Alston & Bird have released their July 20 COVID-19 update, including the latest news on emergency funding, administrative and regulatory actions, workplace and home issues, and many other topics, as well as to links to all their past updates.
MCAA President Brian Helm spoke with Kyle Gargaro for this week’s episode of The NEWSMakers podcast. The two discussed MCAA’s quick response to the COVID-19 pandemic. They talked about what the industry can expect to see for the rest of 2020 and beyond, and the best practices that will help MCAA members succeed.
DeWALT is committed to supporting MCAA members in the fight against COVID-19. They have supplied a COVID-19 Response with tool cleaning guides, safety product listings, service procedures, on-going training, and several featured stories. DeWALT has you covered with informative materials to help us through these rapidly evolving times.
The way DeWALT works is changing, but their commitment to service isn’t. DeWALT is here to support MCAA members through evolving situations, rules, and safety requirements. They have you covered with the informative materials that will guide you through the proper way to clean and sanitize tools on the jobsite. Watch this short tutorial and review the guidelines below for the proper way to sanitize your tools.
The mechanical contracting industry provides many career paths, and that includes the opportunity to work for an MCA local affiliated association. This summer, MCA of Chicago has two interns, Judie Prophete and Ervin Prophete. They are learning about how an association is managed and how the MCA of Chicago provides resources and education to its members.
MCA of Chicago Director of Communications Abby Baughan said, “It’s been great having Judie and Ervin working with us this summer. They’re bright, hard-working and make great additions to our team. When I was in college, I knew very little about association work and mechanical contracting. Like most people, I sort of fell into it. I think it’s great that, as college students, Judie and Ervin are being introduced to this world filled with so much opportunity. I hope this internship opens their eyes to all of the possible career paths that are available to them.”
Judie is an incoming senior at DePaul University, studying accounting and business management.
“As the accounting intern and administrative assistant for the MCA of Chicago, I spend the majority of my time helping our Director of Finance, Susan Rocque, with various tasks and projects. The other part of my time is spent doing administrative work around the office and helping where I am needed. I am learning a lot about accounting and finance, gaining a lot of new experience and learning a lot about what it is like to work in an office setting.”
During her internship, Judie hopes to continue learning more about the professional workplace and about programs and tools that are specific to her field of study. She also hopes to gain more confidence so she is prepared to enter the business world.
“From what I have seen in the month that I have been interning here, there are a lot of aspects of the professional workplace that school cannot prepare you for. The only way to truly learn these things and succeed is to actually be put in those situations and just do the best you can with what you have. I am fortunate enough to be learning those things surrounded by welcoming, forgiving and patient co-workers in a friendly and positive work environment.”
Ervin Prophete is a senior at DePaul University in Chicago, studying public relations and advertising.
Ervin is a marketing intern. His responsibilities include creating and posting graphics on social media, helping Director of Communications Abby Baughan with compiling the weekly emails, scheduling events on the MCA of Chicago Facebook page and updating the MCA website with future events and classes.
Ervin talked about what he hopes to get out of this internship. “I have learned a lot so far in this internship and feel that every day I step in the office is a day I gain more knowledge about the marketing world. I am hoping to just learn as much as I can and become proficient in the tools I have been introduced to in my time here so far. By the end, I would like to be able to use the knowledge I will have gained to do some freelance work while I finish school.”
MCA of Chicago members are also focused on getting talented students into the mechanical contracting industry, even if they do not follow the typical academic path.
Brandon Hubner of Premier Mechanical, Inc., shared his company’s unique insight about hiring the right talent:
“The way the Premier has looked at hiring is that a person’s major focus of study or background is less important than the skills that they bring to the table and how well they can help round out our team and add value with other talents that they have. Construction, and mechanical contracting even more so, is a unique industry and every system we install is different. Rarely are two buildings built identically, or with the same team of general contractors and subcontractors. If systems and teams are rarely the same, then why always hire from within the same field of study? In our experience, we can better tackle unique projects with unique individuals. Given the number of variables there are to construction, we would be passing over a lot of really good candidates if we focused just on construction management and mechanical engineering majors.”
MCAA’s Virtual Trade Show connects our contractor members with the members of MCAA’s Manufacturer/Supplier Council.
Participating companies highlight and link to new products, product lines, services, solutions or web pages of particular interest. Here are just a few of the recent additions:
Anaco-Husky
Follow the Leader, choose Husky SD 4000 Heavy Duty Couplings. Visit our website and check out the new members of the Husky family.
Miller Electric Mfg. Co.
Simplified and optimized for pipe fabrication shop welding, the PipeWorx 400 Welding System’s streamlined set-up with one touch welding, quick process changeover, and Pulsed and Modified Short-Arc MIG processes, makes training and turn-around times faster than ever before.
Find many more smart solutions in MCAA’s Virtual Trade Show!
Visit the Smart Solutions Case Studies area of our website to learn how other mechanical contractors found their win-win with cost-saving and productivity-enhancing applications from members of MCAA’s Manufacturer/Supplier Council.
This section of our website also includes tips and ideas to help your company save money and enhance your productivity. Don’t miss it!
Alston & Bird have released their July 13 COVID-19 update, including the latest news on emergency funding, administrative and regulatory actions, workplace and home issues, and many other topics, as well as to links to all their past updates.
In March, as a majority of the country slowed down, the MCAA Government Affairs Committee continued to work tirelessly meeting with countless Congressional and Senate office’s remotely to push our agenda forward. The committee has been working on COVID-19 cost increases on Federal projects, change orders in the NDAA, pension issues, and the PBGC just to mention a few.
What has helped the committee through this period has been PAC donations. The reality we face during today’s political time is the need for donations. MCAA’s PAC fund has been hit hard as many political fundraisers have been cancelled and political leaders have requested help.
Today, we ask for your help.
I, Jim Gaffney, am making a donation to the MCAA PAC fund, and have asked the M&SCA of Eastern PA to match my donation. If each association and member contractor could make a donation to the PAC we can continue to fight for the political needs of our association. I know times are hard for many, but please realize the organizations against our issues are not letting up and many have deep pockets. For those who have and continue to support the PAC, I want to personally thank you for your help. The PAC makes a difference for all of us and our industry.
MCAA’s 2020 advocacy efforts need your help. Donate to the MCAA PAC, a critical factor to our success in moving forward legislation that positively affects your business.
(Note: In order to comply with campaign finance laws, you will need to complete a solicitation authorization form before making a contribution. Find additional details and both the solicitation authorization and contribution forms via the button below.)
Alston & Bird have released their July 6 COVID-19 update, including the latest news on emergency funding, administrative and regulatory actions, workplace and home issues, and many other topics, as well as to links to all their past updates.
New PPP Bill Passed by House and Senate: The Bill that was introduced and passed by the Senate on Tuesday, June 30 has now been passed by the House and is headed to the President’s desk for signature. This Bill extends the application deadline for the PPP an additional 5 weeks (recall that the deadline was June 30, 2020 and they still had about $130 billion in available funds). It is unclear how valuable this additional time will be since most businesses that wanted funds have already received them.
New Stimulus Package in the Works: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told a House panel that the administration would support a new stimulus package if it was put forward. He also indicated that he is in discussions with the Senate about revising the PPP to provide additional support to hard hit industries such as restaurants, hotels, etc. We are not sure yet how the P4 Bill that was passed by the House (which allows businesses to obtain a second PPP loan under certain circumstances) will fare if the Senate decides to take it up, but there appears to be bipartisan support to find a solution.
Reminder Section: (what should I be doing):
New PPP Bill Introduced in the Senate: On Tuesday, June 30th, the Senate passed a bill which extends the application deadline for the PPP an additional 5 weeks (recall that the deadline was June 30th and they still had about $130 billion in available funds). The bill still needs to go through the House and would need to be signed by the President to be passed into law. It is unclear how valuable this additional time will be as most believe that those businesses who wanted funds have already received them.
When Will Banks Accept Applications?: Many have inquired regarding when they can apply for forgiveness and when banks will accept applications. Withum has heard that one bank has reached out to its clients to inform them that if they received their PPP loan in April, the bank will accept a forgiveness application in August. If the loan was received after April, the date the bank will accept the application is TBD. This is of course just one bank, but they have generally seen that banks are not in a position to accept applications currently and few have been explicit in how they will manage the process. They also have not seen any mechanism for a borrower to “declare” that they want to keep their eight-week covered period if they want to. At this point, borrowers will just have to be patient, they do not believe that there are any proactive steps required on the borrowers side right now other than being in consistent contact with their lender on the process.
Status of the P4 Bill: The P4 bill that was introduced by the House two weeks ago has not moved since it first came into play. This bill would allow certain borrowers to obtain a second PPP loan if they meet certain criteria (less than 100 employees, 50%+ reduction in revenue). There is not much information on the probability of this passing or how it will interplay with the PPP extension bill noted above.
Main Street Lending Programs: Withum reported on the general parameters of the MSLPs previously, at this point the program is still not available to the public. Anecdotally there have been mixed reviews from banks, many of which have indicated that they do not intend to participate in the program.
New FAQs: It has been rumored for several weeks that a multitude of new FAQs are coming out in the near future to cover current open questions and to provide clarification. Withum believes this is correct but do not have insight as to when they are coming, it could be as soon as this week.
Reminder Section: (what should I be doing):
The IRS has released Notice 2020-50, which offers added guidance and relief for retirement plan participants taking pandemic-related distributions and loans under the CARES Act. Notice 2020-50 expands the definition of qualified individuals under the Act and provides guidance regarding coronavirus-related distributions and loans. Lindabury, McCormick, Estabrook & Cooper, P.C. have prepared a summary outlining the details, including the criteria for eligibility.
Alston & Bird have released their June 29 COVID-19 update, including the latest news on emergency funding, administrative and regulatory actions, workplace and home issues, and many other topics, as well as to links to all their past updates.
Arden Building Companies, an MCAA member, announced recently that Paul Battaglia has joined the executive team as President of Corporate Mechanical of New England in Woburn, MA. “Paul brings strength, leadership, and passion for the industry to this role,” said Robert M. Bolton, Chief Executive Officer of Arden Building Companies. “His wealth of experience and deep knowledge of the Boston market will prove invaluable to the Arden Building Companies and Corporate Mechanical of New England team as we begin the next chapter of growing our Boston operations.”
Paul brings over fifteen years of industry and leadership experience in the Boston market to the role.
He is also a member of MCAA’s Project Managers Education Committee, the group responsible for facilitating and executing MCAA’s Institute for Project Management (IPM) and Advanced Institute for Project Management (AIPM).
MCAA member Bassett Mechanical recently announced four strategic promotions on its executive leadership team. Kim Bassett, President & CEO, said, “These executive advancements are not only well deserved, but also the next step in creating a strong future for our business and our customers who trust us to provide customized solutions for their unique needs.”
Jerod has been serving in a dual role as both Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Chief Operating Officer (COO) throughout the past year. He has been engaged with Bassett Mechanical’s HVAC, Plumbing, and Industrial Refrigeration teams and has gained advanced knowledge about the industry. Prior to joining Bassett Mechanical, Jerod worked in a variety of financial roles within Oshkosh Corporation’s Defense Segment, allowing him to bring broad experiences and skillsets to his roles at Bassett. His new role of full-time COO will allow him to make an even greater impact on the company’s sales and operations.
Craig joined Bassett Mechanical one year ago as the Senior Director of Finance. He came to the company with a background in construction and quickly expanded his role, providing valuable insights to his team and the company’s overall initiatives. In his role as CFO, Craig will be responsible for directing the financial management of the company including strategy development, budgeting, forecasting, reporting and analysis, treasury, tax, and risk management. He will also oversee the company’s procurement and IT teams.
Lee has been with Bassett Mechanical for 15 years, most recently serving as Senior Director of HVAC & Plumbing Solutions. With more than 20 years of business development and operational leadership experience, Lee has excelled in a number of roles including General Manager and Director of Operations. He has become a vital leader in all aspects of the HVAC and Plumbing segment from controls and engineering to field execution. As Vice President of HVAC & Plumbing Solutions, his role will include management of the HVAC & Plumbing segment with a focus on providing industry-leading solutions for customers’ unique needs.
Wade has held numerous business development roles within Bassett Mechanical over his 14-year career including: sales professional, sales manager, and most recently Senior Director of Business Development. He has earned several awards and obtained numerous sales training certificates through industry networks. As Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Wade will oversee new sales growth opportunities including strategic account management of the HVAC, Plumbing, and Industrial Refrigeration customer base, and lead new strategic initiatives to ensure Bassett Mechanical continues to carry out its vision of Creating Customers for Life™.
“My goal is to make sure our company is providing individualized, safe, full-service solutions for our customers,” Kim states. “That means surrounding our company with great leaders who care as much about our associates and our customers as I do. These are leaders who want to ensure our customers get the best solution and best experience with us. I want to thank Jerod, Craig, Lee, and Wade for their continued drive and passion for making our company the best it can be.”
New Safe Harbor from the FTE Reduction Rule: In the latest IFR, the SBA discussed the new safe harbors to the FTE reduction rule in a manner that appears to be very borrower friendly. As you know, PPP loan forgiveness is reduced if you reduce your FTE count during your covered period (when compared to your reference period). The second of the two new safe harbors allows companies to ignore any FTE reductions after February 15, 2020 if they relate to an “inability to return to the same level of business activity” before February 15, 2020 as a result of guidance issued by a variety of agencies (including state and local government) that inhibits such business activity. Examples are closing non-essential businesses and reductions in businesses volume due to social distancing or sanitation guidelines, but the safe harbor can apply to a much broader set of circumstances.
Withum has included below both an excerpt from the IFR as well as an example provided in the IFR. This safe harbor does not require the business interruption to cover the entire covered period, meaning that borrowers just need to establish that a disruption occurred for some meaningful period of time during the covered period. It also does not narrowly define a disruption, allowing borrowers to potentially rely on a broad variety of different “disruptions” caused by the requirements established by these agencies. Therefore Withum believes this new safe harbor has broad applicability, including in the auto, restaurant and hospitality industries, for example, as well as in a variety of professional service industries like law and medicine.
Withum believes the safe harbor is extremely broad, and unless it is pared back by the SBA, a large number of borrowers should be able to avail themselves of it. If you have an FTE reduction during your covered period, Withum recommends that you closely review this safe harbor from the PPP Flexibility Act, as interpreted by the new IFR, to see if you can fall within it. The forgiveness application requires that you maintain documentation of the business disruption that took place and what requirement or guidance created it.
Excerpt from IFR:
Borrowers are also exempted from the loan forgiveness reduction arising from a reduction in the number of FTE employees during the covered period if the borrower is able to document in good faith an inability to return to the same level of business activity as the borrower was operating at before February 15, 2020, due to compliance with requirements established or guidance issued between March 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020 by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), or the Occupational Safety and Health Administration related to the maintenance of standards for sanitation, social distancing, or any other worker or customer safety requirement related to COVID-19 (COVID Requirements or Guidance).
The Administrator, in consultation with the Secretary, is interpreting the above statutory exemption to include both direct and indirect compliance with COVID Requirements or Guidance, because a significant amount of the reduction in business activity stemming from COVID Requirements or Guidance is the result of state and local government shutdown orders that are based in part on guidance from the three federal agencies.
Example provided in the IFR:
A PPP borrower is in the business of selling beauty products both online and at its physical store. During the covered period, the local government where the borrower’s store is located orders all non-essential businesses, including the borrower’s business, to shut down their stores, based in part on COVID-19 guidance issued by the CDC in March 2020. Because the borrower’s business activity during the covered period was reduced compared to its activity before February 15, 2020 due to compliance with COVID Requirements or Guidance, the borrower satisfies the Flexibility Act’s exemption and will not have its forgiveness amount reduced because of a reduction in FTEs during the covered period, if the borrower in good faith maintains records regarding the reduction in business activity and the local government’s shutdown orders that reference a COVID Requirement or Guidance as described above.
Reminder Section: (what should I be doing):
Alston & Bird have released their June 25 COVID-19 update, including the latest news on emergency funding, administrative and regulatory actions, workplace and home issues, and many other topics, as well as to links to all their past updates.
Masen Dinklage, a member of the MCAA Student Chapter at the University of Nebraska, is spending his third consecutive summer as a Project Management intern with The Waldinger Corporation. Through a variety of activities, he is gaining industry knowledge and building relationships that will help him succeed in his great future.
During his internship, Masen is learning about the process of submittals, RFIs, purchasing, commissioning and scheduling. “I have learned a lot about what goes on behind the scenes over the course of a construction project,” he said.
“I have learned during my internship that it is important to develop relationships with co-workers, vendors and contractors,” he said, adding “These relationships can help build technical knowledge, create a more open means of communication and provide an overall better environment for work.”
Masen, a Mechanical Engineering major, plans to graduate in December 2021. He has been a member of his MCAA Student Chapter, which is sponsored by the MCA of Omaha, Inc., since January 2018.
“The MCA-Omaha student chapter has provided excellent resources to help me grow and cultivate my leadership, communication and organization skills. The chapter has helped me develop valuable relationships with industry professionals, some of such relationships helping me earn my internship.”
Masen is building on those relationships by serving as this year’s fundraising chair for the MCA of Omaha, Inc. Wine Tasting Event, which is scheduled for November. His role involves collaborating with the MCA of Omaha, Inc. team to coordinate the event.
“I look forward to building a career in this industry and am excited to build relationships and also my technical knowledge in mechanical systems,” he said.
Find student chapter members like Masen by visiting MCAAGreatFutures.org, where members have access to student profiles and resumes. The profiles are searchable by university, desired location, and even a specific skill set, like BIM or AutoCAD. A keyword filter allows users to zero in on students who fit the bill.
The Critical Path Method (CPM) schedule is an essential management tool for all construction team members when it comes to completing an on-time and financially successful project. In this webinar, John Koontz discusses how, even in the absence of receiving access to the master schedule, a contractor can provide notice and quantify delay impacts, so as not to waive important contractual rights. Providing notice and quantifying delay are just some of the issues that make obtaining the prime contractor’s native CPM scheduling files so important. Is it always easy? Or even possible? Maybe not… but John Koontz discusses best practices for how to get the GC’s CPM schedule, and even what to do if you can’t. As an added bonus, John is joined by the author of MCAA’s 2020 Change Order Productivity Primer, Paul Stynchcomb, to discuss the relationship between the Prime’s CPM Schedule and impact quantification on your end, along with important concepts relating to CPM schedule review.
Additional Resources:
This webinar was previously recorded July 7, 2020
Change to Forgiveness Process: As we all know, the Covered Period was recently changed to be either 8 weeks or 24 weeks, at the borrower’s election if the loan was issued before June 5th. This has opened the door to many companies obtaining full forgiveness of their loan. An issue that has often come up is that many borrowers are able to incur enough expenses to obtain full forgiveness within a period that is longer than 8 weeks but perhaps far shorter than 24 weeks. This has led to the question: Do I need to wait the full 24 weeks before we apply for forgiveness?
Up until now the answer was yes, however the IFR release has clarified that a borrower can apply for forgiveness at any time after or DURING their covered period. This will allow borrowers to get the process rolling and perhaps allow them to wrap up the forgiveness process prior to the end of the year.
Update on Salary and Wage Reduction Rule: The IFR also indicates “If the borrower applies for forgiveness before the end of the covered period and has reduced any employee’s salaries or wages in excess of 25 percent, the borrower must account for the excess salary reduction for the full 8-week or 24-week covered period.”
This is meaningful because it indicates that you will need to account for salary reductions through your full covered period even if you apply for forgiveness early. As an example, if you reduced an employee’s salary in excess of 25% for the first 12 weeks of your covered period, when applying for forgiveness you need to assume that reduction will have been in place for all 24 weeks for purposes of the forgiveness calculation. No guidance was issued about what to do if there are FTE reductions during the covered period.
The new IFR clarified many other points regarding the loan forgiveness process, and all of the salient ones are included in Withum’s 06/20/2020 webinar on loan forgiveness. It will be posted on Withum’s website afterwards.
Reminder Section: (what should I be doing):
