Milwaukee Tool leads a health & safety conversation on tool cleaning and disinfecting for your tools to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. This presentation covers tool sharing protocols, length of virus stability, EPAs List N, and how to properly disinfect tools, batteries, and gear. Raffi Elchemmas, AEP, CHST, is a subject matter expert in construction health & safety. He is an authorized OSHA Outreach Trainer with board certification in professional ergonomics.
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:
Harris Products Group Steelworker® Outfit contains all the major components needed for cutting, welding, brazing and heating using all fuel gases. As supplied, cut up to a 1″ plate and weld up to a 1⁄8″plate. Add larger tips and cut 5” plate and weld 1/2” plate.
Galloup Company Galloup is a premier industrial distributor of pipe, valves and fittings, dedicated to service and support. Serving Michigan, Indiana and Ohio with nine facilities, including two distribution centers.
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 June 15 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.
Murphy Company interns Jacob Reed and Morgan Hanley have been onsite project engineering interns for the University of Missouri-Columbia’s NextGen Precision Health Institute. The opportunity has given them a first-hand look at what it takes to build a job on their college campus.
About the Project
The company continues its work on the facility which supports a systemwide precision health initiative aimed at harnessing and supporting the research activities of its four universities and health system. The building will include lab space for current and new faculty, graduate students, clinicians and have collaborative spaces for work with industry partners.
The facility is the largest single project that the University of Missouri has ever undertaken. The project consists of a new 265,000 sq. ft. six story facility.
The Murphy Company team, in collaboration with their general contractor and trade partners, was hired on in a design-assist capacity completed the following extensive BIM and fabrication on this past year:
Identified and corrected 1,134 BIM clashes prior to installation
Fabricated 121,000 lbs. of ductwork and 65,000 lbs. of mechanical piping and racks
Installed the following:
7,600 Linear Feet (LF) of underground piping
22,500 MEP Trimble points based on BIM
41,700 LF of above ground plumbing and piping
3,4000 of LF of reverse osmosis (RO) piping
21,640 LF of copper process piping
Construction on the institute is expected to be completed in October 2021.
Both Jacob Reed and Morgan Hanley began their internships in Murphy Company’s St. Louis office this past spring semester.
About Jacob
Jacob is entering his senior year at the University of Missouri-Columbia, studying Mechanical Engineering. In the spring working 20-hour week, Jacob was able to see the project manager role in action by attending coordination meetings, daily site walks and reviewing construction drawings making him more familiar with the project layout. Since the spring Jacob has transition to a full-time intern this summer.
“Since I have transitioned to full-time for the summer, I feel that I am gaining valuable real-world experience without too much of an internship feel. My responsibilities now include reviewing submittals, tracking productivity, and the commissioning process of equipment. I have been able to soak in as much information as possible, ask plenty of questions about topics I did not fully understand, and have real responsibilities that add value to the work being completed here. I believe it is the perfect balance that is allowing me to apply my skills and develop new ones.”
Jacob looks forward to the rest of his summer internship and continue to learn from Murphy employees the importance of coordination, communication, and critical problem solving.
“I have now seen multiple times how project managers are able to take a problem in stride, communicate with co-workers to create a solution, and implement that solution in a timely manner. I am also looking forward to watching further completion of the NextGen Precision Health Institute. I find it very exciting that I get to see firsthand the construction of a multi-million-dollar research institute at my college.”
About Morgan
Morgan Hanley is a Junior at the University of Missouri-Columbia studying chemical engineering. In the spring Morgan was on-site at the NextGen facility and this summer is currently working in Murphy Company’s engineering department.
“I’ve really enjoyed my time so far with Murphy as it has allowed me to apply what I have learned in my coursework to practical, real-world scenarios. I have enjoyed being able to see two pieces of a bigger puzzle at work. Being on site of NextGen and then coming to the Engineering department has been really interesting because it has closed the loop between the drawings and plans I worked with at Mizzou to how those intricate details, sizings, and selections are determined during the design phase. It has been fascinating to observe the complementary aspects of both locations, and I am excited to learn even more during the rest of the summer.”
Start Your Search for Top Talent Today
Find student chapter members like Derrick 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.
This conference will provide foremen and other supervisory-level field personnel from geographically diverse locations an opportunity to exchange ideas. During the event, they will gain an understanding of what their employers expect and what they should be doing as leaders. They will also have an opportunity to network with their peers regarding the opportunities and challenges they encounter.
MCAA connects students with MCAA members through networking and employment opportunities that help to cultivate the next generation of industry leaders.
The MCAA Career Development Committee is exploring new ways to make these connections with virtual networking and resources in light of the cancellation of the MCAA GreatFutures Forum due to COVID-19.
Please help to ensure that this programming supports your company’s needs by letting us know your company’s hiring plans for the coming year.
Accounting for the PPP Loan: A question that Withum has consistently received is: When do we “write off” the PPP loan? This is an important question for borrowers who may have audited financial statements, where the presence of debt can have an impact on the company’s ability to borrow or meet financial covenants. Withum’s view thus far has been that the loan should remain on the balance sheet until such time that the bank has officially forgiven it. The technical accounting guidance would be to view forgiveness as a “gain contingency”, an event that is not fully within the control of the company and not certain to occur, therefore the gain (write off of the loan and related interest) should not be recognized until such time that forgiveness has actually been confirmed.
The AICPA recently released a Technical Question and Answer (TQA) on the matter, while the TQA does indicate that gain contingency guidance is acceptable, it also opens the door to an alternate conclusion (see the link above and excerpt below). This is meaningful because the AICPA and the SEC indicates here that a borrower “may” be permitted to view the loan as a government grant, and therefore you would write it off (into other income on the income statement) as you use the proceeds from the loan based on your best estimate of what will be forgiven. This creates a very different result than the gain contingency guidance above. There is not yet authoritative guidance on this issue, however this TQA is a clear indication that borrowers may have multiple options available to account for this loan.
TQA 3200.18: “How should a nongovernmental entity account for a forgivable loan received under the Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)?”
Answer: “Given the unique nature of the PPP, questions have arisen relating to how a borrower under the program should account for the arrangement. Although the legal form of the PPP loan is debt, some believe that the loan is, in substance, a government grant.” In addition, the Staff of the SEC’s Office of the Chief Accountant has indicated that they “would not object to an SEC registrant accounting for a PPP loan under FASB Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 470, Debt, or as a government grant by analogy to International Accounting Standard (IAS) 20, Accounting for Government Grants and Disclosure of Government Assistance.”
Reminder Section: (what should I be doing):
Call your payroll company about claiming the payroll tax deferrals and employee retention credits that were made available in the CARES Act.
Talk to your payroll company about the qualified sick/family leave legislation (FFCRA, passed prior to the CAREs Act).
Consider speaking with your bank to discuss changes to terms of existing debt facilities. The banking system remains strong.
If you have already applied for the PPP, start forecasting how you intend to spend the funds and how to qualify for the highest amount of forgiveness possible.
MCAA is hosting two Field Leaders Conferences this year: August 24-26 in Kansas City, MO and October 7-9 in Toledo, OH. Registration is available now for Kansas City and we will be opening registration for Toledo soon.
After attending MCAA’s Field Leader Conference, you will be inspired to take the knowledge you learned and immediately apply it to better yourself at work, and in life. See what past attendees have to say and what to expect from the Field Leaders Conference experience.
Now more than ever, with apps and software connecting employees worldwide, the need for virtual communication skills is crucial. Video calls and virtual meetings are the new “normal” and likely take up most of your day. But are you getting the most out of your meetings? Are you getting distracted? Have you dusted off your nonverbal communication skills? Join us for some basics on effective virtual communication – getting started, some do’s and don’ts, and helpful tools. As we’ve all adjusted to this new world, virtual meetings have proven to be effective. Speaker and author Mark Matteson gives an interactive and tailored presentation, just for MCAA members.
MCAA members are continuously building facilities to serve the surge of COVID-19 patients in their communities. New England MCA, Inc. member Harry Grodsky & Company, Inc. is just one example. The company recently completed work on a rapid response triage outside the Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Massachusetts.
The triage enables medical staff to quickly screen patients to determine which ones are the sickest and need the most immediate care. In addition to the patient care benefits, the triage helps prevent the hospital staff from becoming overwhelmed by overcrowded facilities.
Designed to handle between 30 and 40 patients at a time, the triage is fully equipped, meaning staff can treat patients without entering the hospital’s main building.
In delivering facilities like this one, MCAA members like Harry Grodsky & Company, Inc. are helping to ensure that COVID-19 patients are tested and treated quickly, keeping our communities safer for all of us. We are all in this together.
Alston & Bird have released their June 11 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.
60/40 “Cliff” Rule Addressed: As we previously noted, the PPP Flexibility Act. changed the 75%/25% rule to a 60%/40% rule, allowing companies to realize a greater benefit from the non-payroll costs they incurred during their covered period. However, the law seemed to introduce a “cliff” effect whereby a borrower would not obtain ANY loan forgiveness if they did not spend at least 60% of their forgivable expenses on payroll. A joint statement made by Mnuchin and the Treasury today has clarified that this is not the intent. As noted below, it appears the intent is for the mechanics of this ratio to work in a similar way to the previous rule, meaning that non-payroll costs cannot exceed 40% of the total amount of forgiven costs, thus there is not a scenario where there will be no forgiveness on amounts spent if you do not reach a certain spend on payroll. Borrowers just need to understand that increasing spend on payroll increases the non-payroll costs that will be eligible for forgiveness. This is obviously a welcomed clarification for borrowers.
Lower the requirements that 75 percent of a borrower’s loan proceeds must be used for payroll costs and that 75 percent of the loan forgiveness amount must have been spent on payroll costs during the 24-week loan forgiveness covered period to 60 percent for each of these requirements. If a borrower uses less than 60 percent of the loan amount for payroll costs during the forgiveness covered period, the borrower will continue to be eligible for partial loan forgiveness, subject to at least 60 percent of the loan forgiveness amount having been used for payroll costs.
Reminder Section: (what should I be doing):
Call your payroll company about claiming the payroll tax deferrals and employee retention credits that were made available in the CARES Act.
Talk to your payroll company about the Sick Pay Bill (passed prior to the CARE Bill).
Consider speaking with your bank to discuss changes to terms of existing debt facilities. The banking system remains strong.
If you have already applied for the PPP, start forecasting how you intend to spend the funds and how to qualify for the highest amount of forgiveness possible.
The MCAA’s “Factors Affecting Labor Productivity” can be an invaluable tool when attempting to prove labor productivity loss, a process that has always been one of the most difficult aspects of change management. John Koontz explores how to practically apply the MCAA factors to estimate and price losses of labor productivity. He discusses the dos and don’ts of applying these factors, bridging the gap between theoretical percentages and actual job site impacts. When used correctly, the MCAA factors can be an invaluable resource in both forward pricing change orders and retroactively determining cumulative impacts. This webinar explores best practices for making these factors work for you, helping you to account for additional labor costs resulting from the scope changes and disruption of workflow that occur on jobs far more often than we might like.
Alston & Bird have released their June 8 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.
The PPP Flexibility Act was signed into law on Friday, June 5. Over the last few weeks we have covered many important components of the Bill, our latest article covers more of the salient points as well as the nuances that all borrower need to be aware of. The topics in the article include:
The 60/40 Rule (replacing the 75%/25% rule) appears to include a “cliff” effect, providing no forgiveness if you do not spend 60% of your proceeds on payroll.
New ways to be exempt from the FTE reduction calculation, including if a borrower can document an inability to return to the same level of business activity as it was operating at before February 15, 2020, due to compliance with requirements or guidance issued by the CDC, OSHA or HHS during the period from March 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020.
Extension of the Covered Period – Important considerations borrowers should contemplate which may lead them to elect to keep an 8 week period as it is now otherwise automatically extended to 24 weeks.
Extension of Loan Maturity Date – New terms for borrowers who received a loan after June 5th, however a potential window to extend maturity for borrowers who received loans prior to as well.
Reminder Section: (what should I be doing):
Call your payroll company about claiming the payroll tax deferrals and employee retention credits that were made available in the CARES Act.
Talk to your payroll company about the Sick Pay Bill (passed prior to the CARE Bill).
Consider speaking with your bank to discuss changes to terms of existing debt facilities. The banking system remains strong.
If you have already applied for the PPP, start forecasting how you intend to spend the funds and how to qualify for the highest amount of forgiveness possible.
The PPP Flexibility Act is on its way to the White House for signature. A few observations that we wanted to make today that borrowers need to consider:
Cap on Forgivable Salaries: The cap on salaries has been a simple formula ($100,000/52 X 8), resulting in $15,385 of maximum forgivable cash compensation during the covered period. The bill would extend the covered period to 24 weeks, and that should mean that the maximum forgivable salary amount would be $46,153 ($100,000/52 X 24). Once the bill is passed, Withum believes the SBA will issue guidance to this effect to ensure clarity to Borrowers. Borrowers would need to incorporate the new cap into their calculations, but this change would be favorable and enable most borrowers to obtain full loan forgiveness.
8 Weeks vs. 24 Weeks: The bill would extend the covered period to 24 weeks; however, a borrower could elect to retain an 8-week covered period if they wish. The bill does NOT provide flexibility to have a covered period between 8 and 24 weeks, it appears to be one or the other.
Timing of Forgiveness: With a 24-week covered period, borrowers would need to plan for the fact that it is highly likely that their loan will not be forgiven during 2020 based on the length of the covered period and the amount of time banks have to render a decision on forgiveness. Borrowers may need to consider if that is meaningful to them from a financial statement perspective or a loan covenant perspective.
Tax Deductions for Forgivable Expenses: If forgiveness has not been granted to a borrower before it files its 2020 federal income tax return, then the borrower will have to decide whether to claim deductions on such return for the expenses that ultimately will give rise to loan forgiveness. The IRS has stated that the expenses relating to forgiven PPP loan amounts are not deductible, but until a borrower receives a loan forgiveness decision from its lender, it would seem appropriate to claim the deduction. This is something we will monitor closely as borrowers will need additional guidance on how to deal with this – it appears to be an unintended snafu.
Reminder Section: (what should I be doing):
Call your payroll company about claiming the payroll tax deferrals and employee retention credits that were made available in the CARES Act.
Talk to your payroll company about the Sick Pay Bill (passed prior to the CARE Bill).
Consider speaking with your bank to discuss changes to terms of existing debt facilities. The banking system remains strong.
If you have already applied for the PPP, start forecasting how you intend to spend the funds and how to qualify for the highest amount of forgiveness possible.
The Coronavirus is asking employers and employees to make unprecedented and rapid changes to their behavior in order to prevent the spread of disease and the closing of their facilities. The good news is that 71 percent of employees have confidence that their employers can bring them back to work safely. But 58 percent say that hinges on the availability of protective equipment like masks, gloves and hand sanitizer. What happens if some of your employees are not consistently using this protective equipment? When 54 percent of U.S. employees say they are worried about exposure to COVID-19 at their job, it can mean constant complaints, employees refusing to work and lawsuits about the company risking their employees’ health. You need a way to quickly and effectively influence your employees’ behavior. Join Sharon Lipinski, CEO of Habit Mastery Consulting, on what you can do when employees ignore or push back on the company’s Coronavirus safety procedures. She shares the 6 reasons employees fight these types of guidelines, 3 tactics that make the situation worse, and 3 steps you can take to get employees to want to follow your guidelines. You’ll leave this presentation with insights and strategies that work for influencing your employees’ behavior— not just in following Coronavirus safety procedures, but in other areas, too.
MCAA member companies have overcome scheduling and other challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic in order to serve our communities. MCA of Cleveland member Smith & Oby Company’s work on the conversion of Cleveland Clinic’s Health Education Campus (HEC) main building into a COVID-19 surge hospital is just one example.
The temporary hospital is one part of Cleveland Clinic’s strategy to be fully prepared to meet the needs of the community during this rapidly evolving situation.
The facility, called Hope Hospital, offers onsite care for COVID-19 patients with short term needs. These are patients who do not require ventilators or large amounts of oxygen. The entire project was accomplished in less than a month. The four-story, 477,000-square-foot building can accommodate up to 1,000 hospital beds.
Edmund S. Sabanegh, Cleveland Clinic’s President of Main Campus and Regional Hospitals, praises all of the project partners, saying, “There’s really no precedent for us doing something this big this quickly. It’s been amazing to watch clinical leaders and operations, construction, design and nursing teams all come together in a very short window of time and literally build a thousand-bed-capability facility that rivals fixed buildings in many parts of the country. “
Members like the Smith & Oby Company continue to adapt to the COVID-19 situation to help provide the best patient care in the safest way possible. We are all in this together.
