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Most Ohio Valley contractors chase work one project at a time — cold calls, low bids, hoping for the next referral. The firms that outperform play a different game: they

At ABC’s ONE Conference, leaders distilled contractor success down to five measurable dimensions — and most Ohio Valley firms only track two of them. Predictable work, profitable execution, capacity, risk

Top Columbus commercial construction firms posted 35 percent growth in 2025 contract values — the loudest single read on where the commercial construction industry is headed across Ohio in 2026.

Data center construction is now Ohio’s loudest commercial market signal — Dayton just paused new applications, Lima is debating Google, and Vertiv is up 30 percent on customer urgency. The

A new vision for The Banks puts a modern arena where Heritage Bank Center stands today — and signals a Cincinnati commercial construction cycle that goes well beyond one riverfront

Ohio is a bipartisan vote away from offering 14 weeks of state-funded paid family and medical leave. Seventy-six percent of Ohio workers currently lack paid leave access. For merit shop

Ohio workforce development is being transformed by GE Aerospace’s Lifting Futures initiative, what it means for merit shop construction employers, and how local programs are responding to new challenges.

Construction workers die by suicide at nearly five times the national rate — the highest of any U.S. industry. Mental Health Awareness Month is May, but the crisis on Ohio

Heat sensors that warn before a worker collapses. Vests that detect falls and forklift proximity. Smart helmets that flag fatigue. Construction wearables moved from concept to deployable in the past

Your foremen are the single biggest variable in field productivity — and most never received an hour of formal leadership training. With construction hiring at the slowest pace on record,

Material costs are unpredictable, payment cycles are stretching, and nonresidential demand is uneven even as data centers boom — a combination that has quietly killed more Ohio Valley contractors in

Pike County’s 10-gigawatt AI campus, Intel’s Licking County build-out, and Cincinnati’s healthcare construction surge share one bottleneck: licensed electricians. Ohio is short on the trade powering its biggest projects, and

Davis-Bacon enforcement is shifting under EO 14173, Ohio’s prevailing wage debate is back in the statehouse, and federal infrastructure dollars keep flowing into the Ohio Valley with strings attached. Here

Work zone safety is a critical concern for Ohio Valley contractors, crew leaders, and safety managers—especially during National Work Zone Awareness Week 2026. This article covers best practices, legal requirements,

National Apprenticeship Week 2026 (April 26–May 2) arrives as the Ohio Valley faces an estimated 60,000-worker shortage driven by Intel semiconductor investment, logistics growth, and manufacturing reshoring across Ohio, Kentucky,

ABC Ohio Valley’s “Meet the Generals” is a structured, speed-networking event designed to connect subcontractors, general contractors, and suppliers with decision-makers in one focused evening.

Dayton just drew a line in the sand for merit shop contractors. Every public construction project over 2 million dollars now requires a Project Labor Agreement, pushing all contractors and

Nine out of ten construction workers in the Ohio Valley aren’t union members — and the region is short 60,000 workers. ABC Ohio Valley is the merit shop voice fighting

Construction workforce development is not an HR initiative — it is a business survival strategy. As National Apprenticeship Week 2026 pushes the industry toward one million apprentices, ABC Ohio Valley’s

Play Video The ABC Legislative Conference, happening June 8–10 in Washington, D.C., represents the single highest-leverage advocacy moment of the year for merit shop contractors operating in Southwest Ohio and Northern

The construction industry entering 2026 marks a new phase where demand and backlogs remain historically strong—often eight to nine months of work in hand—but execution has become harder due to

Ohio’s proposed data center ban has cleared its first legal hurdle. After Attorney General Dave Yost certified the petition summary as containing fair and truthful statements, this proposed amendment moves

Vivek Ramaswamy, an Ohio-born entrepreneur and former presidential candidate, has become a prominent voice shaping the state’s property tax reform conversation.

The Southern Ohio Data Center in Pike County is a proposed 10-gigawatt, AI-focused campus paired with a 9.2 GW natural gas power plant on the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant

The “Make America AI-Ready” initiative is a groundbreaking program launched by the U.S. Department of Labor to help American workers, business leaders, and construction professionals gain essential artificial intelligence (AI)

Executive Order 14173 marks a significant shift in federal policy by revoking prior affirmative action and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) requirements, and emphasizing a merit-based approach to employment and

The numbers tell a story of two construction economies operating side by side. Early 2026 U.S. construction data reveal surging data center construction spending driven by artificial intelligence, cloud computing,

February 2026 recorded the slowest construction hiring rate since federal tracking began. Job openings dropped to approximately 202,000, down sharply from both January 2026 and February 2025. This decline signals

Key Takeaways AI is no longer a future concept in construction—it’s a strategic tool actively shaping how commercial, infrastructure, and industrial projects are planned, managed, and delivered in 2026 and

Construction education through the Ohio Valley Construction Education Foundation (OVCEF) combines nationally recognized craft training, OSHA-authorized safety courses, and career development programs that lead directly to real construction jobs and