New Pennsylvania Construction Trade Group Looks To Grow Workforce, Stand For 'Everybody In The Industry'

Joe Perpiglia says he is putting up a big tent with the Construction Alliance of Pennsylvania, a new statewide trade group aimed at representing a wider swath of the industry than existing groups while helping to address a growing employment crisis.

The founder has already fielded inquiries from 215 companies and expects to have 300 signed on as members by the middle of this year.

“Other trade groups tend to provide a niche for certain types of contractors,” Perpiglia, who is based in East Norriton, Pennsylvania, told Bisnow. “We’re looking to be open to everybody in the industry.”

The alliance, which will hold its inaugural event in Conshohocken on Feb. 19, is focused on creating networking opportunities and educational programming for construction companies across the commonwealth.

Perpiglia will also work to grow the industry’s ranks as it faces a workforce gap. Nationwide, the construction sector is short an estimated 439,000 workers, according to Associated Builders and Contractors. That trend is particularly acute in Pennsylvania, where an older-than-average population has led to a wave of retirements.

To address that, the alliance will host events promoting the industry at schools across the state. Perpiglia has already identified 30 high schools where he would like to host programming.

He wants more young people to know that the trades can be a relatively secure path to a lucrative career: “You’re into the six figures easily.”

Perpiglia stressed that the alliance is a nonpartisan group, but it will wade into the legislative realm when members require it.

“We don’t really get political. … We don’t lobby,” Perpiglia said. “But I will do educational seminars on the impacts of legislation.”

On the local front, much of that programming will be focused on a new wave of statewide regulations, which Perpiglia said usually have their roots in local legislation passed in and around the Keystone State’s major cities.

New ordinances have popped up in droves across Philly’s collar counties in recent years, often addressing licensing requirements and minimum safety and pay standards for companies bidding on public contracts.

“Responsible contractor ordinances are something we need to educate people about,” Perpiglia said.

Federal policies are also front and center for the alliance as the Trump administration continues to make waves in Washington, D.C., and nationwide.

The potential mass deportation of immigrant workers lacking permanent legal status has led to heightened anxiety about the fate of the construction labor pool nationwide. But Perpiglia said he doesn’t expect those policies to have a big impact in the Keystone State.

“Pennsylvania has always been a big proponent of E-Verify,” he said, referring to the online worker eligibility verification system created by the Department of Homeland Security.

Still, Perpiglia wondered if there might be a way to keep these workers on job sites amid the construction labor shortage.

“If you have a gap and you’ve got people that want to work, is there a solution there? That’s up to the politicians to figure out,” he said. “Folks have come to this country, and they’re looking for an opportunity. If something can be done to give them a pathway, that would be great.”

Tariffs and the impact they could have on the cost of construction materials have also been a major concern for the industry, but Perpiglia said that in Pennsylvania, “a lot of companies already have strategies around that.”

Most of the strategies are centered on stockpiling vital supplies ahead of anticipated legislation, he said.

Perpiglia decided to start his own trade group after spending eight years as CEO of the Associated Builders and Contractors Eastern Pennsylvania chapter.

He is using his own money to get the alliance off the ground but expects the member fees to start rolling in soon. Dues are based on each company’s revenue. For example, a company making $20M or more a year would only need to pay $2K. Many other trade groups base fees on the number of employees.

“It’s a very small percentage of your gross sales per year,” Perpiglia said.