Just Duit: Oklahoma Contractor Named 2023-2024 ARTBA Chair

WASHINGTON – Tim Duit, president, Duit Construction Company, Inc., has been elected 2023-2024 chair of the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA). The announcement was made at ARTBA’s national convention, held Sept. 10-13 in La Jolla, Calif. It marks the first time that an Oklahoman has held the position.

Duit began working for the family business in 1988. In 1994, he started his own company, TTK Construction Co., and in 2017, the firm merged with Duit Construction, and he was named president. Under his leadership, the company has grown into a team of over 800 employees, making it one of the state’s largest heavy highway paving contractors. Its project portfolio includes road, bridge, and underground construction for the federal government, cities, counties, airports, and rail companies.

Duit’s volunteer ARTBA leadership positions include senior vice chair (2023); strategic planning committee member (2023); first vice chair (2020-2022); strategic planning committee co-chair (2020); FAST Act Reauthorization Task Force Committee co-chair (2019); vice chair at-large (2017-2019); president, Contractors Division (2016); and first vice president, Contractors Division (2015). He is a past president of the Association of Oklahoma General Contractors (2008) and a board member (2004-2007).
 
During his acceptance speech in California, Duit outlined key issues on his agenda for the transportation construction industry in the year ahead.
 
ARTBA’s top advocacy priority, he said, was the continued implementation of 2021’s Infrastructure Investment and Job Acts (IIJA) including the FY 2024 federal highway and public transit funding levels, and the law’s policies provisions.
 
Duit said ARTBA will also expand its communications campaign aimed at sharing IIJA project success stories with the public and members of Congress, and rigorously engage the Biden administration on regulatory matters such as Waters of the United States, Buy America requirements, and work zone safety. 
 
At the same time, Duit said the association would begin the process of developing the industry’s policy recommendations for the reauthorization of the IIJA, which is due in 2026.
 
Duit cited one other critical item worthy of additional national attention: the total health and well-being of construction workers. According to the U.S Centers for Disease Control (CDC) & Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics, there were 48,183 suicides in the U.S. during 2021.
 
Construction workers, particularly males, are at an even higher risk for suicide than the average American worker, and this applies at every level– laborers, skilled trades, and management.
 
Based on a CDC report on suicide rates by industry and occupation, there were an estimated 5,200 suicide deaths in construction alone in 2016. Duit says this is “totally unacceptable.”
 
While noting there are no quick or simple fixes, Duit said ARTBA would continue to publicly discuss this serious public health issue and possible solutions.
 
About ARTBA
The American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) brings together all facets of the transportation construction industry to responsibly advocate for infrastructure investment and policy that meet the nation’s need for the safe and efficient movement of people and goods. ARTBA also provides value-added programs and services that create an environment where our members thrive in a competitive world.
 
About Duit Construction Company, Inc.
Duit Construction Company, Inc. was founded by James (“Jim”) Duit in 1969, in Iowa Falls, Iowa. In 1981, the company relocated to Edmond, Oklahoma, and flourished into an organization currently building in almost every facet of heavy highway concrete and asphalt construction. Our projects include road, bridge, and underground construction for the federal government, cities, counties, airports, and rail companies. In addition to construction the company mines sand and gravel, and crushes recycled concrete and asphalt to be used on construction projects.