The American Petroleum Institute approached its 100th anniversary in March with a move to its new state-of-the-art headquarters at 200 Massachusetts Ave. NW in Washington, DC.
“[This year] is a landmark year for API and it seems fitting we mark with a relocation from a building where we have worked for almost 40 years to a modern and new facility that will carry us into the future,” Pres. Mike Sommers observed during a Feb. 14 ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new address.
The location is only a few blocks from the US Capitol, Senate and House office buildings, the US Supreme Court, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and Union Station.
API’s staff members will be working amid the final phase of construction for several weeks as skilled workers from North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) finish up. Their work has been crucial, Sommers said.
The oil and gas industry is committed to working with organized labor whenever possible, he said. “That is why, when we started this project more than a year ago, we made it very clear to [Coakley Williams Construction Co. Executive] Sean Coakley that we wanted to use union craftsmen and women for this project,” Sommers said.
“Today, I want to thank the highly skilled union craft tradesmen and women for their hard work on API’s new headquarters,” Sommers said.
“Painters, electricians, plumbers, and other interior remodelers put in more than 25,000 labor-hours into building this project. The quality of work here in our new office is excellent, and it was delivered on time and on budget,” he said.
NABTU Pres. Sean McGarvey, who joined Sommers in the ribbon-cutting, said that the building trades unions’ role in preparing API’s new headquarters is a shining example of work those unions’ members do to provide state-of-the-art buildings which make US communities stronger and more viable.
An economic engine
“This particular project generated nearly three quarters of a million dollars for our building trade members,” McGarvey noted.
He said, “Our continued partnership with the energy industry on everything from this project to pipelines and our recently announced safety training courses is critical to our members. The energy industry is an economic engine for the country and our members. We take great pride in giving API a new home.”
Sommers said, “From API’s new headquarters in Washington to energy infrastructure across the nation, the energy industry relies on skilled workers and the building trades unions to keep construction projects safe and on schedule.”
He said, “Together, we ensure that affordable and reliable energy reaches US customers when they need it while providing job opportunities in our communities, which in turn strengthens local and national economies.”
