For the first time, Georgia was named the top state for construction in Associated Builders and Contractors’ (ABC) annual Merit Shop Scorecard. The scorecard, released yearly since 2015, ranks all 50 states and the District of Columbia based on policies and programs that strengthen career pathways in construction, encourage workforce development, and advocate for fair and open competition on taxpayer-funded construction projects.
“Commonsense conditions, policies and educational systems are vital in creating quality infrastructure built safely, efficiently and effectively for taxpayers,” says Ben Brubeck, ABC’s vice-president of regulatory, labor, and state affairs. “More than 88 percent of the U.S. construction industry has already made the choice not to join a union, and the construction industry is facing a skilled labor shortage of more than half a million people. Anti-competitive policies only impede the vast majority of merit shop contractors from building and working in their own communities, and further exacerbate the industry’s labor shortage. Taxpayers are best served by policy and educational priorities that create a level playing field for all contractors to compete.”
Georgia’s construction industry continues to prosper, and it earned the top spot due to the state’s continued dedication to workforce development, according to ABC. This year, 99 percent of career and technical education students in the state earned a credential and/or continued to a career. Along with inclusive policies that welcome all of the construction industry to compete to build projects in their communities, Georgia’s construction employment continues to grow. Georgia was third in the 2022 rankings.
Florida followed Georgia in second in 2023. Since the inception of the rankings, Florida has placed in the top 10 and continues to be a model state for the merit shop, exceling in the preservation of fair and open competition and creating a policy environment for the entire industry to succeed, especially in fostering a pipeline of highly skilled workers.
Among the top five, Arkansas ranked third, Wisconsin ranked fourth and Indiana ranked fifth. Rounding out the top 10 states are Iowa, Kentucky, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Mississippi, in order by rank.
Indiana, Iowa, and Wisconsin have returned to the top 10 rankings this year. Indiana and Wisconsin have strong workforce development systems, seeing 99 percent and 92 percent respectively of the states’ career and technical education students earning a credential and/or continuing to a career. All three states have innovative and proactive approaches to upskilling, leading to a sustained, positive job growth rate in construction.
Notably, Wyoming climbed 10 spots to 20th.
Michigan continues to fall in the rankings, dropping from 23rd in 2022 to 31st in 2023. The bottom five states, in ranking order, included Hawaii, Rhode Island, New York, the District of Columbia, and Washington, each receiving low ratings in creating conditions and policies for merit shop contractors to thrive.
The Merit Shop Scorecard rates state laws, programs, policies, and statistics in seven categories: project labor agreements, prevailing wage laws, right-to-work laws, public-private partnerships, workforce development, career and technical education, and job growth rate.