Dive Brief:

• The Houston chapter of the American Subcontractors Association has released a short video titled “Essential: A Tribute to Construction Working Through COVID,” highlighting the workers who continued to work on jobsites from the outset of the pandemic.
• The video was released in early February during a time the ASA Houston chapter usually recognizes a subcontractor with its Excellence in Construction award at a black tie gala. Instead, it chose to recognize the men and women working on jobsites, according to Andy Adams, a member of the chapter’s board of directors.
• Adams and his team interviewed nine people from a variety of construction trades to learn more about their experience and highlight their hard work.

Dive Insight:

In the video, essential workers discuss everything from the rapid changes that needed to be addressed on the jobsite, to being a primary breadwinner for a family when there is economic uncertainty and parenting children who began remote learning and needed frequent help. 

“They’re doing this while their kids' school is shut down,” Adams said. “That’s got to be an impossible task.”

In addition to being on the ASA Houston Chapter board of directors, Adams is vice president and general counsel for Adams Insurance Service, a sponsor for the video.

Adams said if people take anything away from the video, he’d like them to be reminded of the hard work of frontline workers, both in construction and other fields, who take pride in their work and do it safely so the rest of the economy can function, even in uncertainty. 

In a similar manner, Construction Dive’s Leader of the Year Award for 2020 honored essential construction workers.