attendees of the 2023 AGC Alaska Legislative Fly-In event take a group photo on the entrance steps of a large pillared building
Making Connections typography

2023 Legislative Fly-In offers opportunity to build new relationships

T

he 2023 Associated General Contractors, or AGC, of Alaska Legislative Fly-In event March 7 and 8 held an opportunity not often available for AGC members who participated: introducing a large number of legislators to the importance of the construction industry in Alaska and the work that AGC of Alaska accomplishes on its behalf.

This year’s group of legislators includes twenty new faces—one-third of the total legislature. It’s the largest group of incoming freshmen legislators since 2003. Some of those legislators were unfamiliar with the construction industry’s impact on the Alaska economy and unfamiliar with AGC of Alaska, AGC lobbyist Dianne Blumer says.

high angle view of a large bar room full of attendees holding refreshments and mingling at the 2023 AGC Alaska Legislative Fly-In event
The Alaska Mining Association, Alaska Trucking Association, and AGC of Alaska held a joint reception in the ballroom of the Hangar on the Wharf in Juneau, which Blumer says was attended by many legislators and staff. It offered a good opportunity for the three industry groups to inform new legislators of their mission and needs.

In addition to the reception, the sixteen AGC members and one AGC staff member who participated in the fly-in also met with fourteen legislators, the Department of Labor and Workforce Development commissioner, and with Governor Mike Dunleavy’s chief of staff, Tyson Gallagher.

four male and two female AGC member attendees smile for a group photo at the 2023 AGC Alaska Legislative Fly-In event
four male and two female AGC member attendees stand side by side in an office, smiling for a group photo at the 2023 AGC Alaska Legislative Fly-In event
Workforce development issues were a major topic of focus with Department of Labor Acting Commissioner Catherine Muñoz and with Gallagher. AGC representatives wanted to hear what the Department of Labor was doing to train up-and-coming workers for the immediate needs the construction industry is facing, as well as about AGC priorities, such as a sustainable capital budget.

While the capital budget this year remained small, Blumer says the introduction to new legislators and chance to spread the word about the importance of the Alaska construction industry to the state went well.

Photos provided by AGC of Alaska.
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