Merit Shops and Free Enterprise: A Q&A with ABC Alaska President and CEO Alicia Maltby.

• Author: Anderson, Tasha

Alicia Maltby took on the role of President and CEO of Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) Alaska in November 2021. Before taking on the position, she had "zero construction experience." But, as she told interviewers during her application process, "I don't really need to know how to run a construction project. I need to know how to advocate for you, and I'm very good at that.. I don't like to lose." In the following Q&A, Maltby provides her insights into advocating for Alaska's contractors.

Tasha Anderson: What is some of your experience with advocacy?

Alicia Maltby: I started my career in hotels... and before I came here [to ABC Alaska] I worked for Alaska Hotel and Lodging Association... As far as associations [in general], I fell into it. I really like the advocacy component, and I think it's so important to fight for businesses to be able to run their business the way they want to, without having too much government overreach. That is such a premise of ABC's mission and vision, that open merit shop philosophy and free enterprise.

Anderson: Who else works with you at the ABC Alaska office?

Maltby: We have a director of apprenticeship, and she has an apprenticeship coordinator. We had a part-time admin that went between the chapter and the training trust when I first started; we've now extended that to a full-time position. He does a lot of our event coordination, and then he assists with the Trust.

Anderson: I'm not familiar with ABC Alaska's trust, can you tell me a little more about that?

Maltby: The chapter was established right around 1998/1999. Watterson Construction, Klebs Mechanical, Aurora Electric, and Wilson Financial were the four incorporators of the organization. We became a federally recognized program that same year and received our final 501(c)3 designation in 2012.

The [ABC Alaska] chapter is a 501(c)(6). because we do advocacy. The 501(c)(3) trust allows for the organization to focus its interests specifically on training, education, and workforce development.

Today we have about 300 apprentices that fall in our apprenticeship program that is run by the training trust. In the first years, the chapter had to fund some of that, but now it's standing on its own with its own budget and set of trustees, but it's all under the ABC umbrella.

We operate under Federal Department of Labor guidelines and standards, and we use NCCER INational Center for Construction Education and Research] curriculum for related instruction...