Young Professionals Mentorship Program Application

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We opened our annual Harbor Cruise to everyone this year and loved seeing all the new faces! 🛥️

It was so much fun to connect, cupid shuffle, and chow down on delicious tacos.

A big thank you to our sponsors for helping us put on this event. Thank you for supporting the San Diego construction industry:
🛟 @vendorsfirst
🛟 @sandiegobackflow
🛟 Blue Nose IT Solutions
🛟 @servicetitan

📸 See all the photos we captured through the link in our bio

#ABCMeritShopProud #ChampionForGrowth #BuiltOnFamily #SanDiegoConstruction #HarborCruise

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A healthy company culture doesn’t always look pretty.

Birthday cards and appreciation weeks feel good, but they aren`t what builds a good company culture. That happens when leaders embrace employees as whole people.

People are overwhelmed, juggling more than the job, and that doesn`t disappear when they clock in. Real leadership means creating space for people to say "I`m not okay," and backing it up with real support like personal days and mental health resources.

That`s exactly why we`ve partnered with @confyde.io, to help us spot when our people need support before they have to ask.

🎧 Find Coastlines to Cranes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

#ABCMeritShopProud #CoastlinesToCranes #ChampionForGrowth #BuiltOnFamily #PeopleCenteredLeadership

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Blueprints tell you what to build. Joseph makes sure ABC San Diego members know how to build it with the latest technology.

He`s the one scouting new tech and testing how it fits into construction, most recently VR training.

But the search doesn`t stop with him. Students bring their own ideas about what technology should come next, and Joseph takes those suggestions seriously. That back-and-forth is what keeps the apprenticeship program, and ABC San Diego`s members, ahead of where construction tech is headed.

This is what it means to build the next fifty years together.

#ABCMeritShopProud #BuiltOnFamily #TrustedExpertise #SkilledTrades #ConstructionTech

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We like it better when the spotlight`s on you 😂 ABC San Diego’s Excellence in Construction Award submissions close on August 15.

Everything you need to know is on our website.

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Mark your calendar: August 15 is the deadline to submit your project(s) and nominate your workforce team for this year`s Excellence in Construction Awards.

This fall, we`re celebrating the best of our industry, both the outstanding projects and the people who bring them to life. Contractors can submit project work and nominate their workforce team for FREE.

📅 August 15 — Deadline to submit projects and workforce nominations
🎉 October 3 — Excellence in Construction & 50th Anniversary Gala (tickets available after August 15)
💻 Everything EIC — ON OUR WEBSITE, LINK IN BIO

We can`t wait to celebrate the work and the people who make San Diego what it is.

#ABCMeritShopProud #ChampionForGrowth #BuiltOnFamily #ConstructionAwards #SanDiegoConstruction

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There`s a private school in Austin, Texas where parents are paying up to $70,000 a year in tuition for their kids to be taught by AI facilitators.

Before writing that off, consider the WHY. 🛑

Students working with an AI-facilitated instructor aren`t afraid to ask questions. They get answered like a one-on-one tutor, no hesitation, no fear of being wrong in front of the room. That`s the gap AI-facilitated instruction is closing, and why parents are investing in it.

San Diego trades are exploring the same opportunity, which is why we have partnered with @globaletraining to give members access to AI-facilitated instruction across 26 programs, including Autodesk, Bluebeam, P6, and more.

This is your invitation to explore if AI-facilitated learning can support your business growth.

ABC San Diego members interested in what opportunities are available through Global eTraining can reach out to our Continuing Education department at:
📧 ce@abcsd.org

🎧 Find Coastlines to Cranes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

#ABCMeritShopProud #CoastlinesToCranes #ChampionForGrowth #SanDiegoConstruction #ConstructionTechnology

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Ten years ago, Jorge Martinez was working in a shop. Today, he owns Martinez Heating & Air.

He was 28, with a family, when his boss gave him a shot to move from the shop into the field and encouraged him to enroll in ABC San Diego`s apprenticeship program. Full-time on the job, part-time in the classroom, four years of commitment that led him to establish his own business.

Jorge saw the potential the trades offered his family, and he wanted to make good on the opportunity his boss had given him. After graduating from the program, he took the leap to open his own company, @martinezheatingandair.

This is why Associated Builders and Contractors offers Earn While You Learn: for people ready to build a career and a family at the same time, no matter when they start.

#ABCMeritShopProud #BuiltOnFamily #TrustedExpertise #SkilledTrades #HVACCareers

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Every great accountant knows that the true story of a business lives between the lines of a spreadsheet.

Chad Fischer, Senior Tax Manager at @aldrichadvisors, has a favorite part of his job. It`s not the tax savings (although he`s good at that too). It`s learning how a business started and grew into what it is today. That story is what turns a company from a spreadsheet into something alive, and connects him deeper with the people behind it.

Businesses are an extension of our humanity, carried through the generations that build them, the employees they support, and the communities they serve.

🎧 Find Coastlines to Cranes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

#ABCMeritShopProud #CoastlinesToCranes #ChampionForGrowth #BuiltOnFamily #ConstructionFinance

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Some of the best lessons in the trades don`t come from a jobsite. They come from standing next to someone else chasing the same gold.

Joseph represented ABC San Diego at this year`s National Craft Championships in Sheet Metal. For him, the biggest win wasn`t the competition itself, it was the people in the room with him. Tradespeople from across the country, all chasing the same standard, all willing to talk shop, share how they solve problems, and push each other to get better.

That`s the part he keeps coming back for. Not just the chance to test his skills against the best, but the relationships built along the way, with people who take the craft as seriously as he does.

We`re proud to send Journeymen to NCC every year to compete, connect, and keep raising the bar together.

#ABCMeritShopProud #BuiltOnFamily #TrustedExpertise #SkilledTrades #SheetMetal

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It`s almost the 4th of July!! 🎇 We bet you`re thinking about food, drinks, games, music… and maybe health insurance?

Here`s the thing: behind every great backyard cookout, there`s someone who spent the morning marinating, prepping, and making sure there`s enough ice. Every good thing has an equal and opposite amount of behind-the-scenes work that makes it possible.

ABC San Diego handles the 401Ks, health coverage, benefits navigation, and prevailing wage support so small and mid-sized contractors can stay focused on the work that actually moves the needle.

And honestly? We don`t mind the tedious part one bit. Just ask Shandon Harbour and Corey Klinke of West Coast Group Benefits.

👉 Learn more about ABC San Diego membership on our website.

🎧 Find Coastlines to Cranes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

#ABCMeritShopProud #CoastlinesToCranes #ChampionForGrowth #SanDiegoConstruction #ConstructionBusiness

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Marcus didn`t choose plumbing as a fallback. He chose it as a foundation.

Through @pacific_rim_mechanical and ABC San Diego, he`s building more than a trade. He shows up to class every day with a positive attitude and serious attention to the material because what he learns in the classroom he applies on the jobsite.

His real plan is bigger than just graduating from the apprenticeship program. Marcus is planting seeds to someday be his own employer, and he sees the same opportunity for anyone in his life who`s still figuring out their direction, encouraging them to give the trades a real look.

The trades were never a smaller choice. They`re a real path to building something of your own, big enough to outgrow what a degree alone can offer.

#ABCMeritShopProud #BuiltOnFamily #TrustedExpertise #SkilledTrades #FutureContractor

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Join us on our annual Harbor Cruise happening July 16th!

This event is open to industry professionals at every stage of their career this year and space is limited so don’t wait until the end to grab your ticket!

🚢 Link in bio!

#abcmeritshopproud #championforgrowth #trustedexpertise #constructionnetworking #sandiegoconstruction

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Walking into a room full of admirals, elected officials, and executives can stop you in your tracks before you even say hello.

Jennifer Hopper, Community Affairs Manager at ABC San Diego, has a reframe for that: they`re just people. They have their own stress, their own insecurities, their own battles. They got up that morning and had to motivate themselves too.

That one shift is what makes the difference between standing at the edge of the room and actually building the connections that move your business forward.

It`s the same belief that drives how ABC San Diego shows up: events and partnerships built to close the gap between people, businesses, and the community they`re all trying to serve.

🎧 Coastlines to Cranes — link in bio.

#ABCMeritShopProud #CoastlinesToCranes #ChampionForGrowth #SanDiegoConstruction #ConstructionPodcast

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Ten years ago, Steven founded Electronic & Telecom Systems, Inc. A year in, he was already doing prevailing wage work and navigating apprenticeship compliance without much of a roadmap.

That`s when ABC San Diego reached out and invited him to tour the facility. No pitch, just come see what we have. What he found was a program that actually solved the problem he was sitting with and a community that knew how to navigate the system and wanted to help him do the same.

Today, Steven serves as Chair of ABC San Diego and his company uses the apprenticeship program as a recruiting pipeline and a way to invest in his people. New hires go in and come out state-certified in their craft, earning the whole way through.

If you`re running a small trade business and you`re figuring it out as you go, that`s exactly who we`re here for.

The resources are real.
The support is real.
And we`re cheering on your success.

#ABCMeritShopProud #BuiltOnFamily #ChampionForGrowth #SkilledTrades #ElectricalContractors

abcsandiego

Small businesses make up 98% of San Diego and employ 60% of the workforce.

These aren`t corporations. They`re your neighbors: at church, at little league, at the PTA, and at the table next to you at your favorite local spot. Community members who showed up, took a risk, and started employing others.

Where other major metropolitan areas are anchored by large corporations and enterprise, San Diego runs on the contractor who started as an electrician, the plumber who built a crew, the small firm that`s been serving this region for decades.

ABC San Diego exists for them. Because we know the challenges small and mid-sized contractors face, and we know exactly what they bring to our region.

🎧 Find Coastlines to Cranes on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

#ABCMeritShopProud #CoastlinesToCranes #ChampionForGrowth #BuiltOnFamily #SanDiegoSmallBusiness

abcsandiego

Congratulations to the ABC San Diego Class of 2026! 👏🎓🎊

This group crossed that stage having earned every early morning, every late night, and every long hour that got them here. You showed up, you put in the work, and it paid off. We couldn`t be prouder of what you`ve built and where you`re headed.

To the families and friends who came out to cheer them on — thank you! Your support means more than you know, and it shows in every one of these graduates.

And to our incredible sponsors who made this celebration possible:
🔹 Electronic & Telecom Systems, Inc.
🔹 Laser Electric, Inc.
🔹 @milwaukeetool
🔹 Collins Plumbing Inc.
🔹 @pacific_rim_mechanical
🔹 SJ Electric Company
🔹 @hpsplumbingservices

This is what community looks like. Onward, Class of 2026!

📸 See what moments we caught at graduation on our website.

#ABCMeritShopProud #BuiltOnFamily #ChampionForGrowth #SkilledTrades #ABCSDClassOf2026