Category: Managing Your Business

Resource Highlight: MCAA’s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Overview

Each week, MCAA will highlight one or more of the educational resources that are free to MCAA members as a benefit of membership. This week, we focus on MCAA’s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Overview. The United States Department of Defense has created the new CMMC standard that will soon be required for corporations and entities that want to bid as a contractor, or act as a subcontractor, for DoD projects. This whitepaper is designed to give electrical and mechanical contractor corporate leadership and their IT Directors an overview of the CMMC standard.

Resource Highlight: MCAA’s Revised Management Methods Bulletin on The Next Generation of Data Security

Each week, MCAA will highlight one or more of the educational resources that are free to MCAA members as a benefit of membership. This week, we focus on MCAA’s revised Management Methods Bulletin on The Next Generation of Data Security. This bulletin is intended to provide guidance and insight of current tools and techniques to protect your data and operations.

The revised bulletin includes:

  • Updates to reflect more modern terms or solutions (for example, “Antivirus” is now “Endpoint Detection Response”)
  • Updates recommendations on products as new players have started outclassing a few of the old ones
  • Adds five new sections on the areas of “Digital Rights Management,” “Identity Management,” “Dark Web Monitoring,” “Password Management,” and “Penetration Testing.” All of these are now critical to defense.

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For a full list of available Management Methods Bulletins, visit the Management Methods Bulletins page.

Have Questions or Need Personal Assistance?

Contact MCAA’s Frank Wall.

OSHA Releases COVID-19 ETS Inspection Procedures & Enforcement Policies

OSHA recently released a compliance directive titled Inspection Procedures for the COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard. The directive is a guide for compliance officers implementing inspections and issuing citations involving:

  • Employer COVID-19 Plans;
  • Screening and Management;
  • Standard and Transmission Based Precautions;
  • Personal Protective Equipment;
  • Aerosol-Generating Procedures;
  • Physical Distancing;
  • Cleaning and Disinfecting;
  • Ventilation;
  • Employee Health Screening and Medical Management;
  • Vaccinations;
  • Training;
  • Anti-Retaliation;
  • Requirements at No Cost;
  • Recordkeeping; and
  • Reporting to OSHA.

If OSHA’s new Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) on COVID-19 applies to your company, it may be helpful to understand what the agency’s compliance officers are looking for when they are inspecting affected workplaces, and how they are directed to issue citations for violations of the standard.

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Don’t Miss Coffee with Koontz Episode 5: Today’s MCAA – Get to Know Your New CEO

Episode 5: Today’s MCAA – Get to Know Your New CEO
Friday, June 26 at 2:00 p.m. EDT

2020 has brought about more changes so far than anyone could have reasonably imagined! In the midst of adapting to the pandemic, MCAA welcomed a new leader and since we couldn’t conduct a ‘changing of the guard’ at Convention this year, John Koontz is going to chat with MCAA’s new CEO, Timothy Brink. Join us to learn a little bit about how Tim moved from mechanical contractor to MCA Local Exec to the CEO of MCAA. Tim and John will chat not only about Tim’s industry history, but also about his becoming CEO in this time of uncertainty. Sometimes what happens is out of our control, how we react to what happens, however,  is within our control. Tim and John will explore how COVID-19 has provided the opportunity for industry partners to come together and provide valuable resources for MCAA members and our industry. Things may not be back to normal just yet, but we know our shared future is bright, and we hope you will join us to hear about it!

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Register for Coffee with Koontz Episode 2: This Project Is On Fire!

Episode 2: This Project Is On Fire!
Friday, June 5 at 2:00 p.m. EDT

Have you ever had a nightmare project that just won’t end? Join John as he chats with his old friend from the City of Angels, Shaabini Alford (VP of Southern California Operations, Murray Company) about the practices and pitfalls of “crisis” project management. Tune in to hear Shaabini’s advice and lessons learned about surviving horrible projects, based on her ongoing real-life experience!

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Register for Coffee with Koontz Episode 1: Finding and Keeping Talent, and The Advent of Remote Work

Episode 1: Finding and Keeping Talent, and The Advent of Remote Work
Friday, May 29 at 2:00 p.m. EDT

All the way from beautiful balmy Buffalo NY, Robert Beck (CEO of J.W. Danforth Company) joins the show as our very first guest! Among the many changes brought about by COVID-19 is the normalization of working from home. John and Robert will discuss how this may permanently impact the way we work, how we find and keep our talent, and will explore the idea of adapting to balance remote work with a traditional office environment.

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Register for Coffee with Koontz and guests, Robert Beck and Shaabini Alford

Join host John Koontz on Friday afternoons, as he welcomes a different guest each week to talk about what’s new and interesting in the world of Mechanical Contracting. Sit back and learn how industry leaders are innovating and adapting to challenges, enjoy a laugh or two, and meet members of the MCAA community from all across the country.

Episode 1: Finding and Keeping Talent, and The Advent of Remote Work
Friday, May 29 at 2:00 p.m. EDT

All the way from beautiful balmy Buffalo NY, Robert Beck (CEO of J.W. Danforth Company) joins the show as our very first guest! Among the many changes brought about by COVID-19 is the normalization of working from home. John and Robert will discuss how this may permanently impact the way we work, how we find and keep our talent, and will explore the idea of adapting to balance remote work with a traditional office environment.

Episode 2: This Project Is On Fire!
Friday, June 5 at 2:00 p.m. EDT

Have you ever had a nightmare project that just won’t end? Join John as he chats with his old friend from the City of Angels, Shaabini Alford (VP of Southern California Operations, Murray Company) about the practices and pitfalls of “crisis” project management. Tune in to hear Shaabini’s advice and lessons learned about surviving horrible projects, based on her ongoing real-life experience!

REGISTER TODAY

Pay Forward Your Business-Building Innovation

If a unique management idea helped your company overcome an office or project challenge and improved its bottom line, consider nominating that innovation for the E. Robert Kent Award for Management Innovation. Winning the award brings well-deserved industry accolades and publicity to the nominating company in MCAA and industry publications.

As important, however, the innovation becomes part of our industry’s culture, providing companies that may have been struggling with the same issues and challenges with a way to overcome them.

Last year’s winner was honored for PIPES (Process Information Portal Enabling Success) – developed by The BP Group (Glendale, N.Y.) and ATX Advisory Services. PIPES is an innovative tool that allows a company to easily view the entire workflow of its business while drilling into specific processes to see each step in the flow, the resources involved, the systems used, business policies, systems, procedures and links to forms, reports and other business intelligence used during the course of business.

It is essentially an online “how to” for the business with links into all its operations’ details for employees to use. Built on the foundation of MCAA’s “Planning for Profitability – Step by Step,[link to resource center doc]” PIPES is a template that MCAA members may use to map their business operations. It uses Microsoft® software products, including VISIO, is available in two forms to accommodate all versions of the software and comes with a Users’ Guide to assist with its installation. PIPES is available to MCAA members at no charge as a benefit of membership, so request your copy here..

Nominations for the next E. Robert Kent Award to be presented at MCAA 2017 in San Diego are due to MCAA by October 3. Commercial products are not eligible for this award. Click on the link below for more information and the nomination form.

Information and Nomination Form