The newly formed Associated Construction Contractors of New Jersey (ACCNJ), Edison, the state chapter of the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of America, plans to tackle about six legislative initiatives in the next year that will help create jobs and funding streams for industry, says Jack Kocsis, Jr., CEO. He declined to identify those initiatives but says they are among several others aimed at helping to grow New Jersey's economy.
ACCNJ, formed July 1 by the merger of AGC's Associated General Contractors of New Jersey and its sister group, the Building Contractors Association of New Jersey, has 315 contractor firm members. They represent the building, heavy, highway and utility segments of the industry. ACCNJ says it is the only organization in the state that represents both commercial and public construction contractors.
The merger unites two groups with a common purpose, Koscis says, "rather than two fractured groups. The bottom line is that it streamlines organizations that had some redundancies." He adds that the two groups have worked together before. "We've found that over the last 20 years, our issues and challenges were the same."
ACCNJ recently established a 20-member board of trustees with Mark Hall of Hall Construction Co., Inc., Farmingdale, as chairman; Al Daloisio of Railroad Construction Co., Inc., Paterson, as vice chairman; J. Fletcher Creamer, Jr., of J. Fletcher Cream & Son Inc., Hackensack, secretary; and Ben Torcivia of Torcon, Inc., Red Bank, treasurer.
Other trustees are: David Earp of Walker Diving Underwater Construction LLC, Hammonton; Richard Weeks of Weeks Marine Inc., Cranford; Clifford Blanchard of Wm. Blanchard Co., Springfield; Robert Epifano of Epic Management Inc., Piscataway; Paul Natoli of Joseph A. Natoli Construction Corp., Pine Brook; and Nelson Ferreira of Ferreira Construction Co., Branchburg; James Parry of John D. Lawrence Inc., Westville; James Prisco, Jr., of J.R. Prisco Inc., Summit; Rolando Acosta of Northeast Remsco Construction, Farmingdale; Art Corwin of Moretrench American Corp., Rockaway. Robert Gamba of Prismatic Development Corp., Fairfield; Robert Polisano of Network Construction Co., Inc., Pleasantville; Eric Jensen of Michael Riesz & Co., Fords; Michael Criscola of Crisdel Group Inc., South Plainfield; Jeff Waters of Waters & Bugbee Inc., Hamilton; and Hank Adams of Kiewit Infrastructure Group, Woodcliff Lake.