Former Gov. Scott Walker’s first year in office may be best known for producing the state’s Act 10 law restricting public workers’ collective-bargaining rights. But Jake Curtis, a lawyer in the Milwaukee offices of von Briesen & Roper, says 2011 yielded at least one other law whose ramifications extend into just as many types of activity, including the construction industry.

Tagged with: Act 21 DNR On the level Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

Summing up a five-decade business career in a 15-minute conversation isn’t easy, but the longtime Kraus-Anderson executive Daniel Engelsma gave it a good shot during a recent interview. Engelsma is retiring after 50 years at Kraus-Anderson, which has its main offices in Minneapolis.

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Although Matt Ostovich got a taste of construction work at a young age, it didn’t exactly prepare him for the job he has now.

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For most people, it makes little difference what material a storm sewer is made up of as long as it prevents flooding by allowing rainwater to drain away. But for Clark Wantoch, sewer lines are far from all being created equal.

Tagged with: Clark Wantoch On the level Wisconsin Concrete Pipe Association

Anyone who complains schools aren’t doing enough to promote careers in construction hasn’t peeked into one of Craig Griffie’s classes at Brown Deer High School.

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When Dave Jones started his plumbing business in his garage in Mt. Horeb in 1977, he never envisioned it becoming a company with heating, fire-protection and electrical divisions.

Tagged with: apprenticeship Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin Dave Jones Inc. Department of Workforce Development On the level

Although design-build projects are becoming more and more common for the private HVAC jobs Tom Starich works on for a living, he’s not sure the system is right for public projects in Wisconsin.

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State lawmakers nearly two years ago passed legislation lifting a roughly $75 million-a-year tax burden from construction equipment and other so-called personal property.

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As the top official at Employ Milwaukee, Willie Wade has come to see that fighting the Milwaukee area's protracted labor shortage has as much to do with changing employers' attitudes as it does employees'.

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There was no guarantee Michael Golden would get a job the second time he decided he wanted to work for the family business.

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