Masonry Magazine April 1982 Page. 13
A happy group of diners at MCAA's Annual Banquet consisted of these MCAA past presidents (from left): Eugene George (1978-79), Allen Young (1970-71), Bob Ebeling (1976-77) and Charles Velardo (1974-75). With them are wives Pat George, Louise Young and Florence Ebeling.
The annual outdoor live equipment demonstration that was scheduled to start at 8:30 a.m. However, the rain subsided about an hour before the scheduled starting time and, as the sun began winning its battle to break out into the clear, the Showcase was on-on time!
With the additional help of MCAA and Hyatt Hotel staffers as well as MCAA member volunteers, the damp chairs in the parking area across from the hotel entrance were toweled down and comfortable enough to occupy when the construction equipment rolled into position to show what it could do.
Eight major manufacturers participated in the event, which concluded at approximately 11:00 a.m. The firms included: Champion Hoist: The General, Inc.; Hyster Co.; Koehring Construction Equipment: Loed Corp.; Lull Engineering Co.: Pettibone Corp., and Prime-Mover Co.
Chiefly responsible for staging the program were Tony Luczynski, chairman of the Material Handling Committee, with the assistance of Jerry Dufour, W. C. Dentinger, Jr., and members of the Safety and Material Handling Committees.
It was business as usual that afternoon starting at 2:00 p.m. Two seminars were presented-one on "Masonry Systems" and the other on "Apprenticeship and Training In the 80s."
The Masonry Systems session was conducted by Jim Cope, co-chairman of the MCAA Masonry Systems Committee, and featured a presentation by R. R. "Bob" Simmons, a design/build mason contractor headquartered in Tampa, Fla. Both of their comments centered mainly on the merits of masonry structures vs. metal buildings.
Thank You, BIA and NCMA
The officers and members of MCAA sincerely appreciate your thoughtful gesture in sponsoring and hosting the Industry Reception prior to the MCAA Annual Banquet, Wednesday, February 17, 1982. It was truly an enjoyabe prelude to our Association's chief annual social function. Our gratitude is extended to both of your fine organizations for adding to our evening's enjoyment.
Cope pointed out that the metal building industry now claims to have a 55% share of the market comprised of one- and two-story commercial and industrial buildings of from 5,000 to 150,000 sq. ft. "This is a very significant segment of the non-residential building construction market, which was almost 100% masonry 30 years ago," he said.
"How can the metal building industry be growing while the masonry market is shrinking? I think the answer is that we as an industry really aren't selling our product while there are over 8,000 metal building dealers working to convince potential owners that a metal building is the best solution to their building needs."
Cope quoted a recent Wall Street Journal story that said the metal building industry enjoyed a "surprisingly strong" third quarter in 1981 and no longer projected a sales decline for the year. The Journal said the Metal Building Manufacturers Association expected a sales gain of 11% or more, to more than $1.2 billion.
Cope believes there are essentially two approaches that a mason contractor can take in pursuing the market now controlled by the metal building people-fight them or join them.
Citing a survey conducted by the Wisconsin Concrete Products Association on the metal building industry, Cope said that in Wisconsin alone there is potential for 11.8 million sq. ft. of masonry walls in what are now all-metal buildings. He speculated that this figure was applicable to most regions of the U.S.
"There is a great opportunity for us to sell our product-masonry walls to the metal building dealers," he said. "To do this we must learn their business and equip ourselves to do the selling that is necessary."
Bob Simmons, whose firm, R. R. Simmons Construction Corp., basically builds masonry structures on a turn-key basis, said he is enjoying "great success" outselling metal buildings in the Florida market. He pointed out that in the state of Florida a basic metal building carries the same fire rating as frame construction, with the result that fire insurance premiums cost about 30% more than for a concrete block building. "At 1,200 degrees all structural steel loses its tensile strength and comes down," he said. "Because of this alone, I have been selling concrete masonry buildings without any problems."
He added that in a tropical climate such as Florida's metal buildings produce massive heat radiation and become "as hot as a frying pan," another good reason to build with masonry walls. He echoed Cope's suggestions about