CEA Inducted into 100 Year Club

Article by:  The Historical Society

Since 1916 the Construction Employers Association of Cleveland (CEA) has played a significant role in shaping the built landscape of Greater Cleveland.  CEA originated with a group of contractors who came together to form the Building Trades Employers Association (BTEA).  Led by German-born sheet metal fabricator, George Thesmacher, they saw the importance of establishing a uniform bargaining relationship with the building trade unions in the region.  Collaboration between unions and contractors was critical during the 1920s, a time of unparalleled growth in the city.  Together, the contractors and union workers shaped the skyline of what would be the fifth largest city in the nation during that decade.  Then, and in the following decades, jointly negotiated labor contracts insured that major projects such as the Terminal Tower, the Group Plan, and the Main Avenue Bridge would be built to the best standards and without dispute or delay.  After World War II, with suburban expansion this relationship became even more important, as the construction industry undertook a number of housing and infrastructure projects.

in 1977 the BTEA membership approved a new constitution and became the Construction Employers Association of Cleveland.  It also focused on issues of construction standards and equality in the workplace.  Today, under the guidance of CEO, Tim Linville, Esq. and Glen Shumate, Executive Vice President, the CEA continues a heritage of "union construction in Cleveland" one which has been enriched by the efforts of its contractors and the unions to expand diversity at construction projects.  That heritage of partnership and planning can be seen in the ever changing skyline of Greater Cleveland, one which reflects a city and region proud of its past and confident of its future - a city shaped in large part by the workers and contractors brought together by the CEA.