Alec worked his way through graduate school by working as a union teamster, laborer, and deckhand in Prudhoe Bay and other locations of Alaska. He enjoys working as an economist to support union construction trades. As discussed elsewhere, Alec developed a sophisticated input-output modeling framework that uses detailed prevailing wage data to customize the IMPLAN model and measure the economic and fiscal impacts associated with real estate and infrastructure projects that rely on union construction trades. In addition, Alec recently developed a state-of-the-art, Multi-Regional Input-Output modeling framework to measure the economic and fiscal contributions associated with union electricians in Boston. This modeling framework can be used to cost effectively measure the contributions of any trade group in any location. In addition, Alec has used the IMPLAN model to provide economic impact modeling and other services regarding prevailing wages, Project Labor Agreements (PLAs), suppressed wages and benefits, and more.
Economic and Fiscal Contributions Associated with Union Electricians in Boston
For the National Electrical Contractors Association (“NECA”) Greater Boston chapter and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (“IBEW”) Local 103, Pinnacle measured the economic and fiscal contributions associated with union electricians working on new construction projects in the four-county Boston region in 2023. Pinnacle relied on detailed union electrician journey and apprentice employment data provided by Local 103, prevailing wage data gathered and reported by the Massachusetts’ Department of Labor Standards, and the IMPLAN economic impact model’s Multi-Regional Input-Output (“MRIO”) modeling framework that mathematically links the economies of the four-county Boston region (“Boston”) with each other and with all other counties in Massachusetts. The full range of economic and fiscal impacts were reported, but to reach all audiences, Pinnacle also produced metrics on a normalized basis. For example, every $10 million in spending on union electricians is linked to $5.6 million in sales and $1.2 million in profits for Boston area businesses, and $2.0 million in income and 24.2 jobs for Boston’s workforce.
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Economic Impacts of Enacting a Prevailing Wage Law In Anne Arundel County, Maryland
The Baltimore-DC Building Trades (“BDCBT”) retained Pinnacle to model the potential economic impacts associated with implementing a local prevailing wage law for the construction trades in Anne Arundel County. Pinnacle used the IMPLAN modeling software to measure the economic and fiscal impacts of Anne Arundel County’s FY2021 Capital Improvement Program (“CIP”) under various prevailing wage scenarios involving hypothetical increases in trade income and local contractor market share. Because the economic impacts from a prevailing wage will extend beyond FY2021, Pinnacle also estimated the impacts across the six-year, FY2021-FY2026 time period.
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Economic and Fiscal Impacts of Baltimore County’s Capital Improvement Program and the Potential Benefits of Prevailing Wages and Project Labor Agreements for Local Construction Trades and the Economy
For the Baltimore/Washington Laborers’ District Council (“BWLDC”), Pinnacle used the IMPLAN model to measure the economic and fiscal impacts associated with Baltimore County’s Capital Improvement Program (“CIP”), and quantify the economic and fiscal impacts associated with a prevailing wage law that would increase the income for construction trades and the value of construction work performed by local construction contractors, and a Project Labor Agreement (“PLA”) that would increase local hiring of construction trades.
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Economic and Fiscal Impacts of Montgomery County’s Capital Improvement Program and the Potential Benefits of Project Labor Agreements on Future Construction Work
For the Baltimore/Washington Laborers’ District Council (“BWLDC”), Pinnacle used the IMPLAN model to measure the economic and fiscal impacts from construction spending associated with Montgomery County’s Capital Improvement Program (“CIP”) between 2019 and 2024, measure the additional economic and fiscal benefits that would flow to county residents if PLAs were applied to these construction projects, and describe other economic benefits that PLAs and a unionized construction workforce generate. This analysis led to the successful passage of PLA’s in Montgomery County, MD.
Economic and Fiscal Impacts of the City of Baltimore’s Capital Improvement Program and the Potential Benefits of Project Labor Agreements (“PLAs”) for Local Construction Trades and the Economy
Project labor agreements (“PLAs”), also known as community workforce agreements (“CWAs”), are a tool the City of Baltimore could use on its capital construction projects to ensure city-funded construction projects result in jobs for city residents. Toward that goal, the Baltimore/Washington Laborers’ District Council (“BWLDC”) retained Pinnacle to measure the economic and fiscal impacts associated with the City of Baltimore’s Capital Improvement Program (“CIP”), and quantify the economic and fiscal impacts associated with PLAs that would increase local hiring of construction trades. This study showed that a 10 percent local increase in local hiring, compared to the status quo, would result in almost $25 million in income and over 900,000 hours of work for construction trades living in Baltimore in 2020.
The Impacts of Prevailing Wages on the Total Costs of Maryland Renewable Energy Projects
Pinnacle was asked by the Baltimore-DC Building Trades (“BDCBT”) to evaluate how a prevailing wage requirement for construction trades working on renewable energy projects in Maryland would affect total project costs. Using detailed NREL and EPRI cost data, this analysis concluded that the additional costs to ratepayers of extending Maryland’s prevailing wage law to non-residential solar, land-based wind, geothermal, and energy storage projects that are 2 MW or greater is negligible.
The Impacts of Suppressed Wages and Benefits for Re-entry Construction Workers in New York City
For the Mason Tenders District Council (“MTDC”), Pinnacle measured the economic, fiscal, and demographic impacts associated with suppressed wages and benefits for re-entry construction workers in New York City. This study involved two separate efforts. First, this study quantified the foregone direct wages and fringe benefits for re-entry construction workers by comparing their wages and fringe benefits under two lower wage scenarios against current union wages and fringe benefits. Second, this study used IMPLAN’s Multi-Regional, Input-Output modeling framework to estimate how the foregone direct wages and fringe benefits affects each of New York City’s five boroughs and the City of New York.
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Economic Impacts of Alternative Wall Technologies Used in New York City School Construction
Pinnacle was retained by a local manufacturer, and NY bricklayers and laborers to measure the economic impacts associated with block/brick walls vs. precast concrete panels used in New York school construction. To do this, Pinnacle used NY City’s school construction budget and detailed cost estimates from RS Means, and an expenditure approach within the IMPLAN model. The net economic impacts attributed to the two wall technologies are largely based on differences in project costs and labor/materials sourcing.