In detail or in passing, in this online blog or on Facebook (facebook.com/tuckerpaving/), we’ve mentioned Tucker Paving’s association with several business, economic development, and professional organizations. Among the ones we haven’t touched on in any kind of digital depth so far is the Florida Transportation Builders Association, Inc. (FTBA).

Tucker Paving, Inc., is in the paving and road-building business, of course, so it makes perfect sense to belong to this association.

Like many other large construction-related organizations — those having members involved with public and private projects costing millions and sometimes billions of dollars — the FTBA is big into political lobbying, government and legislative oversight, and advocacy on behalf of members and the industry.

The Tallahassee-based FTBA — “Florida’s Voice for the Road & Bridge-Building Industry” — states on its website (www.ftba.com) that “members are at the forefront of industry decisions.” The association further states:

“FTBA represents its members with one collective voice before the Florida Legislature. FTBA works with various agencies, including the Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration as well as the executive branch to keep them informed of the needs and concerns of the transportation construction industry.”

The FTBA is affiliated with the national American Road and Transportation Builders’ Association. It also maintains liaisons with several other transportation-related organizations, including Floridians for Better Transportation (www.bettertransportation.org).

The FTBA isn’t all about politics and government affairs, though. It provides members with educational materials and up-to-date construction and design specifications. It provides bid information. It has a scholarship program for young people and supports regional Construction Career Days for high school students. It produces a quarterly industry publication, FTBA Magazine. It sponsors a wide range of conferences, seminars, workshops, and member social events. And it awards and recognizes quality, innovation, and achievement in construction work and design.

A must-attend event for any FTBA individual member or member group is the association’s annual convention. This year, the FTBA convention will be held Aug. 4-7 at the beautiful Ritz-Carlton Orlando Grand Lakes resort. As you might expect, meetings, speeches, presentations, roundtable discussions, and an awards event are all on the convention schedule, but also planned is a heavy dose of fun time — lots of good eating, a pool party, a party for children and teenagers, and tournaments for the adults in golf, tennis, and fishing.

The FTBA is a fine association, and the Tucker Paving team is pleased to be a part of it. We look forward to having a good group from the company at the 2016 FTBA Annual Convention and expect it to be a real treat.