St. Louis- A trio of leaders in the St. Louis construction industry were honored by The St. Louis Building and Construction Trades Council at its annual Construction Man of the Year Awards dinner January 21 at The Cedars at St. Raymond’s.
Pat Kellett, director of marketing and business development of the United Association (UA) of Plumbers and Pipefitters, and the former Business Manager of Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 562, was honored as the Labor Man of the Year.
[frame src=”https://labortribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/11.jpeg” width=”250″ height=”150″ align=”left” style=”2″ linkstyle=”none” title=”Recipients of this year’s building trades awards are Pat Kellett (second from left) former Business Manager of Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 562; John Eilermann, Jr., (center), Chief Executive Officer of McBride & Son Homes; and John Nations, President and CEO of Bi-State Development and Metro Transit. At left is Jeff Aboussie, executive secretary treasurer of the St. Louis Building & Construction Trades Council. At right is Mike Mahler, president of the council and Business Manager of Sprinkler Fitters Local 268. Labor Tribune photo”]John Eilermann, CEO of McBride & Sons Homes, Inc., the union homebuilder in the country, received the Management Man of the Year award.
John Nations President and CEO of Bi-State Development Agency and Metro Transit, received the Construction Consumer Award.
“Our honorees have dedicated their lives to improving the St. Louis community, working with labor to make it a great place to live and raise a family,” said Jeff Aboussie, executive secretary-treasurer of the St. Louis building trades.
An impressive turnout of public officials attended the awards dinner, including St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, County Executive Charlie Dooley, Attorney General Chris Koster and President of the St. Louis Board of Alderman Lewis Reed, all of whom spoke briefly to praise the leadership and civic contributions of the honorees. Several state and local officials who are friends of labor were on hand to join a crowd of about 800 union members and friends.
During Kellett’s leadership of Local 562 he led the union in signing an unprecedented jurisdictional agreement with Sheet Metal Workers Local 36 to streamline work to help union contractors become more competitive.
In Local 562’s contract in 2010, he incorporated the United Association Standard for Excellence, which covers a list of items including safety, drug testing, punctuality and cell-phone use on the job for both the union and its contractors. He also initiated professional development classes for Local 562 stewards to improve communication skills and more fully utilize their knowledge, experience and skill in safety and installations.
Under Eilermann leadership, McBride & Sons has become the largest homebuilder in the St. Louis area, where it commands 57 percent of the homebuilding market, the highest market share of any builder in the top 50 markets in the U.S.
In 2011,worked with the building trades to create a “Neighborhoods Built by you Neighbors” $1 million economic stimulus to provide incentives for homebuyers and jump-start the sluggish new home market.
Nations has led Metro, the region’s public
transportation system, since 2010. Before joining Metro, Nations was a three term mayor of Chesterfield and a partner in the St. Louis law firm of Armstrong Teasdale LLP.
“John Nations has been a driving force in advancing the critical mass transit needs of St. Louis,” Aboussie said. He has been a great partner in ensuring Metro’s publicly funded projects are successful.”
The St. Louis BCTC represents 20 union construction trades in St. Louis and is dedicated to advancing the highest levels of skill, safety and productivity in the construction industry. Its members invest more than $30 million annually in training the St. Louis construction workforce of the future.
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