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July 22, 2015 • Vol. XXVII • No. 15 • 470 Maryland Drive • Ft. Washington, PA 19034 • 215-885-2900 • Toll Free 800-523-2200 • Fax 215-885-2910
Inside
Business to Congress…
Crude Oil Export Ban Bad for Jobs
State Roads in South Florida Near Completion…8
Designed to be one of the largest and tallest corporate headquarters buildings in Nashville, a 30-story, $200 million office tower for Bridgestone Americas Inc. is currently under construction in the downtown SoBro area. When completed in mid-to-late 2017, the new building will house more than 1,700 employees. “Bridgestone Americas is going through an important transformation — one that will position the company for future success and long-term sustainability,” said Paul Oakley, vice president, communications, Bridgestone Americas Inc. “One key component of this transformation is uniting more teammates in one location, which will reduce business silos and spur more interaction and creativity.
Lifting the crude oil export ban will help reverse the downturn in employment and business activity experienced by suppliers of equipment, products and services to crude oil drilling operations, a prominent pump manufacturer told a U.S. House Committee recently. Mark Kreinbihl, group president of Gorman-Rupp Company of Mansfield, Ohio, testified to the House Subcommittee on Energy and Power in favor of a bill under consideration that would repeal the 1970s-era prohibition on exporting domestically-produced crude oil. Testifying for his company and as a member of the Energy Equipment and Infrastructure Alliance (EEIA), a shale energy supply chain trade group, Kreinbihl demonstrated the close correlation of his company’s pump business to the U.S. oil and gas drilling rig count. “From a point in late 2014, the U.S. rig count plunged from about 1,800 to 800, while at the same time our orders have followed the rig count down, declining by 40 percent from late 2014 through this June,” he noted. Gorman-Rupp’s pumps are used extensively in hydraulic fracturing-related crude
see BRIDGESTONE page 30
see OIL page 26
Brasfield & Gorrie photo
Designed to be one of the largest and tallest corporate headquarters buildings in Nashville, a 30-story, $200 million office tower of Bridgestone Americas Inc. is currently under construction in the downtown SoBro area. Yancey Bros. Co. Kicks Off Dump Hunger Drive…28
Bridgestone Headquarters to Tower Over Nashville By Cindy Riley
CEG CORRESPONDENT Hale Trailer Holds Grand Opening…36
Table of Contents ................4 Truck & Trailer Section ........ ......................................40-42 Attachment & Parts Section ......................................43-46 Recycling Section ........51-63 Auction Section ............86-93 Business Calendar ............92 Advertisers Index ..............94
Spending Reaches Highest Level Since 2008 Construction spending climbed in May to the highest level since October 2008, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials cautioned, however, that those spending gains could be at risk unless all
levels of government strengthen programs to develop the construction workforce. “There were solid monthly and year-over-year gains in May for all major construction categories — private nonresidential, residential and public,” said Ken
Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “The private segments appear poised to maintain growth throughout the year. But contractors increasingly report difficulty in finding workers with the right skills to construct large and complex projects.”
Construction spending in May totaled $1.036 trillion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, 0.8 percent higher than the April total despite a steep upward revision in that figure and 8.2 percent higher than in May 2014, Simonson said. see SPENDING page 64