Archives: News Items

Resource Highlight: MCAA’s Guidelines to Using Social Media in Your Business

Social media allows people to communicate with one another like never before, creating new opportunities for businesses to reach their target audiences. MCAA’s Guidelines to Using Social Media in Your Business offers advice and insight to help your business establish or benchmark social media and manage its social media presence. It’s just one of MCAA’s educational resources that are free to MCAA members as a benefit of membership.

The bulletin covers:

  • Social media platforms
  • What to do with social media
  • Engagement
  • How to make your business easy to find
  • Creating your social media team
  • Social media as an employment tool
  • Social media policies for employees
DOWNLOAD

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.

Internship Guide: New 4-in-1 Resource

The MCAA Career Development Committee has created a new tool for members looking to start or improve their internship program, but might not know where to start.  These four short documents are intended to be stand-alone resources, but can be combined into a more comprehensive Internship Guide. 

Internship Best Practices
• How to attract interns, tips for setting them up for success and how to prepare for day 1 (employer side)

Industry Orientation Day
• Follows a successful program on what to do with new interns (local association side)

Hot Sauce Guide
• Task list that meets interns where they are in skill level vs their year in school

Hire Me October
• Highlights from four unique programs, plus additional MCAA internship resources to explore

View Internship Guide Resources

Already hired your intern?  Don’t forget to submit an Internship Grant. 

MCAA wants to hear about ALL of your mechanical contracting interns and revised the previous application process for 2023 to ensure program success is being rewarded and celebrated.

Part 1: MCAA members with one intern are eligible for a $1,000 grant. Companies with two or more interns may receive a $2,000 grant. One form should be filled out for each intern.  

Internship Grant Form – Part 1

Part 2: For companies successfully converting an intern (from their part 1 list) to a full-time new hire, a $500 gift card will be mailed to the company to present to their new hire. These new hire conversations are now unlimited, but the name of the new hire must be included on a part 1 list from an MCAA member company to be eligible. 

Internship to New Hire – Part 2

Applications will continue to be accepted on a rolling basis and may be submitted once per calendar year, per intern.  Please note that Part 2 applications may not be submitted until after the new hire’s full-time start date.

2024 MEP Innovation Conference: Call for Proposals 

Add your voice to 2024 MEP Innovation Conference and submit your education sessions today for the January 29-31, 2024 event in Orlando, FL. Built by MCAA, NECA, and SMACNA, the MEP Innovation Conference joins thought leaders across the electrical, mechanical and sheet metal trades to improve MEP contractors’ profitability and productivity.

Innovation has become a key component across all trades. Act soon to be a part of this pivotal event that engages attendees in innovative presentations, collective roundtable discussions and hands-on exhibitor demonstrations.

The deadline for proposals is Saturday, June 29, 2023. Proposals must be submitted using the link below.

SUBMIT PROPOSAL

Congratulations to Ali Ritvo, Recipient of the 2023 Josam Endowed Scholarship

Congratulations to Alison Ritvo, the recipient of the Josam Endowed Scholarship. Josam Company established this annual scholarship for a sophomore in an MCAA Student Chapter, pursuing a degree in construction management, mechanical engineering or a similar field. Provided that all qualifications are met each year, the yearly recipient will continue to receive the scholarship during their sophomore, junior and senior years of college.

Alison is studying construction management at Kent State University and intends to graduate in December 2024. This summer she will be working at Southland Industries as a Mechanical Project Engineer Intern.

“When I first joined my school’s MCAA Student Chapter, I had little knowledge of what the mechanical area of construction entailed. After this year, I realized that mechanical is everything. It is part of every building and really is the heart of every project. Mechanical construction is doing great with mitigating risk and saving waste by doing prefabrication and using BIM technologies. Sustainability is important to me because I am a LEED Green Associate and I plan on getting my LEEP AP as well. I love how sustainable mechanical contracting can be and I am extremely excited to work for my first mechanical company this summer.

Five years after graduation, I anticipate working in a leadership position in the construction industry. I want to continue to grow my skills every day and with new experiences and projects that I am working on. I hope to build not only buildings, but connections with people. I would like to continue to be a part of organizations that help me build my network and knowledge base like MCAA and NAWIC. I see myself working at a company whose values align with mine and allow me the opportunity to have a mentor and/or I can mentor others.”

MCAA and the John R. Gentille Foundation congratulate Alison on this prestigious scholarship and thank Josam Company for their commitment to supporting students interested in pursuing a career in the mechanical contracting industry.

2024 Safety & Health Conference: Call for Proposals 

Calling all Safety Professionals. Have you ever wanted to present at a national Safety & Health Conference?

Now is your chance to share your knowledge and expertise with hundreds of attendees from all over the country at the 2024 Safety & Health Conference in Tucson, AZ, January 16-18, 2024.

Submissions are due July 14th, 2023. Proposals must be submitted using the link below.

Please email raffi@mcaa.org for any questions about presenting.

SUBMIT PROPOSAL

Find the Latest from SLOAN and Delta Cooling Towers, Inc. in MCAA’s Virtual Trade Show

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:

SLOAN
As more businesses strive to reduce their environmental impact, they are partnering with companies that can provide carbon-neutral products. Sloan offers hundreds of products that are carbon neutral. Learn more about this certification.

Learn More
Delta Cooling Towers - TM Series

Delta Cooling Towers, Inc.
TM Series – capacity from 250 to 2000 cooling tons – Engineered plastic tower provides longer life – Low Maintenance – CTI Certified.

Learn More

Need Something Else?

Find many more smart solutions in MCAA’s Virtual Trade Show!

Visit the Virtual Trade Show

Speaking of Smart Solutions

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!

Visit Smart Solutions

FARO Offers Five Tips for Maximizing Profitability With 3D Reality Capture

When processes are not aligned at every stage of a construction project, costly delays and unnecessary expenses are inevitable—and in the worst-case scenario can even result in legal disputes. Communication with stakeholders, the ability to monitor site progress, and the interconnected nature of construction work can all pose challenges to your bottom line. However, when properly implemented, 3D reality capture of a jobsite can help your team collaborate seamlessly and avoid poor process management that could result in lost income, while keeping stakeholders in the loop at any point of the project.

LEARN MORE

Looking for More Smart Solutions?

Visit the Smart Solutions Case Studies area of our website! You’ll see how other mechanical contractors found their win-win with productivity-enhancing and cost-saving applications from members of MCAA’s Manufacturer/Supplier Council.

Plus, you’ll find tips and ideas on other ways you and your company can save money and enhance your productivity.

VISIT SMART SOLUTIONS

Resource Highlight: MCAA’s Vehicle Preventative Maintenance Program

Developing a preventive maintenance plan will save your company, small or large, a considerable amount of time and money over the long run. Vehicle maintenance is a cost of doing business. Unreliable vehicles can have a major impact on the profitability and reputation of the entire operation of a company.

MCAA’s Vehicle Preventative Maintenance Program was created to make developing a vehicle preventative maintenance plan easier and more straightforward than ever before. Implementing the tools and technology available will help save your company time, frustration and money. When developing your fleet maintenance plan, ask yourself these five questions:

  • What should be covered in the preventive maintenance checkup?
  • Who will be responsible for preventive maintenance service?
  • When will the service take place?
  • How can you simplify your record keeping?
  • Where can you find more information?
DOWNLOAD

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.

Celebrate MCAA’s 20 Years of Safety Excellence Each Month of 2023 With a Safety Resource Kit

To celebrate MCAA’s 20 Years of Safety Excellence, MCAA is offering monthly safety kits to benefit our contractors around the country and the mechanical industry workers they support. Each kit will include videos, webinars, trainings, and additional resources on each monthly topic.

June 2023: MSDs/Ergonomic Safety

Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSD) or Ergonomic injuries are more than a buzzword. OSHA approximates that 1 in 3 injuries is an MSD and is costing U.S. workplaces billions of dollars each year. This month we are relaunching our recent video on Musculoskeletal Wellness. This video comes with a pocket guide, documentation sheet, test, and answer key. The kit also includes several microlearning videos and a supervisor video, both collaborations with our partners at CNA Insurance. You can also rewatch our Ergonomics webinar where we partnered with Washington University in St. Louis and CPWR to reduce MSDs in construction.

Worker Safety Training Videos & Accompanying Resources

Musculoskeletal Wellness (Ergonomics)

MCAA/CNA Microlearning Safety Video Series

Safety Training Webinars

Supervisor Safety Training Webinars

DOWNLOAD RESOURCE SUMMARY

Congratulations to Jakob Balgemann, Recipient of the 2023 DEWALT Patriot Scholarship

The DEWALT Patriot Scholarship, now in its second year, was created to recognize two veterans, or those who are currently serving in the United States Military, who have valiantly served their country and have chosen to enter a career in the construction industry. Thank you to DEWALT for honoring our military and to our scholarship recipients for their service to our country. These two special scholarships were presented at the MCAA Awards of Excellence Breakfast in Phoenix on March 29th by Jake Sullivan (U.S. Marine Corp Veteran) and Jon Howland (U.S. Navy Veteran).

Jakob Balgemann served in the United States Marine Corps from 2016 – 2020 where he maintained and operated approximately 20 variations of radio networks across multiple platforms of equipment. He supervised and led teams across multiple deployments for the purpose or rapid response force for embassy reinforcement training and was awarded meritorious promotion for performance during 2 deployments.

Jakob will be graduating in May 2024 with a Bachelor of Science in Construction Engineering from Iowa State University.

“I selected the word Perseverant to describe myself because this describes me as a person, as well as how I choose to live my life. Throughout my childhood and young adult life, I was fortunate to have excellent role models that demonstrated this trait to me and this was reinforced and built upon my life throughout my time in the Marine Corps.

Working for a Mechanical Contractor would appeal to me because of the challenges that are presented as well as always working in an environment that is changing and evolving. Whether it be technology or challenging circumstances to accomplish a task, this draws my attention because of the satisfaction of figuring out a way to accomplish a task and executing the plan in order to make things work correctly.”

MCAA and the John R. Gentille Foundation congratulate Jakob on this prestigious scholarship and thank DEWALT for their commitment to supporting students interested in pursuing a career in the mechanical contracting industry, as well as for recognizing the courageous service of our country’s Veterans.

Find the Latest from Morris Group International and BELIMO Americas in MCAA’s Virtual Trade Show

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:

Morris Group International
The W.D. Manor Dialysis Box by Whitehall offers a safer experience for patient and provider. Its all-in-one unit is quicker to install and less expensive than a traditional system! Get the details!

Learn More

BELIMO Americas
Belimo Energy Valve utilizes advanced analytic technology to leverage captured system data to improve coil and system performance for increased energy savings. Energy savings you can see. #SmallDevicesBigImpact

Learn More

Need Something Else?

Find many more smart solutions in MCAA’s Virtual Trade Show!

Visit the Virtual Trade Show

Speaking of Smart Solutions

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!

Visit Smart Solutions

Engineered Water Heater Solutions Versus Field-Devised Methods: Advice From Reliance Worldwide Corporation

Confidence in your installation and its reliability are important to any contractor, but labor shortages and economic constraints can often make you feel like you have to choose between speed, cost, and quality. Balancing all three can be a challenge, especially when it comes to water heater installations. Water heater supports, in particular, often get cobbled together using leftover jobsite materials or other makeshift methods in hopes that they will keep the unit stable in the long run. While this may be the cheapest solution in the moment, it is not the best choice for your budget or your reputation.

LEARN MORE

Looking for More Smart Solutions?

Visit the Smart Solutions Case Studies area of our website! You’ll see how other mechanical contractors found their win-win with productivity-enhancing and cost-saving applications from members of MCAA’s Manufacturer/Supplier Council.

Plus, you’ll find tips and ideas on other ways you and your company can save money and enhance your productivity.

VISIT SMART SOLUTIONS

School’s Out for Summer! 

Classes are officially finished for the year and student chapter members are on the hunt for new opportunities.  Now is an excellent time to post your Fall ’24 internships (or to catch a few stragglers still for summer employment).

How to Post an Entry-Level Job or Internship

  • Login with an MCAA username and password
  • Click on the job board within the Career Development page
  • Click Manage My Jobs and Add a Job to create your posting
  • Jobs remain active for 1 month to ensure postings stay fresh
  • When the job is set to expire, a reminder will be sent for you to either “mark as filled” or “duplicate” and repost for another month
  • Interested students can view postings and submit their contact information and resume
  • Your office will be notified via email when interested students submit their resume
  • From there, your office is encouraged to continue with your company’s application and interview process
VIEW JOB BOARD

Tell Us About Your MCAA23 Intern & New Hire Successes

Did you successfully hire an intern or full-time new hire in 2023? We’d love to hear about it! Reach out to MCAA’s Michele Hoffman at mhoffman@mcaa.org. 

MCAA’s Field Leaders Conference Instills Confidence in Chicago

MCAA’s Field Leaders Conference (FLC) held May 17-19, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois, saw its largest crowd post pandemic- bringing together nearly 200 field personnel for two and a half days of leadership training and networking. With a packed room, attendees confidently left with a large network of new peers.

“I honestly will never forget this conference experience. The speakers and their messages and the questions asked by my fellow field leaders made a lasting impression on me.” – Chicago, May 2023

“My conference team had a lot of conversations building upon the saying, “when you know better, do better.” This conference has made us all better which we are thankful for.” – Chicago, May 2023

“I am leaving this conference a different person than I arrived- feeling inspired and motivated being surrounded by true field professionals. Thank you to everyone I shared a conversation with.” – Chicago, May 2023

Special thanks to MCA of Chicago for their enthusiasm & support in bringing this conference to town!

There are still two more opportunities for field leaders to attend this conference this year – August 2-4 in San Francisco, CA, and October 11-13 in Des Moines, IA. The United Association’s (UA) International Training Fund (ITF) is offering $5,500 grants for foreman administrators who attend one of the 2023 MCAA Field Leaders Conferences.

LEARN MORE

Congratulations to Macy Deck, Recipient of the 2023 Foster McCarl, Jr. Memorial Scholarship

Macy Deck, a May 2023 graduate who studied Mechanical Engineering at Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville, was awarded the Foster McCarl, Jr. Memorial Scholarship at MCAA23 this past March during the Awards of Excellence Breakfast. This national scholarship honors Foster McCarl, Jr.’s many contributions to advancing the mechanical contracting industry, including his efforts towards establishing what is now known as the John R. Gentille Foundation (JRGF). McCarl’s Inc. is the scholarship sponsor.

Macy co-founded her student chapter, which was officially chartered during the Phoenix convention. Macy previously interned at MCAA Member, Icon Mechanical and their sister company, iENG Design and is excited to start her career there full-time this summer.

“There are so many exciting changes with technology and in the structure of the construction industry that I’m thrilled to be a part of. During my summer internship, a project was assigned to all the interns called the Intern Innovation Project. The purpose of the project was for each intern to find an inconvenience in the company that could be improved upon and then to present it to a panel of judges. At first, I had trouble coming up with ideas and a mentor suggested that I try to standardize certain methods of HVAC designing. Standardizing required gathering senior mechanical engineers to agree on what should be done. At the end of my internship, I was shocked to find out that I had won the Intern Innovation Project award.

My project brought together employees with unique and vast experiences to decide on a common ground. Through this experience, I realized that my strength is promoting collaboration. Construction projects succeed only when people communicate and collaborate effectively to build a building.”

MCAA and the John R. Gentille Foundation congratulate Macy on this prestigious scholarship and thank McCarl’s Inc. for their commitment to supporting students interested in pursuing a career in the mechanical contracting industry.

Find the Latest from Apollo Valves and Jonas Construction Software in MCAA’s Virtual Trade Show

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:

Apollo Valves
Apollo Valves manufactures the best valve and connection technologies in the Industry, providing customers with a Total Piping System. Our goal is to make it an easier and better buying experience by being the only organization to offer a complete line of flow control devices and piping systems solutions. We feature a full range of connections, including push, press, thread, groove, sweat, and crimp to fit your Commercial, Industrial, and Backflow Prevention needs.

Learn More

Jonas Construction Software
JONAS ENTERPRISE CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE – A fully integrated and automated construction management software solution for everyday life.

Learn More

Need Something Else?

Find many more smart solutions in MCAA’s Virtual Trade Show!

Visit the Virtual Trade Show

Speaking of Smart Solutions

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!

Visit Smart Solutions

The Hill Group Earns Top MCAA/CNA Safety Award

The Hill Group was recently recognized as the MCAA/CNA Safety Excellence Awards winner for 2022 in Size Category 5, 1,000,000+ Work Hours. The Hill Group’s robust safety culture represents their commitment to their most important asset – their people.

Safety is the primary goal at The Hill Group, and this requires focused effort from everyone in the organization to achieve. They believe the choices that we as individuals make could very well prevent injuries, or even save a life. That is why The Hill Group has invested their entire leadership in safety, implementing BluePoint emergency response solutions and a customizable mobile app.

The MCAA/CNA Safety Excellence Awards began in the 1990s when MCAA partnered with CNA Insurance. It is a fiercely competitive program in which only the best of the best compete for the awards.

This is one of the most competitive safety awards programs in the country and winners are highly regarded among their peers.

The award focuses on safety and health programs, safety innovations and achievements in safety to reach a high degree of safety and health excellence. Companies are divided into five categories by number of hours worked and winners are selected by a committee of their peers.

Participants are required to describe their safety programs in detail, including how they achieved safety excellence and why they believe they deserve the award. The Safety Awards Selection Taskforce, which is led by CNA, carefully evaluates each submission looking for safety leadership, an advanced safety culture, effective leading indicators of safety performance, and innovative safety initiatives that helped the company achieve an exceptionally high degree of safety excellence.

MCAA and CNA congratulate The Hill Group for achieving such a high degree of safety excellence in 2022.

Pipe Fabrication Institute Standards Help Contractors Meet Demanding Criteria

PFI’s piping Standards are developed and maintained to the current ASME Codes and Industry Standards by the PFI Engineering Committee, a group of engineers, quality inspectors, fabrication software consultants, and flange and fitting manufacturers who meet twice a year. The committee’s unique blend of expertise helps make PFI’s Standards the highest referenced Standard with EPCs and end users in the pipe fabrication industry.

LEARN MORE

Looking for More Smart Solutions?

Visit the Smart Solutions Case Studies area of our website! You’ll see how other mechanical contractors found their win-win with productivity-enhancing and cost-saving applications from members of MCAA’s Manufacturer/Supplier Council.

Plus, you’ll find tips and ideas on other ways you and your company can save money and enhance your productivity.

VISIT SMART SOLUTIONS

Share Your Insights With Dodge Construction Network in NEW Jobsite Safety Report

MCAA is partnering with Dodge Construction Network on a new study on jobsite safety, and your participation is vital to its success. The purpose is to track trends in safety practices in the U.S. construction industry. This survey should take approximately 12 minutes to complete. 

In return for qualifying for, completing and submitting the survey, you will have the option to have a summary report of the survey findings emailed to you.

The findings will be released in a SmartMarket Report that will examine the prevalence of safety practices such as pre-task planning and dealing with heat exposure, the use of technology to enhance safety programs, understanding industry engagement with safety training and mentoring, examining the degree to which companies are addressing challenges with mental health and addiction, and exploring the best ways to communicate about safety. 

TAKE THE SURVEY

Your answers are strictly confidential and will not be associated with your name or the name of your company in any way. Your answers will be combined with others and only presented as averages or percentages, or by visual means that cannot be linked back to individual answers. Your answers are stored in a password protected database that can only be accessed by analysts at Dodge Construction Network. Your participation in this survey is completely voluntary.

Thank you for helping the industry to continue to prioritize and improve safety.

Resource Highlight: MCAA’s Purchasing for Profit

Mechanical contractors looking to eliminate or reduce risk may want to adopt more strict and formal policies regarding the issuance of purchase orders. MCAA’s Purchasing for Profit is designed to help you establish purchasing techniques that help protect your business and purchases. It’s just one of MCAA’s educational resources that are free to MCAA members as a benefit of membership.

The bulletin reviews the items commonly included on purchase orders and offers tips to help you avoid any pitfalls along the way. It includes samples of:

  • A purchase order
  • General conditions and instructions
  • A startup and training demonstration to the customer subcontract
  • Language regarding manufacturers representatives and commissioning of systems
  • A certificate of insurance for subcontracts
DOWNLOAD

For a full list of available Management Methods Bulletins, including several on the topic of purchasing, visit the Management Methods Bulletins page.

Have Questions or Need Personal Assistance?

Contact MCAA’s Frank Wall.