the [...]

Congressional candidates emerge from industry

Published: December 18, 2009
Tags: candidate, Congress, Deschane, election, International Union of Operating Engineers Local 139, Kagen, McGowan, recovery, Roth, Russ Feingold, stimulus, U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senate, Wall, Wisconsin Builders Association

By Paul Snyder
Construction and development experience does not guarantee industry support for two Wisconsin congressional candidates.
“It’s always a tremendous opportunity to have a member of your industry running for office because they’re people who actually know the business,” said Jerry Deschane, executive vice president of the Wisconsin Builders Association. “But it’s never enough in itself [...]

Builders wary of automatic code updates

Published: December 8, 2009
Tags: Associated General Contractors of Wisconsin, Black, Boullion, Boycks, Governor’s Task Force on Global Warming, Hozeny, International Energy Conservation Code, Miller, Nelson, Plale, Soletski, TimberLane Builders LLC, Vilstrup, Wisconsin Builders Association, Wisconsin Department of Commerce
Comments: 1

By Paul Snyder
A wary construction industry is watching closely as legislators consider automatically updating state building codes to match those set by the federal government.
“The fear is what we would have to adopt,” said Brad Boycks, director of government and political affairs for the Wisconsin Builders Association. “We have a good system of using national [...]

Runoff rule puts pressure on builders (UPDATE)

Published: December 1, 2009
Tags: DNR, Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, Federal Register, monitoring, nephelometric turbidity units, Odefey, pollution, quality, runoff, Ryan, Stevens, storm water, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, water, Wisconsin Builders Association, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

By Sean Ryan
A new federal runoff rule guarantees that contractors and developers will add a position to many construction sites in Wisconsin: water quality tester.
“The one kind of negative thing, from our perspective, is that because there is a standard, that would trigger monitoring of some sort,” said Pat Stevens, general counsel for the Wisconsin [...]

Building groups back DNR ties to governor (UPDATE)

Published: November 17, 2009
Tags: AGC, appointment, Associated General Contractors of Wisconsin, Boullion, DNR, Doyle, Gard, Huebsch, McCallum, Natural Resources Board, permit, secretary, split, Wisconsin Builders Association, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

By Paul Snyder
The debate over state Department of Natural Resources leadership appointments boils down to one issue for construction industry associations: Whoever controls project permitting must be accountable to the governor.
“The problem is there’s a lot of gray area in decisions,” said Jim Boullion, government affairs director for the Associated General Contractors of Wisconsin. “Is [...]

Kolbe layoffs illustrate residential woes

Published: November 11, 2009
Tags: Associated General Contractors of America, Brenner, Deschane, Encore Construction Inc., Kolbe & Kolbe Millwork, layoffs, market, recession, Simonson, Wisconsin Builders Association, Wuebben

By Paul Snyder
The residential construction market’s slow recovery is putting jobs in peril at building supply and material companies.
“Unfortunately, unemployment tends to lag with recovery,” said Jerry Deschane, executive vice president of the Wisconsin Builders Association. “Even though we’re starting to see some signs of rebound, it’s still an awful climate out there.”
Kolbe & Kolbe [...]

Kolbe layoffs illustrate building supply woes (UPDATE)

Published: November 10, 2009
Tags: Associated General Contractors of America, Brenner, Deschane, Encore Construction, Kolbe & Kolbe Millwork, layoffs, Salsieder, Simonson, Wisconsin Builders Association, Wuebben

By Paul Snyder
paul.snyder@dailyreporter.com
Even though the residential construction market is experiencing a slow rebound, building supply and material company jobs could still be in peril.
“Unfortunately, unemployment tends to lag with recovery,” said Jerry Deschane, executive vice president of the Wisconsin Builders Association. “Even though we’re starting to see some signs of rebound, it’s still an awful [...]