MCAA Regional Report, Region B

Words: Gary JoynerAlabama - Roy Swindal
Florida - No State Chair
Georgia - No State Chair
Kentucky - No State Chair
Mississippi - No State Chair
North Carolina - Calvin Brodie
South Carolina - No State Chair
Tennessee - Brian Proctor
Virginia - No State Chair

Economic Conditions/Forecasts

The construction economy in general and masonry in particular are much improved from two years ago, especially in North Carolina's larger urban areas, but improved to some degree in all areas. With more construction work coming underway, competitive pressure has eased somewhat allowing some profitability to be introduced into proposals as contractors are able to be a bit more selective in choosing projects to pursue.

Workforce Development Activities

High school vocational programs remain the main systematic means of attracting and training future masons in North Carolina. NCMCA continues to partner with BIA-SE, the Southeastern Concrete Masonry Association and the North Carolina Masonry Instructors Association to host the SkillsUSA Regional and State Masonry competitions, an event with some one hundred students participating. North Carolina apprentices won recognition in national competitions during 2015. Luke Dutton, West Rowan High School and Alex Ossowski, Central Cabarrus High School each earned masonry Gold Medals at the June National SkillsUSA Conference in Louisville. (North Carolina’s total masonry medal count, including the two new ones: 31 Gold, 15 Silver, and 2 Bronze.) North Carolina apprentices, Kelton McGee and Daniel Furr, each won First Place recognition at the MCAA Skills Challenge at the World of Masonry. Daniel Furr represented the USA at the WorldSkills masonry competition in San Paulo, Brazil this past summer along with new USA WorldSkills Masonry Expert Todd Hartsell, a North Carolina high school masonry instructor. The NCMCA Masonry Contractor Certification Program includes an important component for training foremen and superintendents, with hundreds of individuals participating in the program. The Annual Spring NCMCA Masonry Apprentice Skills Contest, a true family event celebrating the masonry trade, attracts 20 to 30 NCMCA-member working apprentices and is set for May 21, 2016 in near Charlotte. The Annual North Carolina State Fair Masonry Apprentice Skills Contest celebrated its sixty-second year this past October.

Masonry Marketing Activities

Emphasis continues to be on promoting certified masonry both to owners, and to designers and specification writers. Also to masonry contractors as potential participants in the NCMCA certification program. Presently, some 500 individuals and some 88 firms have participated in the program. Thirty-four firms have become certified, although several are presently suspended for failing to maintain the strict requirements for company certification (such as continuing education and individually certified individuals on staff.) In January 2016, NCMCA will begin the seventh series of certification classes (11 classes per session) with some 30 students participating. The effort to promote certified masonry with specification writers is showing results with several projects either underway or completed that required the masonry subcontractor be certified. NCMCA continues to investigate ways to make the NCMCA and MCAA certification programs more closely aligned. The NCMCA curriculum now includes the MCAA “Masonry Quality Institute” as a requirement for owner/principle certification. The leadership of NCMCA remains fully committed to certification as a means to maintain masonry market share by improving perception among not only owners and architects, but also general contractors and masonry contractors themselves. NCMCA has partnered closely with the Southeast Concrete Masonry Association in the SCMA’s “Understanding Masonry” initiative, a program SCMA developed with the Masonry Institute of Michigan to dispel misconceptions about the cost and performance of masonry wall systems. The program has been presented to architects, material suppliers, masonry contractors and construction mangers across both Carolinas, Virginia and Tennessee. NCMCA and and a significant number of individual NCMCA member firms have stepped up as financial supporters of the new MCAA Masonry Foundation in recognition of the need for ongoing promotion and research to sustain the masonry industry. NCMCA continues financial support of BIM-M for much the same reasons. NCMCA members have been active participants in lobbying for the CMU Check-Off program including participating in visits to congressional offices in Washington. NCMCA continues a very successful architectural masonry design competition at Appalachian State University and North Carolina State University's College of Design, a program that requires architectural and design students to research and thoroughly understand masonry as a required graded class assignment. This fall marked the fourteenth year for the program at NC State.

Competitor/Trends

Because masonry has traditionally been held in such high esteem in the Carolinas, masonry seems to be holding its own as a preferred building system against powerful promotion efforts from competing systems. There seem to be some inroads being made in more accurately and more favorably promoting masonry wall systems in cost comparison to competing wall systems, i.e. the SCMA “Understanding Masonry” program.
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