Special Feature
While COVID-19 has taken a devastating toll on businesses across multiple industries, Chicago-based Complete Crewing, an experienced and trusted event staffing agency, quickly pivoted to turn the challenge into an opportunity.
Complete Crewing has been providing labor to the meeting, event, tradeshow and entertainment industries for over 25 years, employing technical and construction trades including carpenters, riggers and Teamsters.
The cancellation of conventions and conferences sent leadership back to the drawing board. Their solution was to adapt and restructure their effective and reliable business model for the construction industry.
“For us, it was the most logical move to make,” said Dan Kantor, CEO of Complete Construction Crewing. “We had already built a strong trust within the unions due to our track record for prompt and accurate payment, safety record, knowledge of contacts and our overall respect for workers. We quickly realized we could leverage our positive reputation to help get the Chicagoland construction industry back to work.”
There are numerous benefits to using the service.
Complete Construction Crewing helps contractors secure jobs previously only available to a few companies. Their knowledgeable staff simplifies the administration of union payrolling, helping to navigate complex CBAs.
When it comes to an overall construction project, consider Complete Construction Crewing as a one-stop labor source for various trades. While there may be limitations to certain trades due to the specific CBA restrictions, they are happy to work with the various trade leadership officials to ensure jurisdictions are being respected and all parties work toward a mutually beneficial arrangement.
Providing highly skilled union labor to help contractors increase their crew size to suit any project scope, they serve as the conduit and pipeline for small and mid-sized businesses to contract larger construction deals, making them more profitable. Clients realize quickly they can scale-up their business and take on more projects with a flexible workforce without the additional overhead for training, HR admin, and insurance.
The initial target is helping small to mid-size and minority-owned businesses secure jobs and put people back to work. Federal and State grants are available for small and MWBE companies for these purposes and CCC makes participation easier, eliminating the need for a huge additional investment in corporate infrastructure and overhead.
“Working with Complete Construction Crewing means unlocking a labor pool that previously has been only open to larger companies or those who are fully unionized. Minority-owned businesses tend to be on the smaller size, and we have a unique opportunity to help them qualify for government funded projects where they previously could not participate,” Kantor said.
Complete Construction Crewing can also refer workers to specific unions and ensure they are trained and paid according to the collective bargaining agreement, meaning good wages, benefits, and safe working conditions.
The Year Ahead
After shifting to new demands during the COVID-19 pandemic, Complete Construction Crewing is focused on 2021 and helping contractors plan and secure labor for an expected construction boom.
The industry is expecting an influx of projects once the pandemic winds down. When asked how Complete Construction Crewing plans to meet those demands, Kantor stated, “Early preparation is key. It gives everyone the opportunity to evaluate the needs of a project and match the proper skill set to the job,” Kantor said. “Planning ahead for this skill match means more contractors get what they need and minimizes the amount of shifting individuals from one job to another mid-project.”
Additionally, advanced notice provides labor leadership to ensure training is up-to-date or individuals are retrained to match a needed skill, if required.
“We’re all trying to read the tea leaves, but if contractors have knowledge of tentative projects for 2021, the time is now to act on securing labor budgets.”
To help meet this demand, new internal efficiencies have been created through development of a proprietary software platform and partnership with ADP to be ready for an influx of new hires, additional payroll bandwidth, and rapid reporting.
The year 2021 is going to be a year of opportunity for CCC. They have started to gain citywide industry recognition and are poised to be the go-to firm for trade labor. They plan to double their offerings by adding union agreements, as requested by their clients to fulfill additional project needs.
While the company will venture back to events once restrictions are removed, they view construction as a new business sector that will continue on an ongoing basis.
“The construction industry is so similar and complimentary to what we have been doing for years and the business model fits well into our current infrastructure,” said Kantor. “We believe this addition will only strengthen and diversify our company, helping to insulate us from future volatility. As events return and construction business strengthens, we will add targeted staff where needed to meet the demands.”
Visit the Complete Construction Crewing Website for more information.
