In this WCRI member spotlight, we interviewed Marc Poulos, executive director of the Indiana, Illinois, Iowa Foundation for Fair Contracting (IIIFFC). The III FFC is a nonprofit construction industry foundation, established to increase market share for responsible contractors, work opportunities for skilled workers, and value for taxpayers by executing a comprehensive program of procurement oversight, jobsite monitoring, market analysis, legal advocacy, and public policy education. The III FFC is a long-time labor member of the Institute, and Marc has served on the WCRI Illinois Advisory Committee, which reviews draft CompScope™ reports, for many years. Click here to watch this video interview or read the transcript below. 

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Andrew Kenneally: Hello everybody and welcome to today's member Spotlight. Today we're talking to our friend Marc Poulos. Marc is a long-time member of the Institute. He's Executive Director of the Indiana, Illinois, Iowa Foundation for Fair Contracting. He's based out of Chicago, Illinois, and he's been his position since 2016. Marc, welcome to today's member spotlight. And I, if you could just tell the folks about III FFC.

Marc Poulos: Hey, thanks for having me, Andrew, really appreciate the opportunity to represent WCRI as you said. I've a long-standing memory member on your advisory board. And I have appreciated that relationship. Yeah, I've been with III FFC since 2016 really started there as their associate general counsel back in 2003, and then started as their director in 2016. And been doing work with them for nearly 20 years. III FFC we're the labor management group of the operating engineers, local 150, which is the heavy equipment operators union out of Chicago, Illinois. I think they're now the second largest operating engineer local in the country, they represent about 23,000 members over there, they went from about 8,000 members in 1986, and have grown exponentially in 2023, to a little over 23,000 members. So we represent the interests of both the 23,000 members, as well as the 1000s of contractors, that they have signatory to collective bargaining agreements. So as you can imagine, when it comes to workers' compensation, you know, labor management, that perspective, I think is important, right, looking at what it takes to protect individuals and workers compensation systems, and at the same time keeping it, you know, affordable, and a good system for employers as well.

Andrew Kenneally: Fantastic. Well, Marc, as you know, we ask four questions in our member spotlight so the first one I'd ask is, how did you first learn about WCRI?

Marc Poulos: Yeah, so that was, that was a little over a decade ago, Illinois had embarked, well, I should say Illinois was in a problem state with workers compensation, I mean, every conversation that you got in from labor and management, really centered around workers compensation, rising costs, you know, frequency of injuries, duration of injuries, lack of individuals around the state that could treat individuals, the list went on. So I had learned about WCRI during our omnibus workers comp revamp a little more than a decade ago, and, and really used the kind of sort of dynamic up to date analysis of, you know, workers compensation systems around the Midwest and use that as one of the basis to negotiate some of the workers comp reforms that were done in Illinois a little more than a decade ago.

Andrew Kenneally: Great. And so since joining WCRI, what is the value that you that you get from being a member?

Marc Poulos: Yeah, well, well, first of all, you get kind of sort of the firsthand look at the CompScope, and you get the firsthand look and actually get to make, you know, some it's some of the comments on some of the some of the work that's done through WRI but, you know, more than anything, it's just the analysis that's done, right. It's the analysis is looking at the trends. It's looking at other jurisdictions, it's looking at, you know, whether you've got a fee schedule or not a fee schedule, how is that stacking up as it relates to other jurisdictions, looking at frequencies, looking at types of injuries, you know, which is extremely important when it comes to building trades. I mean, you know, there, it is a, you know, construction industry is a, unfortunately, you know, high risk industry, and workers compensation does play a role in a lot of those daily activities of those individuals. So, yeah, I mean, in terms of the value add, it's, it's really looking at that comparative analysis, and then being able to use that information to make tweaks to the law, that makes it better for workers, but at the same time makes it fair for the employers.

Andrew Kenneally: And if you have a favorite WCRI study or research area, what would it be for you? You know, I would say it's probably the comparative analysis of states.

Marc Poulos: As I said, as it relates to, you know, cost, frequency, you know, it's interesting, when I, when I first discovered WCRI, you would see all of these charts and graphs, and Illinois would be at one side of the chart and graph. And it was always like, boy, I would love to see us on the other side of the chart and graph and what when I say it was the one side it was not good. Right, you know, State of Illinois had high cost, high frequency, high duration or long duration. You know, it just wasn't in the in the right, right frame for workers comp. And it's interesting that over the years, I always want us to be on the other side, in reality, really where you kind of want to be as in the middle, and throughout, you know, the analysis that WCRI has done and the reforms we've done in Illinois, that's kind of sort of where we've gotten to more in the middle than to the left or right.

Andrew Kenneally: Great, and I think I think you mentioned in an earlier answer that one of your favorites was the CompScope studies and you are a member of the WCRI Illinois Advisory Committee you're one of the members that sits on this committee with a number of other stakeholders, labor, government, employers, insurers, medical practitioners, and help us, you know, vet our research, our CompScope studies, our medical benchmarks and CompScope benchmarks, which are comprehensive reference reports that measure the performance of 17 state workers compensation systems, including Illinois, how they compare with each other and how they have changed over time, I know your feedback on that committee has been tremendously helpful, not only in terms of the perspective of what's going on in the state, but also looking at it. I know one example is when you're talking about all the billions of dollars that's going into infrastructure in Illinois, and also letting us know that, hey, this could be you know, we could see an uptick in claims as a lot of new hires are coming in, and very, very dangerous job is, as you've already mentioned.

Marc Poulos: Yeah, for sure. So I would say two things. One, not only an influx of the state spending, but an influx the federal spending. And then, interestingly enough, are emerging industries to you know, you have in the state of Illinois and really around the country, this, this change in, you know, how we're going to build the electrical grid, for example, right, relying more on renewables, wind farm and solar fields, these are things that are emerging industries of carbon capture, things that require deep well, you know, down a mile into the Earth's surface drilling, things that we haven't really seen in the past. So you know, what happens when you have new emerging industries, while you have new emerging, unfortunate incidences that occur as well. You know, that has a direct effect on you know, individuals and, and frequency and duration and cost to workers' compensation in the like, so, you know, the advisory committee, you know, having such a diverse membership, and, and everybody sharing, I think, quite freely in those meetings and hearing different perspectives, right, from people that are actually treating physicians or people that are actually, you know, from organizations that have, you know, that aren't building trades-related too right, you know, grocery stores or drugstores or, you know, other individuals from other industries. I'm interested to hear their perspectives as well.

Andrew Kenneally: Well said, and our and our last question, Marc, can you describe a moment when WCRI's research was really helpful?

Marc Poulos: Yeah, well, I think I mentioned it before. But you know, we've had not just a decade plus ago, workers comp reform, but throughout the last 10 or 12 years, we've had a couple of different reforms. And really, you know, I do the vast majority of lobbying on behalf of labor and management in the state of Illinois for building trades, and particularly for operating engineers, local 150, and the 1000s of contractors that they have as signatory contractors as well. So when I'm going to Springfield, and lobbying for these efforts, having the knowledge and the dynamic and up to date analysis of how we stack up, it makes it extremely helpful to come with that perspective. And quite honestly, really an expertise in the workers comp role that I really didn't have before I became a member of WCRI.

Andrew Kenneally: Well, Marc, we're glad to have you. So thank you so much for your time today. And thank you for your ongoing support of the Institute as a member as well as a member of one of our advisory committees. So thank you so much, Marc.

Marc Poulos: Appreciate it. Thanks, Andrew.

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