Jill Bloom speaks with Legal Expert Trent Cotney on the process of OSHA issuing U or T visas in this episode of “If Walls Can Talk.”

These are visas for people that may have a certain history of objectionable activity, such as hate crimes or human trafficking. What OSHA is doing is that it has someone that is illegal that is working for a contractor and if one assists them, then one can get you one of these U or T visas. That is a big carrot out there, Cotney says.

The justification is that OSHA feels they can’t appropriately moderate this. The idea is that OSHA is adverse to safety violations.

What is the upside for the employee? “If you’re a migrant and instead of getting you deported, if you cooperate, you can stay in the country but you have to help. Despite the best efforts of the employers, at the end of the day, documentation is key,” Cotney says.

W&C's Editor John Wyatt speaks with Fresco Harmony’s Nick Harmon, the owner and founder of the company. Originally, Harmon worked around the West as an apprentice before he discovered drywall. In this podcast, he outlines the course of his life that led him to where he is now.

In this first part of a podcast series, Harmond outlines his career and what BUILD'23 meant for the company.

In this episode, Anna Anderson, CEO of Art Unlimited, digs into the latest search result reports and how contractors can endure what is looking to be a slow start to the busy season.

Thea Dudley speaks with Jill Bloom regarding how subcontractors paid $97 billion more than expected for labor and materials in 2022, which has an impact on their profits. In this episode of “If Walls Could Talk,” W&C’s Bloom speaks with Dudley of Pocket Protectors, also known as the “Credit Overlord,” to talk about how recent economy increases have affected subcontractors’ cash flows.

The biggest issue Dudley had with subcontractors paying more than expected was that subcontractors’ average wait time in order to be paid was 74 days. In the meantime, they had to pay their employees and pay for materials.

Tom Harris joins W&C again for this podcast of “If Walls Could Talk.” Tom Harris is owner of Tom Harris PUR Consulting. Today’s theme is on the Inflation Reduction Act – Stimulus or Deterrent?

According to Harris, the phone is ringing and the questions are coming in, but it’s still too early to tell if it’ll turn into energy efficient work.

“The early adopters to saving energy have already converted and are working their plan,” said Harris. “I think the rebate and tax credit offering will push a big number of building owners into doing the work they’ve wanted to do for years – they’ll spend the money over the next few years toward energy conservation activities in both residential and commercial markets.”

What should contractors know about this technology? Chat GPT is a language processing tool and it’s incredibly intuitive. There are a variety of apps that use this technology. You can ask questions; you can ask it to do things. From these questions, you’ll get a response. And what is the future of this? Will it provide more good than not? It’s certainly a technology that needs to be monitored.

For this episode of “If Walls Could Talk,” W&C Group Publisher Jill Bloom speaks with the Northwest Wall & Ceiling Bureau’s Executive Director Terry Kastner. From May 4-6, the NWCB will be holding its Annual Wall and Ceiling Conference and Trade Show in Huntington Beach, Calif. Walls & Ceilings is a proud media partner for this event. One of the highlights is a panel of professionals that includes the banking industry, accountants, lawyers and others that will join contractors for this thoughtful discussion.