FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 2, 2012 (Houston, Texas) - The Associated General Contractors of America - Houston Chapter (AGC Houston) Board of Directors reaffirmed its commitment to a sustainable future workforce in the Greater Houston area by agreeing to contribute $500,000 to the Patrick J. Kiley Excellence in Leadership (PKEIL) Endowed Scholarship. The contribution was approved at the inaugural 2012 meeting of the Chapter board.

The Excellence in Leadership forum, established more than fifteen years ago and renamed in 2005 in honor of AGC Houston's most recent past executive vice president, is committed to providing scholarships to students interested in pursuing degrees in construction-related disciplines. In 2011, the PKEIL committee expanded the scholarship recipient's criteria to include those individuals interested in becoming craftsmen in the commercial construction industry.

In 2010, the board gave its full support to the Construction Career Collaborative (C3), an initiative of the commercial construction industry to create a sustainable workforce by requiring paying by the hour and providing worker security, as well as requiring safety and craft training for all employees. "It is imperative that owners and contractors address the quality of our future workforce. The board's recognition of the need for funding the education of those interested in joining our workforce is just tremendous", said Jim Stevenson, Chairman of the Board of AGC Houston.

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The Associated General Contractors of America, Inc. - Houston Chapter is a local trade association that has been representing and providing services to general and specialty contractors, suppliers and service firms of the commercial construction industry in the Greater Houston region since 1923.

www.agchouston.org