At the start of the 1920s, a small group of Houston contractors met regularly to discuss the issues and problems facing the commercial construction industry. To formalize the effort, the group decided to organize and become a Chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America. On May 8, 1923, AGC Houston received an official charter from the AGC of America.

The founding firms of AGC Houston were bound by their desire to establish and maintain ethics in the public interest and to defend themselves from adverse conditions within the industry and those imposed by outside elements. In those early years, the association principally focused on negotiating with the fledgling labor organizations and in promoting construction by contract during a time and in a city which abounded with day labor and force account construction.

Since its inception, AGC Houston has been responding to the challenges and opportunities in the commercial construction industry. Whether in creating one of the first plan rooms in the 1930s for architects and engineers to file their plans in order to receive maximum bid coverage or to have the foresight in the 1960s to open an Austin office to deal with governmental affairs at the State Capitol, AGC Houston has led the way in advancing the cause of its members.

Four generations later, AGC Houston has launched an effort to capture the history of this rich tradition. The idea was first put forth by the late Tom Bellows. Under the direction of AGC Houston Chairmen of the Board Jesse Gonzalez and Steve Percival, the process began to gather an archive of oral history, photographs and memorabilia. Now under the aegis of the AGC History Committee, the present exhibition is the first fruit of this effort. Hopefully those of us today will continue learning from the past and it will aid us in accomplishing even greater projects in the future.

Jerry Nevlud,
President & CEO,
AGC Houston

Visit the AGC Houston Chapter website at www.agchouston.org