AGC Southern District Update: Sue Larsen retires | CWA effort in Federal Way

Sue Larsen retires from AGC
after 48 years of service
Yes, you read that right; Sue has worked for AGC of Washington for 48 years. She left Lincoln High School in Tacoma and when straight to work for AGC. When Sue started with AGC in 1973 there were no Seahawks, no Mariners; Nixon was president, the average cost of a new house was $32,000, a gallon of gas was 40 cents, the average income was $12,900 per year, the Vietnam War just ended and “The Battle of the Sexes” tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs happened. Sue is a huge tennis fan, by the way -- along with all things Costco, Nordstrom, Dalmatians and Disney. If you know Sue, she is loud and proud about her favorite things.
Before Sue left AGC, we wanted to capture some of her 48 years of wisdom -- insights that should not be ignored or discarded after her retirement.
Sue will tell you that relationships matter the most in association work or in any other facet of life. Some of the AGC members in the Southern District are like family to Sue, and she gave each person some of her personal touch along the way. Sue did not treat contractors like a number or a random stranger. She developed relationships over time and found out what made people tick. In short, she cared and you felt it. People can sense fakeness from a mile away and there was nothing fake about Sue. She said what she meant and meant what she said.
Sue also worked to make the Southern District golf tournament and dinner meetings fun. She wanted to keep people deeply engaged. Without fun and laughs, people stop volunteering their time to associations.
Sue is most proud of the fact that the Southern District golf tournament will forever be named after longtime friend and AGC member "Fast Eddie" Zawislak, and that the Southern District building is named after longtime friend and AGC icon Bob Brunke. Fast Eddie and Bob made the Southern District fun for decades, and entertainment like those two provided does not grow on trees. They are and were one of a kind.
Can you fully capture a 48-year career in a few paragraphs? No, Sue would say. Full books could be written about what Sue has seen and experienced. That said, AGC appreciates Sue’s 48 years of service, gives Sue a giant hug and wishes her the best in retirement. To stay someplace for 48 years means you loved it. In return, AGC hopes that we gave just a fraction of the love that Sue provided.

CWA effort in Federal Way
The City of Federal Way is reviewing the option of a harmful government-mandated Community Workforce Agreement (CWA)/Project Labor Agreement (PLA). AGC remains committed to open and fair competition and has been working to educate elected officials and the City’s public-works director for the last couple of months on why a CWA in Federal Way would not work well.
For those who don’t know, a CWA is a comprehensive pre-hire collective-bargaining agreement between a government agency and labor unions that establishes basic terms and conditions of employment for capital construction projects. Stay tuned for more on this item as the year progresses.