Masonry Magazine February 1986 Page. 31
Mason Contractor News
# Awards Presented by NW Ohio Masonry Institute
Four recent building projects were recipients of 1985 Honor Awards presented by the Masonry Institute of Northwest Ohio in cooperation with the Toledo Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.
continued on page 53
# People & Events
Gladys B. Berchtold, board chairman of Standard Laboratories, Inc., Charleston, W. Va., has been elected to a one-year term as chairman of the ASTM board of directors. ASTM also announced the election of John A. Heslip to a three-year term on its board. Heslip is president of the National Concrete Masonry Association (NCMA). Gary Schoenfeld, previously research and development director of NCMA, has joined Korfil, Inc., Chicopee, Mass., as a sales engineer.
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# ASC/ASA Call for Legislative Solutions to Slow Payment on Federal Construction Projects
Unfair payment practices on federal projects was the subject of testimony submitted recently to a Senate committee by two leading construction trade associations.
The proposals submitted by the Associated Specialty Contractors (ASC) and the American Subcontractors Association (ASA) attempt to tighten a loophole in existing federal law, strengthen existing federal policy, and ensure that government subcontractors are paid in a timely manner.
"We aren't asking that more money be spent and we aren't seeking undue government involvement in free enterprise," said Robert Wilkinson, ASC president. "These carefully conceived proposals simply would help the federal government tighten its own laws and allow it to make certain that previously approved legislation has the intended impact."
The testimony was offered to the Senate Small Business Committee during oversight hearings on the 1982 federal Prompt Payment Act.
The proposals focus on three areas: coverage of construction progress payments by the Prompt Payment Act, retainage, and prompt payment for subcontractors.
The two groups called on Congress to embody into law the federal government's current retainage policy. Wilkinson noted that "in order for the Prompt Payment Act to be truly effective for the construction industry, it must legislatively mandate an end to unnecessary retainage." The current government policy is to withhold retainage only under special circumstances which specifically warrant such extraordinary protective measures.
The ASC/ASA subcontractor prompt payment proposal would require that a contractor on a federal project pay his subcontractors within seven days of his receipt of payment from the federal government or face the same interest penalties the federal government is required to pay under the Prompt Payment Act.
# Gleason Heads Portland Cement Association
John P. Gleason, Jr. has been named president of the Portland Cement Association, Skokie, III., effective February 1, 1986. He succeeds Wiliam J. Young, who will retire the same date.
Since 1977, Gleason has been president and chief executive officer of the Brick Institute of America, Reston, Va. He formerly was a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce responsible for several domestic and international programs, and earlier had been an investment banker with Blyth, Eastman Dillon Inc.
Gleason is a graduate of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, Washington, D.C. He attended the Foreign Service Institute and is a graduate of the Program for Management Development at Harvard University School of Business.
# SPECIAL THANKS
MCAA greatly appreciates the support given to its '86 Educational Conference by the following companies through their monetary contributions. They have made it possible for MCAA to add greatly to its educational services and to provide additional social functions for those attending the Conference.
AA Wire Products Company
Addiment Incorporated
Dur-O-Wal, Inc.
E & R Manufacturing Company, Inc.
Lone Star Industries, Inc.
Morgen Manufacturing Company