Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan lauded the Labor-Management Council of Greater Kansas City (LMC) as an example of how “working together things can get done” at the LMC’s 30th Anniversary and 11th Annual Awards Dinner April 16.
The LMC also awarded its Leadership in Labor-Management Cooperation Award to the Kansas City, Mo. Workforce Board and its Service to the Labor-Management Council honor to Lyle Farrand, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 541. More than 170 attended the event at the Argosy Casino. Kansas City, Mo., Mayor Mark Funkhouser and Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster also addressed the gathering.
Recognized were for service as LMC officers were Garry Kemp, Greater Kansas City Building and Construction Trades Council, secretary from 1997-2009; Ed DeSoignie,Heavy Constructors Association, past co-chair; and Kevin Sexton, Operative Plasterers’ & Cement Masons Local 518, outgoing co-chair. LMC Executive Director Bob Jacobi announced that the organization’s annual golf tournament, scheduled for July 20, has been renamed the Craig Whitaker Memorial/Labor-Management Council Golf Tournament in memory of Whitaker, a longtime board member and tournament founder who died earlier this year.
The LMC elected Terry Akins, business manager for International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 124, as labor co-chair, and David Kendrick, business manager for the Greater Kansas City Building and Construction Trades Council, as secretary. Don Greenwell, president of the Builders’ Association, was re-elected treasurer. Re-elected as an Executive Committee member was Louie Wright, president, Fire Fighters Local 42, and re-elected to the board were Rosana Privitera-Biondo, president, Mark One Electric Co., Inc; Jed Cope, business manager, Teamsters Local 541, and Judy Morgan, president, Kansas City Federation of Teachers Local 691. Newly elected board members were Tim Bell, Organizer, Laborers Local 1290, and Kevin Istas, senior vice president of operations for Walton Construction Co.
Carnahan noted the persistence of the LMC’s participants over its 30-year history and its accomplishments. She pointed out that while there are many distractions in politics, the key is to produce results for constituents. As Secretary of State, Carnahan has focused on better serving the office’s customers including investors, businesses and voters. Common sense, customer focus and solid business practices should be brought to all sectors of government, she noted.
The Secretary also touted another result of collaboration announced earlier in the day: A $300 million wind generation facility to be built in Missouri, a result of a partnership among developers, farmers, rural electric cooperatives, companies and labor that will generate jobs as well as greater energy independence. Carnahan was particularly proud that her brother was involved in the effort.
Jackson County Executive Mike Sanders, an LMC board member, introduced C Carnahan citing her leadership not only as Secretary of State but prior to that in helping set up election processes around the world, working as a successful attorney and running the family cattle ranch. Sanders also said he looked forward to Carnahan’s political future as well as her past and current accomplishments.
Mayor Funkhouser talked about a new economic development vision for Kansas City and the importance of the event’s attendees in making that vision a reality. Koster said he would work to “bring down the walls” between working people and government through enforcement of workplace-related laws by the Attorney General’s office.
The Kansas City, Mo. Workforce Board, which monitors the recently-implemented ordinance enhancing the number of minorities and women hired for city-financed construction projects, is comprised of leaders from the labor, contractor and minority communities who helped craft the historic ordinance. Bridgette Williams, president of the Greater Kansas City AFL-CIO, chairs the Workforce Board and accepted the honor on the group’s behalf. Other board members in attendance included DeSoignie, Greenwell, Kemp, Bob Looman, Mechanical Contractors Association; Alise Martiny, Builders’ Association, and Privitera-Biondo.
Williams noted that the issue of minority participation on city-funded construction projects was highly contentious yet through hard work and dedication a solution was developed. Award presenter Tom Whittaker, senior vice president of J.E. Dunn Construction Co. and last year’s recipient, pointed that the collaboration to address the issue involved not only management and labor but also government, the minority and religious communities.
Farrand, said presenter and 2008 recipient Privitera-Biondo, frequently went above and beyond to assist the LMC in achieving its goals. He not only regularly participates in the LMC’s board and Construction Industry Committee but also on events such as the golf tournament.
The LMC was founded in 1979. One of the co-founders, Bill Dunn Sr., J.E. Dunn Construction Co., attended the event. A nonprofit association based at Rockhurst University, the LMC is comprised of more than 80 companies, unions, governments and nonprofits. For more information, contact Jacobi at (816) 501-4565, bob.jacobi@rockhurst.edu or visit its blog, http://labormanagementkc.typepad.com.
Look for photos from the event here in the next few days.