a region from San Diego to Seattle and from Denver westward to the Pacific Ocean. Te company is currently constructing a number of high-profile transportation projects, including a $1 billion subway project in downtown Los Angeles, the iconic 6th
Street Bridge replacement project
in downtown LA, and work at San Francisco International Airport, to name just a few.
Active Involvement in AGC Di Padova first got involved in
AGC of California around 2004, stepping up to serve as Skanska’s representative at AGC. He recalls walking into his first event (the Riverside/San Bernardino District holiday party) not knowing anyone – and quickly being greeted by Tom Brickley, Brickley Environmental, who introduced him around and made him feel welcome. He soon became active at the District level, serving on the Riverside/San Bernardino board, the Union Contractors Council and in other capacities while also attending statewide functions. “Trough AGC I’ve made
incredible friends and business contacts and learned so much about many facets of the industry,” Di Padova said. “I’ve not only developed some great profes- sional business relationships but made a lot of good friendships there as well.” In 2016 he accepted the invitation
to move through the officers’ ranks, culminating in his role as President this year. It was not a decision he made lightly, Di Padova noted. “Because I’m not the CEO or
owner of my company, I struggled initially with whether I was the right person for this job,” he said. “I see myself more as a kind of a “servant leader,” serving as a spokesperson for our entire membership. I do have a strong vision and a desire to see us succeed and be better than we are. And I will be second to no one in my passion and pride for this industry.”
Sixth Street Viaduct project 8 March/April 2019
“I think it is important that we as an industry start trying to do a better job of truly acting as one industry, one group with one focus. We need to be more consolidated, more intentional in our efforts to try to keep our industry alive and working and doing what we need to do.” – Jerome Di Padova
Fostering A United Voice Di Padova leads the association in
a pivotal time, as AGC of California marks its 99th
year and prepares for its
Centennial celebration in 2020. Te association continues to thrive under CEO Peter Tateishi, who joined AGC in 2018, and has embraced a new strategic vision centered around three pillars of shaping policy, improving
industry relationships and developing the future construction workforce. It is coming off a year of some big legislative “wins” for the construction industry as a whole – most notably the November 2018 defeat of Prop 6, which ensures a long-term funding stream for California’s current and future infrastructure needs. Di Padova points to the Prop 6
win as a prime example of what can be accomplished when the industry works together to speak with one united, more powerful voice. Fostering such a cooperative approach is one of his key goals in the year ahead. AGC of California plans to join together with other organizations and industry groups to tackle big issues such as workforce development, water infra- structure issues in California, ongoing regulatory and legislative issues and myriad other common challenges. “Too many of the people who
put obstacles in front of us from a regulatory and legislative standpoint are unified,” he said. “I think it is important that we as an industry start trying to do a better job of truly acting as one industry, one group with one focus. We need to be more consoli- dated, more intentional in our efforts to keep our industry alive and working and doing what we need to do.”
Addressing the Workforce Challenge
Di Padova is also committed to
keeping both the association and the industry indispensable for the next generation workforce. “Construction has kind of fallen out of favor with some of the younger generation, so I think it’s really important that we try to do something about that,” he commented. To address the workforce challenge,
AGC of California plans a major rollout this spring of a new workforce program dubbed “Build California.” “Keeping our association relevant
to the next generation for the next 100 years is something I believe is
California Constructor
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