Organization: MCAA

Thinking of Hiring an Intern? Stop Thinking. Start Hiring.

Looking for your next great employee to groom and help you push your company to the next level? Well there’s an app…no, wait…a bulletin for that! It’s is entitled “How to Find, Hire, and Manage Student Interns” which is Bulletin No. HR 1 Revised in MCAA’s Management Methods Manual. That’s right…you already own it as a free MCAA member benefit! But, wait, there’s more…

MCAA sweetens the deal through its GreatFutures website (www.mcaagreatfutures.org) where you can find resumes from and interact with literally hundreds of great students from MCAA’s 50+ student chapters. Let me guess…you still want more?

OK, then, let’s put a cherry on the top of your recruitment sundae. The Mechanical Contracting Education & Research Foundation (MCERF) will even pay you $1,000 each for hiring up to two of these awesome interns.

So, let’s review:

a free step-by-step, how-to bulletin on How to Find, Hire, and Manage Student Interns
a free website with MCAA student chapter interns, photos, and resumes from the brightest young people who want to enter our industry, and…
free money to hire up to two of them

Like the title says…if you’re thinking of hiring an intern, stop thinking…start hiring!

For more information about MCAA’s Career Development activities, contact Harlee Gallo.

MSCA Sales Basecamp Provides New Service Sales Professionals the Skills Needed to Succeed

If you have recently added new staff to your sales team or have members of your sales team that need a skills tune-up, register them now for the upcoming MSCA Sales Basecamp course, May 1-2 to be held in Philadelphia, PA. This popular 2 – day program will provide the skills needed to build long-term customer relationships, efficiently and effectively prospect for results, understand the MSCA Sales Cycle, prepare for that first critical meeting, and handle objections professionally during the proposal presentation.

For additional details and to download a brochure, click below.

Details & Brochure

Did You Miss the CES Show? See a Report on the Best Tech for MCAA Members

The International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is probably the biggest gathering of new technology on the planet each year. For the last 50 years, attendees have gathered to see the latest gadgets and technology intended for consumer use. With the explosion of technology coming to the market in the last decade, we are seeing more technology that blurs the line between consumer and commercial use.

This year, the MCAA Technology Committee sent Britton Langdon, an MCAA member from Modern Piping in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to attend the show. After walking the 2.5 million square foot exhibit, visiting as many of the 38,000 exhibitors from 150 countries as he could, Britton prepared a report of the newest technology at CES that could be used by MCAA contractors.

Download the report

The report gives the pros and cons of the most applicable technology from the exhibit. It includes the latest in augmented reality, drones, cameras, sensors, mapping devices and scanners.

To keep up with the latest technology for MCAA members, follow @mcaageek on Twitter.

MSCA Introduces Plumbing Service 101 Webinar Series and Workbooks

Mechanical Service Contractors of America is pleased to announce its much anticipated Plumbing Service 101 webinar series and workbooks!

Each webinar and workbook module will focus on a key facet of operating a successful plumbing service business. Each module consists of a 60-minute webinar and corresponding workbook. Webinars and workbooks are free to MSCA/MCAA members.

The first program module, Plumbing Service Business Basics, is scheduled for February 28th at 1:00 pm EST and will provide you with essential information on the value of adding plumbing services to your product offerings. Three successful plumbing service contractors will discuss the opportunities and decision factors to consider when thinking about plumbing service for your company. They will also review the initial resource and investment requirements needed before delving into this venture.

Registration is now open for this exciting, new webinar series so register below today. Prior to the webinar, make sure to download the Plumbing Service Business Basics Workbook available as a free download to MCAA/MSCA members.

Download workbook here

The Amazing Power of Interns and “Thank You”

The email arrived without fanfare, subject line: MCERF; the sender: Jim C. Mooney, President and CEO of Enginuity LLC, Mechanicsburg, PA.

The subject was not really about MCERF (the Mechanical Contracting Education & Research Foundation) but rather ryan-smith-w_letter it was about what Jim wanted to say to MCERF, which was: thank you. Mooney had just received a $1,000 internship grant that MCERF sent him to hire a superb young intern, Ryan Smith from Penn State Harrisburg.

So why is this noteworthy? Because it is so unusual today for someone to actually take time out of their busy day to say thank you to someone else for just doing their job. Seriously, who even does that? Well…Jim Mooney does.

To be clear, Ryan is not Jim’s first intern; he’s not even the first one he received an MCERF grant for. But, Ryan is Enginuity’s first intern since Jim and his team decided to formally write down the things that they as a company believe. They did this to be able to communicate their “company culture” to all their associates, including interns! Jim told us, “One of our core beliefs is in the power of saying ‘thank you’; it goes a long way toward building and sustaining relationships.”

This simple courtesy made quite an impact when Jim’s email arrived. The grant was a thousand dollars…not insignificant, but in business terms, not even a rounding error for some companies! But it was important to Jim that he say thank you to MCERF for sending that grant, and now it’s important to young Ryan Smith as well…to know that his boss and his company do not take their business relationships for granted, nor should he.

When we queried Jim about why he hires interns, he said it was because one of the industry’s icons, Bill McClure, took a chance on him in 1982 and hired him as an intern. He has always been grateful to Bill for doing that, including this message in his email: #thankyouBillMcClure.

When we mentioned to Jim how his efforts moved us and we thought it would have a positive effect on others, this was his response:

Thanks for recognizing us, but it was not our intention you do so; on the contrary, we wanted to recognize MCERF. My wife and I are involved in a number of youth-related organizations and are often soliciting funds. We realize how powerful, reaffirming, and energizing it is for donors to see tangible results. Keep up the good work.

We will, Jim Mooney, we will! Oh, and thank you.

Contact Dennis Langley to learn more about MCERF.

GP McManus Visited White House on Monday; Pipelines Moved Forward on Tuesday

On January 23rd, President Trump had a White House meeting with the Building Trades leadership, including UA General President Mark McManus. On January 24th, President Trump signed an Executive Order to advance the construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipelines.

On January 20, President Trump issued an Executive Order directing agency heads to roll back implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) provisions that impose burdens on states or added costs, fees, taxes, penalties, and regulatory burdens on individuals and families. Agencies are also directed to roll back provisions of ACA through the notice-and-comment regulatory process.

This Executive Order marked the beginning of the regulatory process at the agencies while parallel legislative reform takes shape in Congress. Details about which mandates and taxes will be rolled back are pending until the Treasury and Health and Human Services Secretaries take office and set departmental policy on the Executive Order. MCAA will monitor how and when the employer mandate is affected as well as when the Cadillac tax and high income and capital gains surcharges are turned back.

Also on January 20, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus issued a memorandum to all federal agency heads and departments entitled “Regulatory Freeze Pending Review,” which put all proposed regulations on hold for 60 days, pending agency review and possible suspension or revision by the notice-and-comment process.

The memo is not self-executing and will require further agency action. However, the general regulatory freeze memo, like the Executive Order on the Affordable Care Act, is a substantive beginning to the process at each agency. Each agency will compile a list of affected regulations and explain the process to deal with each going forward.

It is expected that more Executive Orders rescinding Obama Executive Orders will be coming soon. MCAA will monitor regulations that impact MCAA employers directly, including the Federal Sick Leave Executive Order, the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces worker pay and classification notices, the new non-discrimination and affirmative action regulations for registered apprenticeship programs, and the new overtime pay requirements that are currently under a court injunction.

Pension Reform Push and Saving Davis-Bacon Top MCAA’s Legislative Agenda

Additionally, MCAA has been meeting with key Congressional offices this week, in advance of the Democratic and Republican policy retreats, seeking favorable discussion of multiemployer pension reform and enactment of new plan designs.

Also among MCAA’s legislative concerns are potential proposals to remove Davis Bacon protections from any new infrastructure spending. The fight in the House and Senate to preserve Davis Bacon on federal and federally-assisted projects, as well as new funding mechanisms such as tax credit and public-private partnership measures, will be an ongoing battle throughout the First Session of the 115th Congress.

MCAA Releases Tech Research Report on Safety Apps

At the 2017 Safety Directors Conference, Sean McGuire, MCAA’s Director of Construction Technology, presented the findings from the latest MCAA Technology Research Series on Safety Applications. The new study, produced independently by JBK Labs, focuses in on apps that can be used by companies to document, report, organize and even predict future incidents.

[Download the MCAA Safety App Report]

The report compares 13 different applications available on the market today that can perform a variety of features. These range from basic compliance apps that can import current safety forms and digitize them to more hi-performance apps geared specifically towards safety inspectors.

The report also identified an emerging technology within safety apps – predictive analytics. While some apps focus on merely storing data for reporting and legal purposes, there are two apps on the market that are leveraging that data through machine learning using it to predict higher probability of safety occurrences. As Rob McKinney of JBKnowledge, a former safety director and the principal researcher for the report put it, “Predictive analytics in safety apps is a game changer for the entire construction industry. When you consider how much effort is spent on avoiding accidents and zero injury worksites, having a predictive tool that can call out potential risks can only be seen as a positive benefit.”

The MCAA Construction Technology Committee is working with the Safety Committee to put together a taskforce to further research predictive analytics in safety. Volunteers from the taskforce are field testing the apps with the help of JBKnowledge in an effort to evaluate the benefits of the software and produce a supplemental report for the research. The supplemental report is expected to be completed in the third quarter this year.

MCAA also provided a supplemental webinar, hosted by JBKnowledge’s Rob McKinney, the report’s principal author. To get additional detail, click on the webinar below.

Do You Want to Start Your MCAA.org Experience on a Particular Page?

If you have an iPad or iPhone, it’s easy. Follow these simple steps to customize your MCAA.org experience by making, for example, our Safety Excellence Initiative or MSCA.org or any other page an app on your home screen!

Open Safari and navigate to MCAA.org.
Use the menu to find the page you use most often.
Touch the “share” button in the Safari menu bar to see the options (it looks like a box with an upward arrow coming out of it).
Check out the lowest row of options, and scroll until you see the plus sign icon “Add to Home Screen.”
Select it and rename the page if you choose to something shorter, “Safety” or “MSCA”.
And there you have it! Hit the home button to leave Safari and you should see the new “App” on your home screen.
You can even make as many as you need. Calendar? Resource Center? NCPWB? Virtual Trade Show?

It’s that easy!

New MCAA Safety Resources for 2017

MCAA is producing several new safety and health resources for members in 2017. These resources will be free in electronic format as a benefit of membership. Coming to you the first-half of 2017 are:

Safety Manual for Mechanical Fabrication Shop Workers (Already available electronically – Printed manuals will be available in February)

Toolbox Safety Talks for Construction Contractors – Volume VI

Safety Manual for the Mechanical Construction Trades (Revised)

Safety Manual for the Mechanical Service Trades (Revised)

Mechanical Industry Ergonomics for Injury Prevention Video and Accompanying Materials

The release of each resource will be announced on the MCAA website.

OSHA’s New Beryllium Standard Won’t Affect Most Mechanical Construction Firms

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently published a new rule on Beryllium. The rule does apply to the construction industry, but it will have little effect on mechanical construction employers and their workers. The only potential exposure to beryllium for mechanical construction workers would be work in close proximity to another trade that is performing abrasive blasting with a blasting media containing beryllium. Under these circumstances affected employers would have to reschedule work in the affected area or establish protective measures for the workers, such as ventilation and respiratory protection. The welding consumables used for most mechanical work do not contain beryllium.

Read OSHA’s Fact Sheet on the Final Rule

If you would like more information on beryllium in construction, the Hilgeman Group is presenting a one hour webcast on the subject on February 2, 2017 starting at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Learn More

Management Methods Bulletins Can Answer Your Tough Business Questions

The Management Methods Committee has been updating and revising bulletins to ensure they continue to help you solve problems and answer questions that will keep your business on track, growing and thriving. Whether it’s a general business issue, a project management challenge or a technology question, a Management Methods Bulletin just may have the answer.

Below are recently updated Bulletins that address a variety of business issues. Select the Bulletin title below for the link directly to the publication. A complete list of Management Methods Bulletins is also available for you to scan and download.

Cash Flow

Corporate Structure: Using Outside Advisors/Directors

Failure of One Corporate Member of a Joint Venture to Qualify as a Foreign Corporation May Penalize All Venturers

The Management Audit: Peer Group Guidelines

Emergency Procedures

For more information, please contact Donald May.

Anvil International Contributes $10,000 to MCERF; Fourth Time in Last Four Years

Talk about putting your money where your heart is, Anvil International continues to lead the way as one of MCERF’s most generous supporters! Four years ago, Anvil made a new pledge to the Foundation of $100,000…this on top of the $1.1 million it had already contributed. anvil_motto-centered Year number four of that pledge just ended; the fourth $10,000 installment just arrived! That’s how Anvil rolls when it comes to supporting the Foundation!

ANVIL Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Dean Taylor, explains that Anvil’s relationship with MCERF goes back to the very beginnings of the Foundation. A charter member of MCERF, Anvil’s John Martin worked hand-in-hand with the Foundation’s creator and driving force, Foster McCarl, Jr. of the McCarl Group. McCarl and Martin worked tirelessly…and quite successfully…to get contractors, manufacturer/suppliers, and local associations to step up and support the fledgling non-profit that was the Foundation.

Today, the MCERF/Anvil story continues…making sure that they sustain what they started in 1989. Taylor proudly states, “Anvil still believes in that dream of creating a great industry and bringing great young people into it! We’re proud of our leadership role and we challenge our friends and competitors alike to follow suit and support our industry’s Foundation!”

MCERF President Mark Rogers thanked everyone at Anvil for their generous and longstanding support of the Foundation. Rogers said, “A relationship like the one between this Foundation and Anvil International is a rare and precious thing. No words can adequately express our appreciation for Anvil’s support but let’s all start with ‘thank you’.”

For more information about the Mechanical Contracting Education & Research Foundation, contact Dennis Langley.

New EPA Refrigerant Management Regulations Go Into Effect

clouds The new updated EPA safe handling requirements for refrigerants under Section 608 of the Clean Air Act went into effect January 1, 2017. This includes a provision that reclaimed refrigerants, including CFCs, HCFCs, HFCs and HFOs, may not be resold unless it has been reclaimed by a certified reclaimer. In addition, the rule requires the following:

Lowers the leak rate thresholds that trigger the duty to repair refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment containing 50 or more pounds of refrigerant.
Requires quarterly/annual leak inspections or continuous monitoring devices for refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment that have exceeded the threshold leak rate
Requires owners/operators to submit reports to EPA if systems containing 50 or more pounds of refrigerant leak 125% or more of their full charge in one calendar year.
Requires technicians to keep a record of refrigerant recovered during system disposal from systems with a charge size from 5–50 lbs.
Revises the EPA Section 608 Technician Certification Exam to include ODS substitutes

Download the EPA Fact Sheet for HVACR Technicians here.

Additional information on the ruling can be found on the EPA website here.

What contractors need to know

Additional changes to the ruling go into effect on January 1, 2018 and January 1, 2019.

MCAA Releases New Guide on Subcontractor Safety Management

Selecting subcontractors that are fully committed to workplace safety and health is crucial to staying competitive in the mechanical construction industry. Subcontractors’ safety and health practices can positively or negatively impact your company’s ability to protect workers, make money, and secure future work. Following selection, properly managing subcontractors to ensure implementation of effective safety and health programs, and best safe work practices is just as critical. Safe projects are more profitable, and companies whose subcontractors consistently perform safely have a much easier time securing future work.

This guide provides mechanical construction employers with the information needed to objectively select subcontractors that are committed to jobsite safety and health, and assist them through the process of establishing and implementing the programs, policies, procedures, and safe work practices necessary to consistently perform their work safely. The guide will also help the user verify and document that the necessary safety and health measures have been established, and are consistently implemented.

Download Guide

ALI Course 16 Grads Gave Back to the Industry!

The 39 graduates of MCAA’s Advanced Leadership Institute (ALI) Course 16 have paid it forward in a big way. At least four of the class’ seven final project teams will have their projects memorialized as MCAA Management Methods Bulletins. All of the 2016 topics are technology-oriented to act in concert with MCAA’s Construction Technology Initiative. The top four for 2016 are:

Bring Your Own Device Policies
Bluetooth/RFIDs for Tool Management
Getting Started on Making a Technology Investment
Utilizing PDF Editing – “Blue Beam”

Beginning in 2015 (Course 15), MCAA’s ALI Committee decided to challenge this once-a-year assembly of some of the sharpest minds in our industry to use their final class projects to compete in a high stakes competition…that has only winners! When ALI teams compete to develop bulletins to add to our industry’s preeminent body of knowledge, MCAA’s Management Methods Bulletins, there simply are no losers…even if some bulletins are more immediately ready for publication than others, every effort from every team advances the state of the industry’s best practices. No losers, only winners…us!

MCAA Releases New Safety Manual for Fabrication Shop Workers

MCAA recently released another safety resource… the MCAA Safety Manual for Mechanical Fabrication Shop Workers. This resource is similar in design to the association’s extremely popular Safety Manual for the Mechanical Construction Trades, and Safety Manual for the Mechanical Service Trades. The manual provides fabrication shop workers with critical safety information on everything from working safely with overhead and gantry cranes to preventing overexposure to manganese while performing hot work in the fab shop. The information is presented in a user-friendly manner and includes illustrations to keep the users engaged in the topics. This resource is available to members for free in electronic format as a benefit of membership.

Download the Manual

Arden Building Companies LLC Contribute to MCERF

arden2 Arden Building Companies, LLC (Pawtucket, RI) have contributed an additional $1,000 to MCERF, bringing their total contribution to $5,200 to the Mechanical Contracting Education & Research Foundation (MCERF). Robert Bolton, President of Arden, says that he and all the Arden companies stand firmly behind MCERF’s efforts to “support industry education, particularly their emphasis on student and faculty internships.”

MCERF President, Mark Rogers, thanked Robert and all Arden associates for their support of the Foundation.

For more information on MCERF, contact Dennis Langley (dlangley@mcaa.org).

MCAA Partners with JBKnowledge on Latest Construction Technology Report

JBKnowledge, MCAA’s technology research partner, just released its fifth annual report on construction technology practices. This year’s report saw a record number of responses from respondents across the construction industry, with over 700 MCAA members participating.

Download your copy here

2016-ct-report-copy-1 The report includes surveys on BIM strategies, mobile integration, cloud security and ways that contractors are implementing technology practices within their company. In each section, the popularity of different software types are reported and insight into spending and management of technology initiatives are provided. As the report’s sponsor, MCAA has an added benefit of segmenting out responses from mechanical, plumbing and service contractors to add further definition on later research studies.

The report’s primary author, James Benham, will be one of the presenters in San Diego for MCAA 2017. He will be joined by two other JBKnowledge experts who are presenting on ways that contractors are leveraging technology in the workplace.

For more information on JBKnowledge or to download previous versions of their reports:

Visit the JBKnowledge website

At MCAA 2017, Technology Offers New Opportunities and Success–Find Out How

Technology is making our world a better place in which to live and work, as well as transforming our industry. Find out how and why from the experts at MCAA 2017 (March 5-9, San Diego, CA).

Peter Diamandis—visionary, scientist, innovator, CEO, storyteller and wizard—will explain how technology breakthroughs are blazing trails that will lead to innovations that, until now, have been the stuff of sci-fi books and movies. You’ll learn how these inventions will help you overcome the challenges of everyday living and lead to more exciting and fulfilling lives.

No surprise that some of these technology breakthroughs are already happening in the construction industry. Matt Abeles of BuiltWorlds will showcase the latest construction resources and the start-up companies that are making them possible. Find out how these innovations—the technology disruptors—are creating entirely new solutions to the troublesome challenges that confound progress on your projects.

Find out from technology guru James Benham of JBKnowledge how new devices and software can save just enough time—five minutes—to increase productivity by 1%. That’s all you need to gain a competitive edge and improve your margins and, as important, your profits.

Virtual design and construction offers one approach to achieving more efficient, productive and profitable projects. But, which software package is the right one for your company? Benham and Josh Bone, also of JBKnowledge, have done the hard work of evaluating design software and processes for you and will share their findings. They’ll also provide you with tools you can use to evaluate your software options.

Finding the right devices to bring your design ideas to life in the field is critical to your business, but choosing the right apps to assist your crew is just as important. Rob McKinney, the ConAppGuru, will recommend workflow apps for daily reports, plan viewing and time entry. He’ll explain differences in each platform—phone, phablet, iPad or Surface Pro.

Don’t miss any of these fascinating sessions…and you won’t if you register for MCAA 2017.

Visit our Convention website to download the brochure and register!

MCAA Industry Improvement Funds Conference Offered Exceptional Educational Experience

The 2016 MCAA Industry Improvement Funds Conference featured speakers who educated the group on the various roles that industry funds play as well as proper uses for them. A record attendance of 130 participants took advantage of the two-day educational offerings.

resized-stone MCAA President, Tom Stone, kicked-off the conference by sharing an update on current initiatives. From the Institute for Project Management (created in the late 1980’s), to the Field Leaders Conference (MCAA’s newest education program), to the reinvented website where MCAA members can download every resource for free, President Stone reinforced the benefits of membership in MCAA, the Education Association.

The im resized-tech portance of ever-changing technology was overviewed by MCAA Director of Construction Technology, Sean McGuire. Bob Snyder (conference committee chairman and President of Binsky & Snyder), Tim Brink (MCA of Eastern PA) and Dan Bulley (MCA of Chicago), joined McGuire in a panel discussion and showcased how their individual associations and companies have benefited from embracing current trends and have been guided by MCAA’s technology initiatives.

Denise Martinez (Shields Blice & Company CPA) lead two discussions on industry funds accounting topics for the group. Her first topic brought the audience back to the basics of fundamentals for successful non-profit accounting procedures while her second presentation zeroed in on the five most important aspects of internal controls.

Jim Estabrook and Elizabeth Manzo, attorneys with Lindabury, McCormick, Estabrook & Cooper, joined the conferen resized-estabrook ce to discuss the importance of diversity and workplace sensitivity and reviewed new laws and policies that have been put into place to protect employees. Estabrook and Manzo also engaged attendees and encouraged group participation in a Battleship style game where two teams competed by correctly answering challenging questions about proper uses of industry funds.

The second morning of the conference began with a legislative update from M resized-kitten CAA’s Government Affairs Committee Chairman, Bill Albanese and MCAA’s General Counsel, John McNerney. Albanese and McNerney offered some insight to what regulations and legislation might look like under the new administration as well as discussed the importance of PAC contributions and thanked those who continue to support the endeavors of MCAA’s PAC.

The conference wrapped up featuring two MCA Local Affiliates who shared some of their best practices with the attendees. Robin Cowper and Ed Kommers (MCA of Western Washington) introduced their membership tracking database and emphasized the importance of having such a system in place to better serve members through market segmentation, improved productivity and integrity of data. Dave Davia (MCA of Colorado) was joined by Mostafa Khattab (department head of Colorado State University’s Department of Construction Management) and Dennis Pettitt (former MCA contractor and faculty at Colorado State University) for an in-depth discussion on the importance of student chapters and recruiting students i resized-mostafa nto the mechanical contracting field. They reviewed how Colorado has set up such a successful program and offered insight as to how others could increase the value of their student programs.

The 2017 Industry Improvement Funds Conference is scheduled for December 6 – 8 at the Resort at Longboat Key Club in Longboat Key, Florida.