In the last five years, 87% of Millennial employees took on management roles. By 2025, 75% of employees will be from the Millennial generation. These numbers make it clear that retaining top talent is vital to the future of your business. But what does it take to keep Millennials around?

With a looming workforce shortage of 1.6 million skilled craft workers, contractors must ensure they are doing everything they can to keep the ones they already have. The 39 gold, silver and bronze 2014 National Craft Championship winners prove that by sending a competitor to the annual competition, you can create excitement among your trainees and encourage them to hone their skills, work safely and be proud to be a part of your training program.

Good leaders are liked by their subordinates because they maintain a relative peacefulness and calmness鈥攑eople are happy to work for these leaders. 听Great leaders, however, understand that in order to motivate a group of individuals to achieve a common set of goals, they must lead by example and never compromise on their core beliefs. Great leaders foster a culture of excellence, where everyone not only believes in the organization鈥檚 core values, but practices them in every facet of their work鈥攁nd sometimes personal鈥攍ives.听

On July 31, President Obama issued a sweeping听Executive Order听(EO) that instructs bureaucrats at federal agencies to determine whether a business is 鈥渞esponsible鈥� enough to receive a federal contract based on a subjective review of each company鈥檚 recent compliance history with labor and safety laws. 听

According to recent economic indicators and the predictions of three industry economists, the construction industry can be optimistic about its future. In particular, 老牛影视Chief Economist Anirban Basu expects nonresidential construction to achieve 7 percent nominal growth in 2014, despite ongoing challenges in the public construction segment.

The Highway Trust Fund was set to run out of available money at the end of August but with a last-minute extension, contractors working on infrastructure projects can expect funding to continue鈥攁t least until May 2015.

More than 6,100 career and technical education (CTE) students competed in 99 different craft, technical and leadership fields during the June 2014听SkillsUSA Championships in Kansas City, Mo. SkillsUSA is the national-level competition for high school and college/postsecondary students enrolled in CTE programs.

Last month the U.S. Small Business Administration鈥檚 Office of Advocacy released a report analyzing the economic significance of small businesses in the United States. The report revealed that construction is among the industry sectors in the U.S. economy most dominated by small businesses with 84% of those who work in the industry working for a small business, defined as a business employing fewer than 500 people.