Introducing Your New Committee Chairs

July 5 2012

TAUC News

TAUC’s Labor, Safety & Health, and Local Employer Organization (LEO) Committees each have new leadership as of May.

Labor Committee Chair Bill Cornell of McCarl’s Inc.

William “Bill” Cornell is General Manager of Industrial Operations for McCarl’s Inc. Bill has spent his entire tenure in the construction industry at McCarl’s, starting out as a project manager. He was then promoted to Manager of Construction, and subsequently to his present position. Bill is responsible for labor relations for the entire company.

He has served as a trustee for the Joint Apprentice Training Committee for Pipefitters Local Union No. 47 for fifteen years. Bill has been actively involved in many labor management initiatives in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia.

Bill has Associate Degrees in Accounting and Business from Kent State University. He received an undergraduate degree in Human Resources from Geneva College.

Bill has been on the TAUC labor committee since 2005 and was Vice Chairman since 2010. Bill Cornell presently serves as Chairman of the Labor Committee and is a member of the Board of Directors for TAUC.

Safety and Health Committee Chair Kathi Dobson of Alberici Constructors

Kathleen Dobson is Safety Director for Alberici Constructors in Livonia Michigan and St. Louis Missouri. She serves on several state and national safety committees, including The Association of Union Constructors (TAUC), the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) and the AGC. She holds an appointed seat as a Commissioner on Michigan’s Construction Safety Standard Commission.

Kathi has a bachelor’s degree in Nursing, and is LEED® – BC& D accredited and holds the certifications CIT and CHST. She is also an Adjunct Professor at Oakland Community College – Farmington Hills, Michigan in the Construction Management program and was recognized by the American Society of Safety Engineering’s (ASSE) as one of 100 WISE (women in safety engineering) who “make a difference” during the ASSE’s 100^th anniversary in 2011.

Her non-work/non-safety interests include working on classic cars, participating in distance running events, fishing, hunting, farming and canine conformation and obedience competitions.

Local Employer Organization (LEO) Committee Chair Jim Walker of Great Lakes Fabricators and Erectors Association

Jim Walker is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Great Lakes Fabricators and Erectors Association (GLFEA), located in Southfield (Metropolitan Detroit), Michigan. He has been employed by GLFEA since 1994. One of his primary duties involves the negotiation and administration of collective bargaining agreements on the behalf of member firms and other signatory contractors. Jim had been involved in the construction industry for over 40 years, 24 of which have involved construction association management.

Jim has served on numerous Taft-Hartley Funds since 1988, and currently serves as Chairman of Iron Workers Local Union No.25 Fringe Benefit Funds, in addition to serving as trustee on three other funds. In the past several years, he has learned first hand the difficulties faced by trustees in trying to right a pension fund facing a variety of funding issues. Currently, Mr. Walker is a member of the Working Group of the Retirement Security Review Commission, established by the National Coordinating Committee for Multi-Employer Plans (NCCMP), which has been charged with drafting model language to “provide retirement security with acceptable risk”, ahead of the sunset provisions, effective in 2014, of the Pension Protection Act (PPA).

Mr. Walker participates in various industry related groups on the board level, including: TAUC (LEO member), Management and Unions Serving Together (MUST), The Michigan Architectural Foundation, and is on the Civil Engineering Advisory Board at Lawrence Technological University. He has been a speaker at national, regional and local conferences. Jim is an attorney and a member of the State Bar of Michigan and the American Bar Association. Jim earned a Bachelor of Arts (Business Administration/ Pre-law) from Michigan State University and a Juris Doctor from the Detroit College of Law.