AGC of Colorado Executive Director Dick O’Brecht Retires After 27 Years with the Association

Dick O’Brecht left AGC of Colorado on July 1 after guiding the association through nearly a quarter century of growth and change. Colorado Construction sat down for a conversation with O’Brecht shortly after he announced his retirement in late May. O’Brecht says he plans to do some consulting in labor relations for the contractor and developer communities here and for other AGC chapters around the country. His new contact information is: 303-828-8700, robrecht@comcast.net

Colorado Construction Magazine: You’ve been with AGC for nearly 30 years, but you started out with them in Washington, D.C. What brought you to Colorado?

O’Brecht: I was AGC of America’s Director of Open Shop and Government Services in D.C. for two years, and because of that experience, was recruited by AGC of Colorado to fill the newly created position of Director of Open Shop Services here, created after some particularly unsettling labor negotiations with Colorado’s basic trade unions. They needed someone on staff who understood open shop services and how to assist members in achieving open shop status after being a collection of union shop firms, which is what they were until the mid-‘80s.

CCM: How did that go?

O’Brecht: It went well. From 1982 to 1985, I advised firms on how to legally achieve the ability to operate as open shops. There were 235 firms as signatories to as many as five different union agreements between ‘81 and ‘84. In 1984, when bargaining [with the unions] concluded, there were only 26 of those left.

The local economy tanked in the mid-’80s and the unions gave up some of their demands in order to keep their people working. I helped restructure the organization to serve a rapidly changing industry and educate a whole generation of contractors on how to operate without union agreements. AGC of Colorado has been predominantly an open-shop association ever since.

CCM: What were some of your key accomplishments as head of AGC of Colorado?

O’Brecht: Getting our own headquarters building in 1999, especially because it houses our training and education center. That allowed us to move beyond labor issues and focus on providing safety and training.

Also, the reorganization we went through in the past two years was important because it brought specialty contractor representatives onto our board of directors. It allowed us to de-emphasize the word “general” in our name and emphasize that AGC represents all contractors, not just GCs, which is a better reflection of who really does the work out there. All AGC chapters should do the same.

CCM: Where do you think AGC is headed now?

O’Brecht: I wish we could have changed the name to “Master Builders of Colorado.” That way there would not be even the perception of being just a general contractors’ organization. But it may go another direction anyway, with the possible merger with CCA. I don’t know if the merger will actually happen. There are a lot of issues related to asset consolidation, but very few obstacles from a political or philosophical standpoint. Down the road, I’d love to see the two organizations merge. It would be the smart thing to do, and they’d be the 6th largest chapter in the country based on dues paid to national [AGC].

CCM: Are there other possibilities?

O’Brecht: I always thought an AGC/ABC merger would make sense. Then they really would be the “Master Builders of Colorado.” Maybe a merged AGC/CCA could start those kinds of talks with ABC. It’s still possible.

CCM: What was your best moment with AGC?

O’Brecht: It was the night we got our CO from Denver to open the AGC Training Center and make it available to the industry. It was emotional for me because I was so personally involved in it. But so was CITC’s move to our location. Those were both big steps in our ongoing conversion from a labor-relations organization to a service organization.

Click here for more Opinions >>