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WE'RE ON TO 2026!
As we move full speed into the new year, we encourage you to take a few moments to review our 2025 Annual Review. With your continued support, we successfully negotiated three CBAs, launched impactful programs, and made significant investments in the education and advancement of our members and the industry.
Looking ahead, 2026 promises to be even busier. We look forward to incorporating your feedback into our plans and delivering on our shared goal to drive the industry forward.
With appreciation,
Your BTEA Northeast Team
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Thursday, January 29 | 8:00 AM | Quincy Marriott
5 Ways to Beat the Lowest Bidder
We will explore five of the most common scenarios in which a specialty trade contractor has the potential to be successful in a competitive environment, without necessarily having the lowest qualified number.
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Thursday, February 12 | 4:00 PM | Virtual
DCAMM Contractor Updates Webinar
Please join DCAMM for a training webinar focused on their upcoming public construction projects and how to become DCAMM certified, as well as more information regarding the bidding process.
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Thursday, March 26 | 8:00 AM | Westin Waltham
Crisis Communication
This course equips leaders and teams with practical strategies to protect organizational credibility when it matters most. Through real-world examples, mock interviews, and proven communication techniques, participants will learn how to respond quickly, manage employees and media and safeguard their company’s standing in the public eye.
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Governor Healey Sets Goal of Registering 100,000 Apprentices by 2036
In her State of the Commonwealth Address, Governor Healey announced a goal of registering 100,000 new apprentices over the next 10 years, with construction and the building trades identified as a central focus. The Healey-Driscoll Administration reported that more than 10,000 apprentices have already been registered in just over two years, supported by nearly $14 million in state investment since January 2023, including funding for construction and pre-apprenticeship programs.
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DOL Opinion Letters on FLSA and FMLA Provide Employers with Helpful Guidance
The DOL issued six new opinion letters - four regarding the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and two regarding the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) - all aimed at explaining how the DOL applies federal employment laws to various workplace scenarios. Scenarios included voluntary reclassification from exempt to non-exempt status, certain bonuses included in regular pay, roll call time as hours worked, commissioned employee overtime exemption, FMLA leave calculation for school closure and travel time for medical appointments.
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Safety Agencies Show No Signs of Relaxing Enforcement for 2026
Even as the current Administration adopts a more business-friendly approach, employers should expect more unannounced inspections from OSHA as the focus remains on high-hazard industries like construction, manufacturing and warehousing.
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Turner Establishes Equipment Rental, Site Services Company
Turner is expanding First Equipment Service’s services to support projects across the U.S. and to more than 40,000 of Turner’s trade contractor partners. Turner will also offer equipment rental and site services to other general and trade contractors in the U.S.
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5 Construction Trends to Watch in 2026
ConstructionDive released its 5 key trends, with material costs, data center demand and inflation remaining top of the list. As anticipated, many expect material costs to inflate 2-4% with the largest unknown still being the tariff policy itself.
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Another Lawsuit Filed Over Stalled Fenway Center Development
Cives said it signed a contract with J.F. White in 2021 for Cives to build roughly 4,560 tons of structural steel as well as metal decking, worth a total of nearly $24 million. In the lawsuit filed in Suffolk Superior Court, Cives stated that it completed its work but is still owed $14 million. J.F. White has already sued the project developer IQHQ for $27 million of unpaid work but no ruling has been made to-date.
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| Houses Passes Health Funding Package, Including PBM Reform | | |
The House passed a key appropriations package that would fund the Department of Health and Human Services through Sept. 30. It includes elements that would prevent PBMs from tying compensation in Part D to the list price of drugs, and boost price transparency for employers in their PBM contracts.
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| | Senate passes "Tax Shock" Bill | | |
The bill, sponsored by Senators Nick Collins and William Brownsberger, allows cities and towns to offer targeted rebates and credits to taxpayers during years when the residential property tax levy increases by more than 10%. The Senate rejected a version of Mayor Wu's proposal which would have temporarily shifted a greater share of Boston's tax burden to commercial property owners in fiscal year 2027 - 2029.
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| | Prospects Shaky for Real Estate Transfer Fee | | |
After failing to advance in the final housing bond bill last year, Senator Cyr is leading an array of cities and towns in pushing for a fee on expensive property transactions to fund affordable housing. Governor Healey has not signaled eagerness to revisit the policy this cycle but supporters are vowing to make another push.
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| | Examining Expected Labor Changes in 2026 | | |
HR Daily Advisor released its key labor and employment changes they expect to see in 2026 and what that could mean for employers in the year ahead. Key focuses include AI, Labor Reform and a newly regained NLRB quorum.
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- The NLRB announced new protocols to manage unfair labor practice cases. Moving forward, documentation and a witness list will need to be provided for initial review and acceptance, prior to the case being assigned to a board agent for investigation.
- IRS Tax Season opens on Monday, January 26 with sweeping tax changes set to kick in, including many from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
- President Trump signed an executive order aimed at stopping large institutional investors from buying single family homes. While large investors are active, small investors with between one and nine properties made up about 20% of home purchases in Q3.
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Prices of natural gas climbed 63% last week leading up to what is expected to be some of the coldest, snowiest weather in years across swaths of the U.S. In an unusual move, the Energy Department told grid operators to prepare backup electricity to offset the likelihood of outages.
- Lab vacancies in Greater Boston hit 34% in the 4th quarter of 2025.
- Mass Housing Partnership named its first new Executive Director in 36 years. Rachel Heller will take over for Clark Ziegler.
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Four U.S. Senators, including Elizabeth Warren, urged Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to launch an investigation into financing packages tied to data center development, focusing on what they characterized as early signs of stress in the artificial intelligence debt market and voiced concern that American taxpayers would be on the hook for a bailout if an AI bubble were to burst.
- Procore acquired vertical AI firm DataGrid. The acquisition will accelerate Carpinteria and help Procore connect to 3rd party data sources such as ERPs and cloud storage systems to break down data silos.
- Sphere Entertainment recently proposed a "mini" version of the Las Vegas Sphere in Maryland, the first of a planned global network of smaller versions.
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