Meta Platforms Inc. and Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc., our chapter’s national parent organization, recently announced a partnership to educate and provide construction-ready career pathways for thousands of data center construction technicians as a meaningful step toward meeting the growing demand for data centers workers.  Unfortunately, the Healey/Driscoll administration’s subsequent framework for data center construction in Massachusetts, which includes a provision promoting project labor agreements, will effectively shut our member firms out of the process due to the PLA’s union labor requirement and, more broadly, is a disincentive to private development in the Commonwealth.

Construction input prices decreased 1.1% in June compared to the previous month, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index data. Nonresidential construction input prices also decreased 1.1% for the month.

The construction industry had 298,000 job openings on the last day of May, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. JOLTS defines a job opening as any unfilled position for which an employer is actively recruiting. Industry job openings increased by 32,000 last month and are up by 76,000 from the same time last year.

National nonresidential construction spending slid 1.5% in May, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, nonresidential spending totaled $1.267 trillion.

The construction industry added 11,000 jobs on net in June, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. On a year-over-year basis, industry employment has expanded by 64,000 jobs, an increase of 0.8%.

On June 18, the General Services Administration published significant new procedures for procurements subject to the project labor agreement mandate on large-scale federal construction projects valued at over $35 million through a new Acquisition Letter and PLA Playbook.

Associated Builders and Contractors reported that its Construction Backlog Indicator rose to 9.1 months in May, according to an ABC member survey conducted May 20 to June 3. The reading is up 0.3 months from April and 0.7 months from May 2025.

June got off to a very good start for ABC Massachusetts when our Gould Construction Institute (GCI) was awarded a $225,000 grant over three years from the Cummings Foundation to create a “High School-to-Career Pathways in the Skilled Trades” pilot program, which will target 25-30 students per year in six Middlesex County high schools.

Construction input prices increased 2.6% in May compared to the previous month, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Index data. Nonresidential construction input prices increased 2.4% for the month.

The Massachusetts Appeals Court has affirmed judgment against a public awarding authority for acting in bad faith in refusing to award Revoli Construction a large public works contract. In Revoli, after a Superior Court trial, the Appeals Court affirmed Revoli’s jury verdict against the awarding authority for its bad faith refusal to award Revoli a public works project. The jury awarded, and the Appeals Court affirmed, Revoli’s $3 million dollar lost profit award, which, with interest, totaled $5.2 million at the time of award and now totals well over $6 million dollars. Revoli established at trial that it was the lowest responsible bidder and that the awarding authority acted in bad faith by rejecting its bid. Specifically, Revoli established that the awarding authority predetermined to reject Revoli before conducting any review of Revoli’s responsibility and by then seemingly rigging the review process against Revoli. There are few cases on bad faith in the public construction/public works contract award process and this case provides insight both on what bad faith means and how to win these cases.