Thomas L. Brown, President of Sierra Pacific West, Inc. (SPW), in Vista, California, is bringing his 54 years in the construction industry to bear as the 2024 President of Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) to grapple with the industry’s greatest challenges.

Long ago, Brown envisioned himself in a different role.

“I always liked seeing things being built — but I was destined to be a dentist,” he said. “Most of my family have been professionals, either lawyers or doctors. I was drafted during the Vietnam era and served in the 79th Combat Engineers and attached to 10 SFG in Europe, so I had been close to a lot of construction even though it wasn’t really my calling. But after I received an honorable discharge, I decided to take time off and spend a fair amount of time at the beach — time to collect my thoughts about the private world and what would be the next adventure in life.”

It was then that a business agent from the Local 12 operating engineers’ union approached him and asked if he would be interested in joining. After several meetings with Brown, the local agent was successful in convincing him to join the union.

“I worked for a large civil firm in San Diego, and after seven years I decided to venture out on my own,” Brown recounted. “That’s when I started Sierra Pacific West.”

He never looked back. “At the end of the day, construction is very cyclical. It has ups and downs along with the economy, but I think it was a good decision. SPW is a family-owned company, and one of my sons is in the succession planning.”

Brown’s personal philosophy, crafted over more than a half-century in the construction business, is simple. “Listen to others. Consider what others have to say, because it is extremely important. Immerse yourself in other people’s business.”

He summarizes the construction industry this way: “It’s all about personalities at the end of the day. It really is. It’s about the relationships that you develop.”

Social media deters that a bit, he said. “You don’t have one-on-one conversations as much. I think there is more value in having face-to-face contact because you get the ability to see how someone else is talking, and how your comments are reflected in their responses.”

As Brown sees it, “What happens so often is that we have become so opinionated in our own thoughts that we feel that’s the only way things can happen. I have really learned a lesson: You gain a lot more from listening to your peers. Listen to what’s going on out there.”

It’s a lesson that America overall needs to learn, he suggested. However, “We’ve succumbed to the social media platforms that are out there, and we don’t do a lot of one-on-ones anymore, which is kind of sad.”

In his own life, Brown says he was most influenced by the people who helped form him.

“I have to go all the way back to the Catholic Church, to the nuns,” he said. “I grew up in a parochial school, and then with the Jesuits going through my high school. I came really close to going through the seminary to become a priest, but I think the good Lord said, ‘Tom, that’s just not the path we want you to go on.’”

Another major influence was his time spent in the military. “I had some great, great commanders that really structured my life and taught me how to have fortitude in what I do, day in and day out,” he said.

As President of AGC, Brown’s theme is creating a better workplace.

“This is not a new subject,” he said. “We have been looking for a better workforce for years and years and years, and I don’t think construction is necessarily the only career path where there is a workforce shortage.”

The biggest problem for construction?

“For years and years, it’s been a tainted career path,” Brown said. “We as parents and the counselors in schools always said that you will get nothing unless you go to college; that you need to have a piece of parchment that hangs on a wall. Well, that’s a negative. There are so many individuals out there who are not book smart, but they are hand smart. Parents are starting to realize that if you look at a prevailing wage situation, you get a laborer who can make $80,000 to $100,000 a year and operators making in excess of $100,000 to $150,000 a year.”

Another part of bolstering the workforce is a culture of care, diversity, and inclusion, Brown said. “I think if we can just find some way to offer a clear path for advancement and success, it is a better way to do things.”

Brown is also focusing on getting people up to speed with technology. “Technology today is ever advancing,” he said. “AGC needs to foster education for all its members by some means.”

And then there is advocacy, especially as it relates to federal investments and infrastructure.

“That is really important for civil contractors,” Brown said. “Building contractors may ask, ‘What do I care about infrastructure?’ Well, at the end of the day every building needs to sit on something that a horizontal contractor has developed, right? You had to develop the pad, the water, the sewer, the storm drains, and everything electrical that goes into it.”

As he proceeds through his term as AGC President, Brown doesn’t plan to sit in his office.

“I’m a people person, and what I really enjoy in my position as an officer for AGC is traveling around the country and meeting the various individuals,” he said. “There are some great people across the United States. You go into other communities, states where people are so progressive and have such a great outlook, and it’s just refreshing.”