ST. LOUIS – Jeff Aboussie stepped down from the St. Louis Building Trades Council this month to create his own governmental affairs firm and John Stiffler of the Heat and Frost Insulators Local 1 will take over his position.
Aboussie decided to continue the work he’s been doing in government relations. His new company, called Regional Strategies, will launch next year.
“My decision was based upon wanting to do more in the government relations field. I was doing that with the building trades, but I was interested in doing it on my own,” Aboussie said. “We’ll kick off here on the first of the year and do just that and contract lobby for different organizations.”
One of those clients will be the operating engineers, which Aboussie said would be like a homecoming of sorts.
“I think any type of business startup is always difficult. But I do hit the ground running a little bit with having the operating engineers as a client and somebody to represent,” he said. “I’m a 34-year member of the operating engineers organization and worked for my national, as well as my local, as a business agent through the years, kind of getting back to my home turf.”
Aboussie called the decision to leave the organization he led for the last seven years tough.
“It was a very long decision process, only because we got a lot done in seven years and I had the pleasure of working with good friends and good colleagues,” he said. “It was a very difficult decision. But you do what’s best for your future and for your family.”
He also said that he would continue to fight for the things that matter to the building trades council.
“I think change is always good, but I’m not leaving the labor field or labor market or the labor movement,” Aboussie said. “It’s basically, somewhat of a parallel to an industry that I already work in.”
Replacing Aboussie, Stiffler has been the business manager of Heat and Frost Insulators. Aboussie said he’s the right man to take the organization forward.
“John’ll do fine,” he said. “I think John’s a forward-thing labor leader that will definitely take building trades where they need to be for the future.”
