Reflect on this past year and all the events and programs ASM provide - by James Welch

As 2024 winds down, it is a great time to reflect on this past year and all the great events and programs ASM was able to provide for our members.

We had another great year providing our member companies with important programming, such as our Safety Roundtable series. In 2024, we held six Safety Roundtables on topics such as AGC’s CARES program, designed to help prevent injuries and save lives on construction sites. We also held Safety Roundtables on important topics such as Electrical Safety, Mental Health in Construction, the OSHA Citation process, and Uncovering Critical Safety Challenges around culture, language, and the legal risks associated with those challenges.

We also continued our Lunch & Learn Webinar series with great topics such as Succession Planning, Employment Law Q&A, Making Money even while losing productivity, Optimizing Risk Profile, an update on the new Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting Requirement, and helping companies understand Costs and Financial Metrics.

In 2024, we focused on providing members with more in-person seminars and workshops. Some of the great topics we covered included scheduling challenges and ‘How to Cover your A$$’. This was a very well-received program that featured two of our veteran ASM members, Leslie Carrio of DePaoli Mosaic Company and Jim Miller of Salem Glass Company, who shared some of the tools they use to ensure they are protecting themselves from the challenges that appear during a construction project.

Our signature events were big successes in 2024, with our annual ASM Golf Tournament selling out again. It was great to host close to 300 golfers, sponsors, and supporters of ASM at Pinehills Golf Club in Plymouth to help fund our annual scholarship awards. This year, we distributed $12,000 in scholarships to deserving students who are children of employees of ASM companies. In October, we hosted more than 25 of the region’s premier general contractors at our GC Showcase at Polar Park in Worcester. The event was well received and was described as a “home run for networking.”

Networking is an important aspect of what we do at ASM, so we held several fun networking events throughout the year. Our Young Professionals group held three very successful events that provided great opportunities for folks to get together in a laid-back atmosphere to have fun and get to know other professionals in the industry. In February, we were at PuttShack in the Boston Seaport for a little golf, food, and drink. We also sold out our annual trip to the Boston Celtics game in April and followed that up with a beautiful evening at the Red Sox in September. It was great to see so many ASM members and their friends and families at these events throughout the year.

We were busy in 2024 and plan to be even busier in 2025. We hope that you can join us for some of the great programming we have planned for 2025. Stay tuned for details on how you can participate.

Jim Welch is the CEO/executive director of the Associated Subcontractors of Mass., Boston.