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In 2009, in the midst of the Great Recession, my family business turned to focus on the federal-building opportunities made possible under the Recovery and Reinvestment Act of America signed into law by President Barack Obama. Our company, the Burgos Group, became a vehicle for his two brothers American, a first-generation American, to realize his dream. Our father immigrated from Ecuador and is now a US citizen.
Under the Obama and Trump administrations, the company has grown from 2 to 195 employees and has completed over 100 sustainability, refurbishment and modernization projects for 13 different federal agencies. Our growth has made us on the Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies list for the sixth consecutive year. This was achieved by only 3% of the companies on this list.
But since President Biden took office, our workforce has shrunk by 40%. Never in my life have I experienced the economic or regulatory challenges we face now.
Construction material prices have increased by more than 36% since the outbreak of COVID-19. Last week, I asked a supplier to rebid for a transformer for a project, and the price was more than double his previous quote. Worse, with a lead time of 105-107 weeks, the project could be behind him by two years.
Additionally, construction business owners like myself face a labor shortage of over 500,000 workers across the country.
Instead of removing barriers to winning jobs, the Biden administration is pushing anti-competitive policies and giving companies like mine the opportunity to participate in the biggest infrastructure investment this country has ever seen. It’s closed. President Biden’s policies are a double blow to my community. They raise the cost of the project. That means fewer projects cost more money and damage our neighborhoods.
New Mexico is a majority minority state with a large majority of minority-owned small businesses, especially in the construction industry. His 90% of construction workers in New Mexico have chosen not to join the union. So when President Biden, through Executive Order 14063, mandated project labor contracts on his over $35 million federal construction projects in New Mexico, they moved contracts and jobs out of New Mexico’s construction community out of the state of Los Angeles. of large unionized contractors. , Chicago and New York.
Union leaders who profit from the anti-competitive PLA defend the policy, saying it applies only to large projects over $35 million. What they conveniently leave out is the fact that all federal projects for large companies require small business subcontractors. Merit Shop small businesses like mine are forced to see jobs go from big cities and union hotspots to out-of-state businesses, or President Biden mandates to hire from Union Hall. .
Worse, cities like Albuquerque are following the regime’s lead in even more punitive ways. Albuquerque mayor vetoes city council refusal of PLA mandate as Biden administration creates new policies imposing PLA on hundreds of billions of dollars of federally funded projects raised by state and local governments exercised and placed it in every city project for less than $1 million. That he is one-third the federal threshold of $10 million is an attempt to gain the administration’s support and get more infrastructure grants for federal agencies.
Mandatory PLA agreements keep small businesses small and the American dream out of the hands of minority communities.
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Under the PLA’s coercive policies, we would not have had the same growth opportunities. Instead of hiring employees and finding their jobs and growth opportunities from one project to the next, our company shifts work from employees to labor from union halls for the length of the project. Once the project was completed, those union members would go back to the halls to work for other contractors and our small business would have been given a lot of money to build and grow the business. existing employee base will be gone. Should the PLA allow a minority of my existing non-union employees to work on his PLA project, they will have to pay 34% of their salary in union dues and union benefits, and the union will You will lose all your contributions unless you join. and become ascribed to those plans.
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Additionally, research has shown that PLA orders increase construction costs by 12% to 20%. In short, the PLA is a loss to taxpayers, the vast majority of America’s construction workforce, and quality small businesses like myself. Burgos Group has a track record of winning awards from the Small Business Administration as a federal contractor, but does not bid on projects under the PLA. This means there is one unqualified, proven minority-owned small business competing for jobs.
The Biden administration is giving labor unions in big cities exactly what they want, and my community is suffering.
