Report of the MCAA Workforce Development Committee

Joint Masonry Industry Workforce Development Effort
Representatives from the BSI, BIA, NCMA, and MCAA's staff and members met on February 7th in Chicago to discuss working together for workforce development issues. The group drafted the following mission statement to direct their efforts: Develop National Initiatives to support, promote and cultivate local masonry recruiting and training. The group agrees that there is much to be done in the realm of Workforce Development, and there are a lot of opportunities to work together as a united industry.

At the meeting, Bill Kjorlien was representing BIA, but as an independent consultant, he volunteered to prepare a proposal to become the National Director of Masonry Education to facilitate this united initiative. The group representatives agreed to meet on March 30th from 10am to noon, in Las Vegas, at the Las Vegas Convention Center, to review Bill's proposal. There is more news to come on this exciting step toward industry partnership and workforce development.

Skills Contests
The Fastest Trowel on the Block and International Masonry Skills Challenge are once again highlight events at this year's Masonry Showcase. The planning, promotion, and production of these events continue to improve thanks to the participation by the Workforce Development Committee members and the contest sponsors.

The MCAA is grateful to Quikrete for their full, sole-sponsorship of the Fastest Trowel contest for a second year. We have increased advertising and promotion (but kept costs low through mostly internet and magazine ads) in hopes of increased participation and attendance. We have 14 contestants registered, and are looking forward to another tight race!

The seventh annual International Masonry Skills Challenge will feature 22 contestants from across the country, all winners of their Regional Skills Challenges. This year we also welcome a contestant from Hawaii- Aloha! The contest is benefiting from a grand total of $31,000 in sponsorship funding - the most to date and $1,000 over budget expectations! Co-sponsors are as follows: Building Stone Institute, CEMEX, Cosella Dorken, EZ Grout, EZ Scaffold, FRACO, Gehl, JLG, Lafarge, MK Diamond, Mortar Net, Non-Stop Scaffolding, and Spec Mix.

Masonry Training Series
In October, the National Masonry Instructors Association donated the time and expertise of five of its members to conduct a curriculum review of the MCAA Masonry Training Series manuals Volumes 1, 2, 3 and Instructor version. Revisions and additions were discussed during a two-day meeting facilitated by Melissa Polivka in Charlotte, North Carolina. Suggested changes will be submitted to the Workforce Development Committee for final approval, and then incorporated into a revised edition of the training series, due for publication and promotion in the summer of 2006. The MCAA received the funds to conduct the program through the sponsorship donations of $1,000 each from Mortar Net and NCMA.

The Spanish translation of the MCAA Masonry Training Series Volume 2 is complete and scheduled for publication, promotion and release in the summer of 2006. The Arizona Masonry Contractors Association and the Masonry Industry Training Association have submitted the files to MCAA. Per agreement between these associations for this translation process, AZMCA and MITA will be receiving 50% of the MCAA's sales of this manual until the organizations are reimbursed for their cost of the translation (disbursed quarterly to each association at 25% each). The total cost was estimated at $4,000, but a final, itemized invoice for the full amount is forthcoming. AZMCA and MITA will continue to buy the English version of Volume 2, and then print and insert the Spanish supplemental pages themselves. Chapters 1 -7 of Volume 3 are completed, and the full book is expected to be complete before the end of this school year.

Masonry Instructors
In July, Mike Adelizzi was invited to attend the annual meeting of the National Masonry Instructors Association as a keynote speaker. While attending the meetings, Mike arranged a partnership with the NMIA which will help their association and ours mutually. The MCAA has donated the time of the Manager of IT (Tim O'Toole) to develop a website for the NMIA, provide complimentary hosting, and linked it to MCAA's website. Visit this page at www.masonryinstructors.com. (Recent updates include a member list, annual meeting registration, membership application, and much more.)

Also, each NMIA instructor received a Career Kit and has been given the opportunity to list their training program on the MCAA Online Career Database. By doing this, we have expanded the scope of the MCAA High School Recruitment Program and Online Database by adding 50 schools.

In return, the NMIA donated the time and travel of five of their members for our Training Series review, as outlined above. The NMIA will be promoting the adoption of the Masonry Training Series to all NMIA instructor members based on the positive feedback and critique by these leading instructors.

The MCAA Instructor Members Subcommittee will have their annual meeting in Las Vegas on Wednesday, March 29th to provide feedback to our Workforce Development Initiatives. These members have been working with Melissa throughout the year for resources, and helped to construct the feature article in the February issue of Masonry magazine: the Training Report Card. This article highlighted 18 apprenticeship programs from across the nation, and our Instructor members submitted summaries and photos of their own classrooms. The purpose of this feature was to draw attention to the variety of masonry education programs available throughout the nation and demonstrate the quality workforce our industry is training.

High School Recruitment Campaign
This informational campaign to our nation's high schools continues, despite the lack of funding and support from industry affiliates. 500 schools remain to be sponsored (thus enrolled). Sponsorship funding has been nil this fiscal year, due to lack of staff resources for promoting the program.

The third stage of this program was promoted this year: establishing vocational masonry programs in schools. We received only one request, from a high school in Francesville, Indiana. Melissa worked with the guidance counselor, school board and Indiana Department of Education to attempt to get this program launched. The school has interested students and an open classroom, but no instructor. We have contacted many contractors in the area and worked with the Indiana Department of Education, but no instructor has been identified. The guidance counselor is very interested in partnering with the MCAA, and we will continue pursuing this program for the 2007 school year. As a goodwill gesture, Melissa visited this school for their masonry career day, which was attended by union Business Agents from other Indiana counties. Melissa will use these contacts to try to identify an instructor. She will also continue to promote this option to other schools.

Communication with the counselors enrolled in the Campaign continues quarterly. Newsletters are sent via fax or email to these 1,000 educators. The last one was sent in January. This communication always leads to an increase in career day requests. So far this year, 54 Career Day visits have been requested from schools nationwide. Of these, 8 have been unattended due to no one's availability. The Workforce Development Committee plans to develop career day materials to make it more attractive for volunteers to participate.

The next step in the Campaign (fourth and final) will be encouraging, promoting and facilitating masonry-oriented community events. We will be working with SkillsUSA and Habitat for Humanity to gain participation.

Skills USA
The MCAA participated in the 2005 SkillsUSA Championships in Kansas City in June. Mike Adelizzi attended the Masonry contest on behalf of the association, where over 50 students competed for top honors. We will continue our support and participation in the Masonry Technical Committee, and have submitted our annual dues for 2006.

Foreman Development Course
Two Masonry Foreman Development Courses were conducted this fiscal year: Phoenix, Arizona in January and at Masonry Showcase in March. The Phoenix course was mishandled, and the 20 videos that supplement the course instruction and mirror the instruction manual, were not sent on time. The course instructor did a terrific job of "winging it" for the first day, and the videos arrived in time for the second day of class. Feedback from the students was glowing, despite this problem. Based on this problem, we have had the videos transferred to DVD and given the instructor a set to travel with.

The course at Masonry Showcase has 23 attendees ($13,500 in registration fees), but has fallen short of budget income expectations ($18,000). At least two courses are budgeted for 2006-2007. To increase our ability to conduct multiple courses throughout the year, Train-the-Trainer courses will be scheduled throughout the country.