White House Taps Florida Construction Executive for Trade Committee

Murphy will serve alongside the heads of other companies such as Citigroup, United Airlines, CVS, FedEx and 3M, according to the Feb. 28 release.

Murphy, a Democrat, served in the House of Representatives for the 18th congressional district of Florida from 2013 to 2017, where he was on the House Select Committee on Intelligence and the Financial Services Committee, according to the release. Born in 1983, he was one of the first millennials to serve in the House, according to the release.

His appointment to the council follows the Biden administration’s push to reinvigorate American exports and promote trade policies to support economic growth, according to the release.

“Trade is one of the biggest factors affecting the price and quality of construction across the nation,” said Murphy in a statement shared with Construction Dive. “It’s critical that we work together to come up with policies that make sense to position the construction industry for success".

Many building groups have pushed back on the Biden administration’s onshoring initiative, claiming some materials simply aren’t available domestically at any price and will cause even more construction delays.

Meanwhile, high material prices were recently identified as “the biggest challenge right now for the construction industry,” according to Felice Farber, executive director of the Subcontractors Trade Association, a New York-based association of union subcontractors.

How does the AI work in Togal's takeoff software?

Togal.AI is a complete takeoff tool built by estimators, for estimators. There are three main built-in tools that use AI to help estimators save time and money on takeoffs:

1. The Togal Button
2. AI Image Search
3. Togal.CHAT

Learn More About Our AI Features
image of Togal's application with a floorplan layout screen