Built To Last® Television

Built To Last TV logo

BUILT TO LAST® is an informative series of half hour specials exploring the skill, training and artistry of trade union members and contractors. The series highlights the projects our members have worked on and the people whose lives they have touched. Built To Last is hosted by television personalities Monica Pedersen, Mark Nilsson, and has been nominated for multiple Emmys for “Outstanding Achievement for Magazine Programming.”

Built To Last® kicks off its ninth season on July 12 airing in nearly every TV market across the Regional Council. Check your local listings or view the image below to see when BTL is airing in your neck of the woods.

Starting with the name itself Built to Last® means enduring quality, and spotlights how skilled labor sets the benchmark for performance training, safety best practices and industry leading productivity, making it the smart choice for creating partnerships. Built To Last will again captivate audiences as it moves across large scale projects and fascinating individuals that collectively exemplify the real-world contributions that organized labor makes toward our communities. The show will also strive to showcase public and private economic developments and partnerships, and a dedication to the building industry.

Built To Last® is a product of the Mid-America Carpenters Regional Councils’ Labor and Management Committee.

“Built To Last® is a success because of the trades and the people involved, their dedication to a skilled labor workforce and the proficiency in a wealth of crafts, the seamless collaboration between union members and union contractors and enticing stories with fascinating people that elicit emotions ranging from compassion and inspiration to intrigue and exultation.”

– Kevin McLaughlin, Executive Secretary–Treasurer, Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council

Built to Last® 3rd Consecutive Emmy Nomination!

Congratulations to Built To Last for its third consecutive Emmy nomination! Built to Last was nominated in the Outstanding Achievement for Magazine Programming – Program/Special/ Series category for Foundation of the Nation. View episode below.

Built to Last looks at the economic impact skilled Union Labor has on our communities’ development. Congratulations!


HISTORY: Carpenters, ABC Television Launch Built to Last®

Built to Last®—a product of the Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council’s Labor and Management Committee. After three successful seasons with Lakeshore Public Television, production of season four is being handled by ABC. Plans for the weekly show included weekend airings across ABC 7 WLS Chicago and ABC 13 KTNV Las Vegas.

Starting with the name itself “built to last” means enduring quality, and season four will highlight how skilled labor is the pinnacle for safety and performance, and how it sets the benchmark for training and productivity and is the smart choice of professional contractors. Season four will move across projects, helping to demonstrate the contributions that organized labor makes toward our communities while showcasing public and private economic developments and partnerships, and a dedication to the building industry.

“Built to Last® Television has helped showcase how industry professionals deftly collaborate to design, create and execute on projects that matter to people within the communities where we live and work,” said former Executive Secretary-Treasurer and President Frank T. Libby of then Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters – A positive force in building communities®. “It has been an educational vehicle for the building and business communities promoting economic infrastructure projects.”


Built to Last® is a product of the Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council’s Labor and Management Committee.


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