Fall 2025 in Full Swing: BTEA Highlights

2nd Annual NASRCC Skills Olympics & Family Day

• This exciting event brought together members and families for a celebration of craftsmanship, dedication, and competition. A huge congratulations to everyone who participated—including members from S&F Concrete, IPC Lydon, Sweeney Drywall, Century Drywall, O’Connor Corporation, and many more.

BTEA's Education – Session Two Launch

• Our second round of trainings kicked off with the always-popular David Ashcraft for project managers. Exec Ed participants took part in Dale Carnegie’s world-renowned Powerful Presentations course, gaining valuable tools to lead and communicate more effectively.

BTEA Women’s Group 4th Annual Networking Outing

• This year’s event marked a full year of sold-out success for the BTEA Women’s Group. The outing continues a strong tradition of meaningful connection and support among women in our industry.

EDUCATION & EVENTS

2025 Second Sesion Seminars

For a full list of available courses, please visit our Education website.

NEWS

Government Shut Down Stretches into Second Week

For the first time in 7 years, the federal government has shut down as Congress failed to reach a funding deal. While the breakdown is complex, many points of contention focus on the funding duration, overall funding cuts and the Affordable Care Act Funding.

This week, two dueling measures to fund the government and end the shutdown failed in the Senate for a fifth time. 

As it relates to federal construction projects, fully funded contracts are expected to continue but new federal awards and approvals are frozen until the government reopens. State highway and transit projects supported by the HTF and IIJA are not affected and should continue without interruption. For contractors, keep working unless you receive a stop-work order, expect potential slowdowns and delays due to federal staff furlough, be sure to track idle time, rescheduling and remobilization costs if applicable. 

In addition, most federal agencies, like the DOL and OSHA, are operating solely to protect life or property, with most operational functions shut down or paused.

This is a constantly evolving situation that we are monitoring closely and will provide updates as available.

Trump Unleashes New Lumber and Cabinet Tariffs, Sparking Cost Worries

President Trump has unveiled a sweeping set of tariffs targeting building materials, imposing an additional 10% duty on imported softwood timber and lumber and a 25% tariff on kitchen cabinets and vanities, with the latter set to rise to 50% on January 1, 2026.  The U.S. remains heavily dependent on foreign wood, and currently lacks the industrial base needed to replace these imported supplies. 

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New Construction Takes a Backseat in Campus Projects

Instead of new building projects, many colleges are focusing on renovations, deferred maintenance and building system upgrades tied to sustainability, with an eye toward reducing long-term operating costs. 

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MGB Will Propose Twin-Tower Revamp

MGB released an advisory stating it will replace its 564-bed Braunwald tower with two 10-story towers sitting on top of a 4-or 5-story podium. Plans have not formally been submitted to the BPDA yet.

BXP Submits Redesign of Kendall Square Development

BXP submitted revised plans for its next phase of the MXD District. The revised would shrink the 250 Binney St. building to 223K+ SF, while adding a 146K+ SF building at 105 Broadway. Both smaller buildings have proposed heights of 250 feet and contribute to the overall 5M SF master plan.

Healey-Driscoll Admin Announced New Crime Lab in Marlborough

The new facility will consolidate the current Maynard and Sudbury crime labs into a single location. The lab will accommodate more than 250 employees and provide room for future growth. Construction is scheduled to begin early 2026, with the opening planned for the first quarter of 2028. 

Samuels Set to Acquire 400-Unit Boston Development Site

Development of a 28-story apartment tower in Fenway is back in play with the pending acquisition 2 Charlsegate West by Samuels. Prior to foreclosure, the approved plan included a 285K SF building replacing the 56KSF office building on the site. Samuels has not confirmed if it will keep the same plan or submit new designs.

LEGISLATION

Ballooning Unemployment Bills Ahead

The unemployment trust fund, which is largely paid by employers' quarterly tax bills, faces a perfect storm of calculation errors, mounting debt and economic uncertainty. The state projects its unemployment trust fund could run out of money by late 2027.

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Employers Would Get Strict Bargaining Deadlines Under New Bills

House lawmakers are attempting to alter private-sector labor law with new bipartisan legislation that would mandate initial CBAs via binding arbitration if parties can’t come to an agreement in 120 days. It would require employers to commence bargaining within 10 days of a formal union request. After 90 days of bargaining, the parties would be required to go to mediation and after 30 more days, the negotiations would go to binding arbitration. 

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BPDA Passes Controversial Plan to Allow Taller Buildings Downtown

The BPDA board voted in favor of the city's Plan: Downtown guide, which rezones historic parts of the city and allows residential skyscrapers up to 700 feet in certain parts. The board voted 4-1 in favor of the proposal, which must now go to the zoning commission for a public hearing. 

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FAST FACTS

• Many estimates point to the government shutdown lasting approximately 2 weeks.



• The DOL, in conjunction with the Bureau of Labor Statistics, has several key reports upcoming that will provide important clues about the direction of the economy and inform Federal Reserve policymakers ahead of their next meeting in October. These will not be released during the shutdown.

• Businessman Michael Minogue, an Army combat veteran and Republican donor, has entered the 2026 race for the GOP nomination for MA Governor.

• Mayor Wu announced her new Chief of Staff will be Clare Kelly for her 2nd term.



• Crane Count shows the number of cranes in 16 major North American cities are down 44%. Boston saw a drop from 8 to 5. Down from 14 in 2024.

• 6 in 10 companies say they plan to lay off employees in 2026. Among the respondents, 39% said their companies already have had layoffs this year, and 35% said they expect to reduce headcount before the year ends.

• President Trump said his administration is close to finalizing a deal with Harvard University, in an agreement that would potentially defuse one of the highest-profile fights between his administration and US higher education.

• The White House pulled the nomination of EJ Antoni to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics prior to his Senate hearing. A new nominee is expected soon.

• As of Aug. 28, police had responded to 36 “Storrowings” on the main roads along the Charles River.

• According to Census Bureau data, construction spending for data centers in the year to July has reached an annualized rate of $41B — nearly exceeding the construction costs of all private offices in the US.

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