agchouston.org Summer2026Cornerstone3 F R O M T H E P R E S I D E N T / C E O Kyle Holland President/CEO, AGC Houston Y OU MAY REMEMBER THAT LAST year I talked about our Board Retreat and how we were going to start the tradition of gathering our Board each year for an over- night stay in conjunction with our Spring Board Meeting. This year, our Board and staff gathered in College Station at that retreat. Now, some of you might think, “Ugh, strategic planning … boring!” But hear me out: One of the things I’ve learned over the years is that strategic planning is less about the final document and more about the conversations that happen in the room. It’s easy to look at a strategic plan afterward and see a few polished priorities or action items neatly typed on paper. What you don’t see are the hours of discussion, debate, questions, disagreements, ideas, concerns and occasionally someone saying, “OK … but what are we actually trying to solve here?” Honestly, that’s the important part, and it’s the part of this retreat that impressed me the most. As I sat there listening to our Board members discuss the future of AGC Houston and the broader construction industry, I found myself reflecting on something I’ve mentioned before in various ways throughout these columns — there really is something unique about our Houston Chapter. You had leaders from some of the top construction companies in Houston — many of whom compete against each other every day — sitting around the same table and openly talking about workforce challenges, advocacy prior- ities, member value, industry percep- tion and where AGC should focus its efforts moving forward; not where their company should focus, but where our industry should focus. In today’s environment where every- one is stretched thin and focused on immediate pressures, that kind of long- term thinking and industry-minded perspective is more important than ever. These leaders took two days away from running their companies to contribute their strategic brainpower and help shape the future of our Chapter. And I don’t want to hear any “well sure, they’re on the Board, that’s what they’re supposed to do” nonsense; it would have been easy for any Board member to check the box, show up without really contrib- uting and simply go through the motions. But I can promise you, every one of our Board members was LOCKED IN the entire time! We had full engagement from everyone. People have asked me if the strate- gic planning went how I expected or wanted it to go, and my answer is hon- estly … no, it didn’t, but that’s OK! Just because it didn’t go the way I thought it would doesn’t mean it was bad. If I had all the answers in my crystal ball and knew how things would turn out, why would we even bother holding a session to talk about it? That was the beauty of the retreat: excellent Board engagement, peer-to-peer relationships being strengthened and tons of great conversations centered around a com- mon goal. I’ve said many times over the years that AGC Houston works best when we remember that we’re all part of some- thing bigger than ourselves. Sitting in that room during the retreat was another reminder of that reality. The relation- ships, trust and willingness to collaborate within this Chapter are not accidental. They’ve been built over decades by lead- ers who cared enough about this industry to invest their time, energy and ideas into making it better for everyone. The challenges facing our industry are real. Workforce shortages aren’t going away overnight. Advocacy continues to get more complex. Member needs con- tinue to shift. But if there’s one thing our retreat reinforced for me, it’s that AGC Houston is filled with people willing to tackle those challenges together — not as competitors, but as peers who genuinely care about the future of this industry. And that’s a pretty strong foundation to build on. Foundations for the Future The relationships, trust and willingness to collaborate within this Chapter are not accidental.
