Masonry Magazine March 2001 Page. 46
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE/continued from page 6
Providing the training for our future masons is not enough. We must continue to provide the needed training for our industry's future supervisory personnel as well. That needed training continues to come in the form of our two-day Foreman Development course which is being conducted once again here at our annual conference. Estimating is another vital aspect of our businesses and our new Masonry Estimating course and manual will provide critical training for our membership offering masonry programs throughout the U.S.
Leadership In Education
As contractors we know that our own continuing education to become more successful as business leaders never ends. Your association has also had a very successful year in providing quality education for our nation's contractors. One of the most exciting developments this past year is the expansion of your Masonry Magazine to a monthly publication. Not only have we been successful in launching a monthly magazine, but the quality of each issue's features has dramatically improved. In fact, we have added new features such as the Contractor to Contractor and the Making the Grade features which highlights our industry's best. A valuable resource for our industry contractors is the MCAA Resource Catalog which lists over 100 publications geared toward providing contractors with the most comprehensive resources available for managing a successful masonry business. This past fiscal year, I am proud to report that we sold nearly $200,000 in publications which is nearly doubled from our sales volume from the year before.
Probably one of the most important events for the association is the MASONRY SHOWCASE and the educational opportunities it offers. In fact, this year, we have expanded our educational offering from eight to twenty and we have specialized those sessions in four areas of concentration: safety, technical, business development and a new section in residential. No other show offers contractors such a concentrated list of masonry specific topics. Add that to the nearly 40,000 square feet of exhibits and your MASONRY SHOWCASE has now become the event for mason contractors to attend.
Leadership In Masonry Marketing
I am proud of the continued expansion that your association has exhibited in the area of masonry promotion. It's very difficult to understand why the MCAA has expanded its role in promoting masonry in light of the continued robust construction economy. Even with the extent of the investment from our brick and block manufacturers, I am asked why the MCAA would promote the use of masonry. But I believe that no one is in as strong a position to promote the entire use of masonry systems as the MCAA. For this reason, our association must become more involved with promoting masonry and educating our customers to the benefits of masonry. Customer focus groups have told the MCAA that the masonry industry is too splintered with too many sources of information. The MCAA can and must become a single unifying force for promoting our industry. We must continue to become the leader in promoting masonry. One event that I am most pleased with is our Architect's Masonry Symposium. Last year we had nearly forty architects from around the country attend the three-day symposium immersing themselves in learning about masonry. What customers have told us is that they do not have the same knowledge of our systems versus competitive sytems. Our Architect's Masonry Symposium is an effective answer to providing our customers with the knowledge and comfort level to design more with masonry.
One of the vital aspects of the Symposium is the hands on aspect of learning about masonry that the architects receive when they help our industry's best apprentices build the Habitat for Humanity home here in Orlando. What better way for our industry's customers to gain a greater appreciation for our craft than to put a trowel in their hands and actually lay masonry units in the wall of such a worth while cause as providing a home for a less fortunate family.
In addition to the Architect Symposium, the MCAA once again had an exhibit at the Construction Specifications Institute Exposition where 3,000 construction specifiers attended the show. Once again, our booth provided hands on demonstrations for the customers who stopped by our booth and I am proud to report that your association's booth was once again one of the most popular booths at the CSI Exposition. I would like to take this time to thank Brad Proctor of Wasco who allowed one of his key employees, Mr. Steven Fechino, to attend the CSI show and work our booth with us. Steven provided the hands-on instruction to everyone who stopped in our booth and from what I heard he did a great job. The MCAA once again was a principle partner and supporter of the Masonry Industry Council which serves as a unifying force in the industry. The MIC is comprised of the major industry associations and collectively, it is beginning to focus the industry to address key problems that we all share. One of MIC's programs that the MCAA supports is the Federal Officials Program where government employees who are responsible for federal construction attend a day long series of workshops so they can have a better understanding of our system. Conducting seminars alone is not enough to reach all of the people that need the resources available from the MCAA. For that reason, we have invested a great deal of resources to expand our web-site. If you haven't already done so, I would encourage all of you to travel to our site and explore all the information we now have available on the internet. We now have all of our resources available for purchase on the web site. We have begun archiving Masonry Magazine features from past editions on the site. You will be able to find information on careers, training information, and programs at future Masonry Showcases. Our members can also be found on our web-site. We believe that your association has one of the most interactive sites on the internet.
Leadership In Codes & Standards
Fewer things can impact our industry faster than codes & standards. For decades, we have relied on the volunteer support of fellow members to attend codes & standards meetings to represent the interests of our members. While it was somewhat effective and we are grateful to those members who have served our association's interests, I am proud to report that we have added a new full time staff position to represent our interests in the future. I hope you will all have a chance to meet our new Director of Engineering, Mr. Rashod Johnson during the next few days. In a very short time, he has already begun to have an impact. However, he can't do it alone. I urge our members to continue to become active on industry code and standards committee.
We remain involved in our continued support to the Council for Masonry Research which conducts valuable market oriented masonry research. Since our first involvement with the CMR, they have invested nearly $750,000 in important research to expand the use of our products. As an association, we will continue to build MCAA's influence in masonry codes and standards development.
Leadership In The Future
During my first year as President of the MCAA, I've heard time and time again that we must work at developing our partnership especially with our industry's suppliers. I believe that we have worked at our partnership. The Masonry Industry Council, which the MCAA forged, is a direct result of our foresight toward unifying the industry. But no matter how good we are, we must recognize that we cannot do it alone.
Our association has come a long way over the last several years stepping forward to provide the leadership that is so lacking in the industry. But as good as we believe that we are at leading, what good is providing leadership if everyone refuses to be led. There is no doubt