ABC President And CEO Kirk Pickerel Announces His Retirement

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) President and CEO M. Kirk Pickerel announced today that he will be leaving the association March 31, 2011, providing time for an effective transition in the association's leadership.   Upon retirement, Pickerel plans to devote time to his favorite activities, including hiking, biking and adventure travel.

“With 27 years of experience at ABC — the last 10 as president — Kirk has provided the association with strong leadership, inspiration and visionary thinking, working nonstop on behalf of ABC's 25,000 members and 77 chapters nationwide,” said 2010 ABC National Chairman Jim Elmer, founder and president of James W. Elmer Construction Co., Spokane, Wash. “We have all benefited from his tireless dedication and commitment to our core values, resulting in the continued improvement and success of the association.”  

Pickerel has served as ABC president and CEO since 2000, directing a national staff of 80 professionals.   Prior to that, he was ABC's vice president of member services from February 1999 to October 2000, and was executive director of ABC's Southeast Pennsylvania Chapter from 1990 to 1999.   He joined ABC in 1983 as membership director of the Virginia Chapter.

A frequent speaker at industry conferences, Pickerel is a longtime active member of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and has earned the organization's Certified Association Executive (CAE) designation for his expertise in the management of not-for-profit organizations.   Pickerel is a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Committee of 100, a member of the board of directors of the ACE Mentor program and a member of the Pfizer Small Business Advisory Council.   He also serves as a director of the for-profit ABC Services Corp., and is publisher of its monthly magazine, Construction Executive.

Prior to his career with ABC, Pickerel was a Baptist minister. A graduate of the University of Richmond, he is active in alumni affairs and established an annual scholarship at the university in 2004.

A soon-to-be-named national search firm will work with a committee appointed by Elmer to select Pickerel's replacement.

Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) is a national association with 77 chapters representing 25,000 merit shop construction and construction-related firms with two million employees. To find out more about ABC, visit www.abc.org.