Jim LaMantia, who describes himself as a former �hothead,� now works to keep the peace on construction sites throughout St. Louis as the executive director of PRIDE of St. Louis Inc., a group representing owners, contractors and the building trades. When LaMantia started in the construction industry in 1968 as an ironworker he says there was a lot of hostility between the unions and management and also between the diff erent unions. �There were jurisdictional fi ghts everywhere,� LaMantia says.PRIDE, founded in 1972 as what is thought to be the first labor-management group in the country, stands for Productivity and

Mayor Greg Ballard signed a memorandum of understanding in March to transfer the city's utilities to Citizens Energy Group, which operates a natural gas distribution company and a district steam heating and chilled water provider in Indianapolis. Ballard wants to use the $425 million the city would get from the transfer for infrastructure construction. Once the proposal gets all the necessary approvals, the city would receive $262.6 million payment from Citizens in two installments, plus up to an additional $50 million from the wastewater general fund that will remain with the city after the transfer. "It will allow us to

The Missouri Department of Transportation plans to auction off property located across the state that it no longer needs to help finance road and bridge construction. MoDOT is looking to unload 34 pieces of property, ranging from a quarter of an acre in size to 200 acres. "We're hoping for a fair market value for the properties," says Gregory Wood, MoDOT�s Realty to Roads project director. In total, more than 600 acres will be on the block from April 26-30. All the money raised will go back into road and bridge construction. This is not the first time MoDOT has

Until contractors are back on jobsites in full force, commercial vehicle makers are in a holding pattern—waiting for contractors to buy new gear instead of repairing their old kit. Photo: Nissan, GM, International Nissan’s new NV-series commercial vans ride more like pickup trucks. Photo: Nissan, GM, International GM’s diesel Denali now leads the heavy-pickup pack. Photo: Nissan, GM, International International’s TerraStar tackles the medium-duty space, which GM exited last summer. Manufacturers at this year’s Work Truck Show didn’t need to be reminded that 2009 was a bad year. Total truck sales plummeted 24% in 2009, reports IHS Global Insight. “It

A new commercial vehicle stole the limelight at this year�s Work Truck Show, but it wasn�t a truck. Photo: Nissan The NV can be had in two styles, standard roof and high roof. Photo: Nissan Van has a pickup-like interior. Looking to step up the fossilized van market with something that drives more like a modern pickup truck, Nissan unveiled its all-new "NV" work van at the annual truck fair, held March 9-12 in St. Louis. In production now in Canton, Miss., and expected to hit the North American market in late 2010, Nissan’s first commercial vehicle for North America