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2020 Annual Report Long island contractors’ association, inc. Table of Contents LICA Events p. 4-5 Providing Insight p. 6 Inform and Assist p. 7 Members at Work p. 8-9 Activity Timeline p. 10-11 Social Media p. 12-13 Traditional Media p. 13 Advocacy in Action p. 14-15 New Members p. 16 2020: cOnStRuCtIoN In tHe yEaR Of cOvId 2020 was a year like no other… and one which we hope never to experience again. COVID-19 was the story behind every headline, as effects Guide and closely monitored pending legislation. Together of the coronavirus pandemic have reached far beyond with the cooperation and assistance of our dedicated labor physical health concerns. The slow downs, shutdowns and partners and business associates, LICA led the charge to lock downs of schools, businesses and government, raise our collective voice in opposition of an ill-conceived resulting from efforts to control the crisis, have had deep bill (A .10001/S. 8026) which could have shut down the and lasting impacts on our society, our industry and our mining industry on Long Island. Thanks to this combined economy. Governments and related agencies at the local, effort, our concerns were heard by Albany, resulting in state and federal level will need years to fully recover from Governor Cuomo’s veto of the proposed legislation. This the resulting financial implications. important win was one of the few bright moments in an otherwise dark year. In general, the heavy construction industry was luckier than most in 2020. Having As 2020 comes to a close, our thoughts been designated early on as an “essen - go out to all those who have suffered tial” industry, the majority of LICA a loss this past year, while our members and labor partners were thanks go to those who served on able to continue working. Impor - the frontlines and who continue tant public works projects were to care for those still affected. able to move forward, in spite We want to acknowledge the of challenges and continually dedication of essential workers changing safety protocols. As an everywhere, including LICA unexpected benefit of near-empty members and colleagues who roadways, some projects were were assigned the difficult task even accelerated and completed of building tem porary hospitals, ahead of schedule. testing sites and morgues during the height of the crisis in New York. LICA too was hard at work. Throughout the pandemic, we maintained regularly But as 2021 begins to unfold, vaccines scheduled bi-weekly member communications are providing a glimmer of hope and we look and built a comprehensive, industry-specific COVID-re - forward to better days ahead. Undoubtedly, the reality lated website, posting relevant news, executive orders, in - of financial deficits and economic difficulties will soon dustry guidance and links to additional local, state and set in and there will be different challenges we must face. federal resources. At the height of the crisis, the site was However, as the country and our region continue to re - updated several times daily with new information. We cover, LICA is hopeful that our industry will once again also continued uninterrupted produc tion of our quarterly be called upon to lead the way, helping to build back Long Island Road Warriors magazine, capturing the stronger than ever, as we “Reimagine, Rebuild and Renew.” essence of 2020 with the cover of our summer issue featuring a masked John Durso. Sincerely, Behind the scenes, LICA continued its long standing history of advo cacy during the pandemic, replacing in-person networking with a series of phone calls, emails Marc Herbst and Zoom meetings instead. We released an important Executive Director drainage study, produced a comprehensive 2020 Election Long Island Contractors’ Association The Voice of Long Island’s Highway & Infrastructure Professionals 3 2020 LICA Events (Pre-Covid) Oakdale Merge LICA Safety LICA Reception Press Training CON-EXPO Conference January 10 March 10 February 6 LICA was pleased to provide its A host of elected officials, busi - Days before the pandemic led annual safety training program, ness leaders and civic associa - to shutdowns across the country, presented by ARTBA (American tions joined LICA and our labor LICA landed in Las Vegas for the Road & Transportation Builders partners from Local 138, Local 2020 CONEXPO trade show. Association), to more than 50+ 282 and Local 25 at an on-site attendees. press conference. We were happy to be able to host our recep tion for LICA members This year, training was focused on The purpose was to call on the who made the trip for this once- roadway and work zone safety, state to fund an environmental every-three year industry event. together with a special feature impact study which is necessary Guests at this year’s event in - about the dangers of silica. Eligi - to begin the process of address - cluded LICA board members Joe ble attendees also earned 4 PDH ing the long-standing congestion K. Posillico, Peter Scalamandre credits upon their successful and traffic problems at the site of and other key members of their completion of the course. the Oakdale Merge. organizations. 4 LICA welcomed more than 125 members and guests at our 2020 annual spring meeting. This year’s event, held at Stone - bridge Country Club in Smithtown, was unknowingly, one of the last in-person events to be held before COVID-19 began wreaking havoc on our country. This ‘Construction Season Preview’ break - fast was designed to give members and officials a look at current and future up- coming construction projects in our region. LICA 2020 The event was highlighted by presentations from NYSDOT Acting Regional Director Construction Rich Causin, Regional Director NYS Dept. Season Preview of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preserva - Breakfast tion Chip Gorman, Nassau and Suffolk County DPW Commissioners Ken Arnold March 6 and Joe Brown (respectively), as well as a lively presentation from Alex Gregor, Southampton Highway Superintendent who spoke about key funding and budgetary issues facing our municipalities. Retiring Senator John Flanagan offered opening remarks and Riverhead Council - woman Jodi Giglio led attendees in the pledge of allegiance. 5 Providing Insight to the Industry 1DVVDXDQG6XႇRON5HJLRQV AnLong Overview Island of Conditions Drainage in the New York was one of the first states in our country to suffer the full force and effect of the corona- February 2 , 2020 virus pandemic. During the height of the crisis, LICA news about the virus, new safety protocols and shutdowns were being issued not only on Coronavirus a daily basis, but often, several times a day. It Web Page quickly evolved into information overload as March 20 every news outlet, state agency, local govern - ment and social media site blasted out their latest updates to the masses. As a designated “essential industry”, it was critical that our members and the Prepared by: Prepared for: heavy construction industry had a place to quickly find the most important and relevant up-to-date information that pertained to our industry, our projects, our region and of course, our workers’ safety. Determined to fill that need, LICA quickly developed a dedicated web page (www.licanys.org/coronavirus) on our site, specifically for that purpose. We populated the page with phone numbers In an effort to highlight the need for and links to local, state and federal agencies. We posted every new Executive additional infrastructure investment in Order relating to essential workers and/or the construction industry and labor Nassau and Suffolk counties, the Long as well as ever-changing safety protocols, updated DOH, DOL, DOT and Island Contractors’ Association called OSHA guidance. We provided a link to ARTBA reports on state-by-state upon LICA member firm Greenman- construction project impacts and more. Pedersen, Inc. (GPI) to do an in-depth analysis of our region’s drainage issues. We believe these efforts helped members quickly find the most critical and The final report not only identified relevant information, news and guidance to help keep their employees safe deficiencies, but also pinpointed how to and their businesses up-and-running during these uncertain times. improve these systems so they function adequately in the future. Elected officials, including both County Executives, several members of the Assembly and many Town Supervisors each publicly acknowledged the impor - tant data this study provided. These officials, as well as local business leaders and environmental advocates, joined LICA in reiterating the urgent need to address these issues and upgrade our drainage infrastructure to protect our environment, our economy and our quality of life. LICA Drainage Study Released March 6 6 Inform and Assist A special report released by TRIP (a national transportation research nonprofit) detailing traffic LICA Assist: congestion on Long Island, garnered a great TRIP Report deal of local attention including a front page September 29 Newsday story and in-depth LI Business News article. LICA Executive Director Marc Herbst not only contributed to the Newsday article, but was also instrumental in helping TRIP reach the proper contacts within Nassau & Suffolk counties as well as NYMTC, to obtain the information they needed for their analysis. The report outlined some of the most congested sections of our local roadways and found that the average Long Islander spends approximately 81 hours a year in traffic, at an annual cost of $1,684/year in lost productivity and additional gasoline costs. More importantly, TRIP’s analysis LI traffic costs region $1.9B and 93M hours of delay: Study By:ĞĨŽƌĞƐŽŵĂŶLJŽĨ>ŽŶŐ/ƐůĂŶĚĞƌƐďĞŐĂŶǁŽƌŬŝŶŐĨƌŽŵŚŽŵĞĂŵŝĚƚŚĞKs/ĐƌŝƐŝƐ͕ƚŚĞƌĞŐŝŽŶ͛Ɛ Adina Genn September 24, 2020 (or view online w subscription here) traffic jams cost drivers noted how these congestion slowdowns affect big. They spent $1.9 billion and as many as 93 million hours in delays each year, according to a new study.