Associated Builders and Contractors, San Diego Chapter

09/03/2026

Are you on ABC’s Top Performers List?

The Accredited Quality Contractor (AQC) designation tells the world you're one of the best in the business! If you're already investing in workforce development, safety, culture, and you're licensed and covered, then you’re already doing the work. AQC is how you prove it.

We've helped ABC San Diego members become Accredited Quality Contractors for years, and we can help you too!

If you’re looking for a way to distinguish yourself from the competition, let's get you on that list.

👉 See if your company qualifies: https://www.abc.org/Accredited-Quality-Contractors

09/02/2026

Most contractors spend decades building a business and only a few months figuring out how to leave it, a challenge Kevin Hartnett walks through with Shandon Harbour on this episode of Coastlines to Cranes.

Kevin Hartnett founded Laser Electric, Inc. 1987 and spent decades building it into a respected name in the electrical trade. When it came time for succession planning, it took nearly five years to build a plan that would carry the company forward.

Long before planning his exit, Kevin was a driving force behind ABC San Diego's apprenticeship program, helping shape it from the ground up. Today, he is still showing up for it, and in recent years has made it a personal mission to bring more women into the trades, giving them the same shot at opportunity that's always existed for men.

🎧 A new episode of Coastlines to Cranes is out every Wednesday on:
YouTube: https://youtu.be/Nz2ijZa35wQ
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6ZW9MnezYMs27q0DuTfgNb?si=h-ayeMbsTsiR0N1AdK6zKw
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-44-succession-planning-for-contractors-ft-kevin/id1829523709?i=1000787418372

09/01/2026

Trade competitions are where training becomes performance. Every measurement, technique, and hour spent in the shop is on the stage.

This November, ABC San Diego members will compete at our annual Local Craft Championship on the road to the 2027 National Craft Championship. First hurdle down: passing the NCCER written exam, 100 questions to complete in 2 hours.

Travis teaches sheet metal at ABC San Diego, where he watches this preparation come full circle every year. The skills he covers in the classroom are the same ones his apprentices lean on in their daily work and on the competition floor.

He's also watching an industry that keeps growing. More projects, more demand, and a real need for tradesmen and tradeswomen ready to step in and build the next generation.

It's skilled trades professionals who keep the infrastructure around us running every single day. Travis's message to anyone considering the trades is simple: there's room here, and the opportunity is real.

ABC National

08/27/2026

Submissions are FREE and the deadline is August 31

✦ Submit a project: https://abcsd.org/excellence-in-construction/ -project
✦ Nominate someone: https://abcsd.org/construction-workforce-awards/

Make this your year to be recognized for your hard work and great team.

08/26/2026

Who CAN you nominate? 🤔

Anyone! From your staff or from your network.

The Workforce Awards are meant to recognize individuals who do the work consistently and successfully.

These are the people that help the mission run day in and day out.

Do you know someone who we should know about before the Aug. 31 deadline?

Tag them below!

👉 See all nomination options here:

ABC San Diego's Construction Workforce Awards honor the industry's best in Project Manager, Superintendent, Tradesperson, and Young Professional of the Year.

08/26/2026

In March of 2020, federal guidance on which industries counted as essential changed more than once in a matter of weeks. Local and state rollouts following their own timelines: one version in the morning, another by the afternoon.

For business owners and managers this really meant one thing at the time, rank didn't matter anymore. As Shandon describes it, every title came off the table. Associations across San Diego, union and nonunion alike, got on calls almost daily just to figure out what came next, together.

Nobody had the answers alone, it came down to people showing up for people. Same as any jobsite, you help each other and get the job done.

🎧 A new episode of Coastlines to Cranes is out every Wednesday on Youtube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts: https://youtu.be/d2I1M6netlo

08/25/2026

Tracey oversees our workforce development, which means she's the one steering the instructors and programs behind five trades: electrical, electronic systems technology, sheet metal, plumbing, and pipefitting.

She's watched hundreds of apprentices come in knowing little about construction and walk out with a career, a credential, and none of the financial burden that usually comes with getting there.

The trades have been the backbone of every civilization long before a four-year degree was ever an option, and today they’re still laying the foundation for careers without student debt.

ABC National

08/24/2026

Fifty years of building San Diego, and we want to celebrate the people and projects behind it.

Submit your project or nominate a standout tradesperson, superintendent, project manager, or young professional for this year's Excellence in Construction Awards and 50th Anniversary Gala.

✦ Submit a project: https://abcsd.org/excellence-in-construction/ -project
✦ Nominate someone: https://abcsd.org/construction-workforce-awards/

Deadline: August 31.
Entry is FREE.