Dear Friends,
On behalf of our entire team, we offer our gratitude for your support and generosity during 2023. You are instrumental in advancing our mission so that countless individuals can pursue their dreams and excel in the construction industry.
Your belief in the power of education has directly impacted students by opening doors to new opportunities in the high school classrooms and advancing the knowledge and skills for construction professionals in our classrooms. Whether it is the student who received a scholarship to pursue a trade, a construction management degree, or the aspiring contractor who gained invaluable experience through our education classes, your partnership makes a difference.
As we look forward to the coming year, we remain dedicated to furthering our mission by expanding our reach, fostering new industry connections, and ensuring that our programs make a positive impact in the construction industry.
Thank you. We wish you joy, peace, and prosperity in 2024.
Diane Kocer
Executive Director
Continuing Education Classes
580
Classes offered
3,131
Total Attendees
2,913
Member Company Attendees
187
Member Organizations
58
Custom Classes in three AGCWA districts
Core Plus Construction
Core Plus Construction Educator Training
At the annual Washington ACTE conference in Spokane, Sarah Patterson, Workforce Development Director and Dan Morris, Director of Education and Training created and delivered a workshop for high school Career and Technical Education (CTE) teachers. The event was hosted by our friends from the Inland Northwest (INW) AGC and teachers from across the state were in attendance.
KHQ Local reported on the training as a part of their regular STEM Spot feature. This feature illustrates the importance of STEM for the community and economy. “The best way to explain construction is to use STEM. Everything in construction is based on science, technology, engineering, and math”, says Bert Rohrbach, Apprenticeship Administrator at INW AGC.
The training included classroom content, such as, how to scale projects and lessons for different grades and skill levels, hands-on projects including spatial awareness as a precursor to print reading, the science of concrete, basic framing, and stair layout. This session was fully booked at the initial offering which resulted in the need for a larger space to accommodate the interest. We hope to provide a similar session next year to strengthen the construction CTE teachers’ resources and provide a construction context that is valuable for all STEM education.
2020
Year established
80
School districts
11
Skills Centers
550,000
Legislative dollars provided to schools are a direct result of Core Plus Construction.
Core Plus Construction Update
In 2023, we focused our efforts on defining successful and effective methods of teacher training and strategizing for the future of the program.
Due to the success of the program and the increased need for professional development options for construction/built environment teachers, educator training and classroom content will be our focus for the coming year.
To support this effort, the Foundation has been awarded grant funds to expand our classroom content to reach more communities in the state.
Additionally, we are fortunate to welcome Candace Conroy, Director, K-12 Curriculum and Instruction to the team. Candace is a former classroom teacher with a background in curriculum design and educator training. She will be updating and creating new content that best serves Core Plus Construction classrooms to reflect our industry workforce needs.
Thank you to our Board of Trustees
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
President, Rick Workman, W.G Clark Construction Co.
Past President/Treasurer, Elaine Ervin, Moss Adams LLP, retired
Officer, Jim Elliott, GLY Construction
Officer, Curt Gimmestad , Absher Construction
Officer, Brad Hayes, Sellen Construction
Officer/2nd VP AGCW, Bryan Kelley, Howard S. Wright
Officer, Mike Price, Abbott Construction
Officer, Jeff Tobin, Precision Electric
BOARD MEMBERS
Kurt Boyd, Valley Electric Company
Jeff Christianson, Exxel Pacific
Alex Collins, CalPortland
Bryan Eppler, University Mechanical Contractors, Inc.
Annika Gaffney, Auburn Mechanical
Steve Grasso, Bayley Construction
Mac Gray, Gray Lumber
Chip Gregory, RAFN Company
Max Hanley, Propel Insurance
Leah Hanson, IMCO Construction
Ron Lange, Parker, Smith & Feek, Inc.
Matt Lessard, Wilcox Construction
Bob Marconi, Ashbaugh Beal
Julianna Plant, Lease Crutcher Lewis
Dorothy Reed, USI Insurance Services
Christina Rupp, Construction Center of Excellence
John Schaufelberger, University of Washington
Wendy Simmons, Middle of Six
Phil Wallace, Kiewit
Olin Wick, Foushée & Associates, Inc.
Sean Woerman, Lydig Construction
EMERITUS BOARD MEMBERS
Jim Crutcher, Lease Crutcher Lewis
Dennis Dickert, Sellen Construction, retired
Frank Young, Jr., FNY Associates, Inc.
EX-OFFICIO BOARD MEMBERS
David D’Hondt, AGC of Washington
Giovanni Migliaccio, University of Washington
Jason Peschel, Washington State University
Warren Plugge, Central Washington University
Annual Fund Contributions
Champions ($10,000 plus)
Byron & Alice Lockwood Foundation
Gray Lumber Company
Schuchart
Sellen Community Foundation
Visionaries ($5,000 to $9,999)
Abbott Construction
Construction Financial Management Assoc. Puget Sound Chapter
GLY Construction
Lease Crutcher Lewis
Moss Adams LLP
Patrons ($2,500 – $4,999)
Absher Construction
Ashbaugh Beal
ASI Wealth Management
Bayley Construction
Bob and Melisse Barrett
CalPortland
Construction Center of Excellence
Elaine Ervin
Ferguson Construction
Parker Smith & Feek, Inc.
Poppoff Construction
Propel Insurance
Tucci & Sons, Inc
The Foundation gratefully recognizes the donors who participated in this year's Annual Fund. These partnerships advance our programs to strengthen how we deliver on our mission.
Founders ($1,000 – $2,499)
Darron Pease
Dennis and Priscilla Dickert
Foushée and Associates
Frederick Stearns Foundation
Mark and Lori Landau
Rafn Company
Rick Workman
USI Insurance Northwest
Wendy and Stephan Sefcik
WG Clark Construction
Partners ($100 – $999)
Brad and Dina Hayes
Frank and Susan Young
Jeff Christianson
Julianna Plant
Join us
Congratulations 2023-2024 Scholarship Recipients!
Alex Coghill, University of Washington; Anthony Banis, University of Washington; Blaine Baker, University of Washington; Cole
Magruder, University of Washington; Collin Murray, Washington State University; Danielle Santa, Central Washington University; David Richards, Washington State University; Erin Arviso, Washington State University; Ethan Grice, Washington
State University; Guy Thomas, University of Washington; Kurtis Moxley, Washington State University; Logan Prouse, Washington State University; Marisa Robson, Central Washington University; Matthew Moen, Central Washington University; Nathan Vani, Washington State University; Sam Dawkins, Washington State University; Samuel Rutter, University of Washington; Zach Vernon, Washington State University.
The following top scholars were highlighted by our review committee. Each received $10,000.
Endowments
1990 Chester and Elizabeth Johnson Memorial Scholarship
1993 Employees of Northwest Cascade
1993 Robert B. McEachern Memorial Fund
1994 Mr. and Mrs. Allan F. Osberg Scholarship
1994 Hugh S. Ferguson Endowment
1994 Larry Johnson/Prime Construction Co.
1995 MulvannyG2 Memorial Endowment in memory of Patricia Chikamoto Lee
1995 Mr. A.E DeAtley Memorial Scholarship
1996 Foushée and Associates Company, Inc. Scholarship Endowment
1996 Donald L. Clark Memorial Endowment
1996 Employees of Ferguson Construction Endowment
1996 Employees of GLY Construction Endowment
1996 William and Jean Scott Building Construction Fund
1997 Howard S. Lease Memorial Endowment Fund
1998 Absher Construction Company Endowment
1998 Egge-Koon Endowment Fund
1998 Employees of J.R Abbott Construction Training and Education Fund
1998 Frank and Susan Young Endowment Fund
1998 Robert W. Austin Memorial Endowment Fund
1998 Sellen Construction Company Endowment
1999 Donald and Clarice Bocek Scholarship
1999 E. Kent Halvorson, Inc.
2001 Robert L. and Betty L. Landau Scholarship
2005 Bob Barrett and Family Endowment Fund
2005 Byron W. and Alice L. Lockwood Foundation Endowment
2005 Dennis and Priscilla Dickert Endowment
2005 Pease Construction Endowment Fund
2006 Moss Adams LLP Endowment
2006 Nuprecon, Inc. Endowment
2007 UMC Charitable Foundation Endowment
2009 James P. Crutcher Endowment
2012 Betcher Family Foundation Endowment Fund
2012 Gene Colin Two Year College Scholarship Fund
2015 Joe Arrants Memorial Scholarship
2015 Matthew and Suzanne Lessard Scholarship Endowment
2015 AGC of Washington Endowment
2017 Ferguson Construction’s Gene Colin Outstanding Educator Memorial Endowment
2018 Robert L. Landau Memorial Endowment
2018 Bob and Beverly Adams Heavy Civil Construction Scholarship Endowment
2018 Becky Wallace Scholarship for Women in Construction
2020 James M. Lessard Memorial Scholarship Endowment
2021 Ervin Family Endowment
2022 John Schaufelberger Endowed Scholarship
The Endowment Fund offers donors the opportunity to create a named endowment and to designate its purpose.
The AGC Education Foundation has 43 named endowments, each with a principal gift of at least $25,000 or more. All funds donated to the AGC EF Endowment Fund remain in a restricted account with only the interest available for the intended purpose.
These gifts create an impactful, everlasting legacy to ensure a donor’s values and priorities are supported infinitely.
Fun fact: Several of our Foundation’s Trustees have received scholarships from these named endowments
Career Connect Washington
The Foundation’s contract with Career Connect Washington (CCW) as the Construction Sector Lead has been extended through 2025.
The Foundation joins nine other organizations that have been selected to represent their industries’ career connected learning interests in the state. These roles are intended to bridge industry and education in order to create and scale programs that will effectively support future workforce needs.
This contract has allowed the Foundation to build on its already strong workforce development platform. In this role, the Foundation fosters collaboration and coherency between employers, programs, and communities about construction career-connected learning (CCL) opportunities.
One of the needs identified by schoolsis clarity and guidance about apprenticeship pathways. To address this interest, we hosted a panel that was open for all to attend. Potential new CCL programs, other sectors looking into apprenticeship models for their industry, and members of the construction industry were all present to hear from this powerhouse panel.
Topics covered included:
- History of apprenticeships
- Successful program examples
- The apprenticeship model outside of construction
- Funding opportunities
- Who’s who
- Resources
Thank you to our excellent panelists for this informative and engaging event.
Christina Riley – Labor & Tribal Liaison Training & Apprenticeship Specialist
Dr. Genevieve Howard – Policy Associate for Workforce Education, State Board for Community and Technical Colleges
Rio Frame – Management Analyst, Labor and Industries, Spokane, WA
Gary Peterson – Apprenticeship Consultant, Labor and Industries
Andrew Ledbetter- Director of Labor Relations at AGC of Washington
Christina Rupp, MA ED. – Director, Construction Center of Excellence
