MCAA Regional Report, Region B

Words: Gary JoynerAlabama - Roy Swindal
Florida - Danielle Larson
Georgia - No State Chair
Kentucky - Joe Correll
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 moving along at very comfortable levels in most all regions of North Carolina. For the first time in a number of years, masonry contractors can be somewhat choosey about the work they pursue. Competitive pressure has eased and profitability has returned to bid work.

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 2016. Kelby Thornton of Central Cabarrus High School won in the high school/secondary division and Cody Harrison of Mount Pleasant High School won in the post-secondary division at the Louisville SkillsUSA National Masonry Competition in June. With the 2016 wins, North Carolina¹s Masonry Medal count is now 33 Gold, 15 Silver, and 2 Bronze. North Carolina apprentices, Chaz Tomberlin and Daniel Furr, each won First Place recognition at the MCAA Skills Challenge at the World of Masonry. 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 20, 2017 in Raleigh. The contest was renamed in memory of Samuel A. McGee in 2016 and was won by Luis Marquez. 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 North Carolina State Fair Masonry Apprentice Skills Contest celebrated its sixty-third year this past October and was won by Sixteen-year-old Zack McGee, grandson of the late MCAA Hall-of-Fame member Sam McGee. We are running up against a shortage of trained masons and tenders and find it a challenge to encourage young people and their parents to consider trade careers. We've discovered the best recruitment tool we have is successful young people who are already doing well and flourishing in the trade. We've exploring ways to best expose these folks to potential recruits.

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 90 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.) 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. 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 SCMA¹s ³Understanding Masonry² 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 (five years) and North Carolina State University's College of Design (sixteen years,) a program that requires architectural and design students to research and thoroughly understand masonry as a required graded class assignment. Our NCMCA Central Region Vice-President is dragging us into the twenty-first century and has created an NCMCA FaceThing page. Brandon co-chairs a committee with Past NCMCA President Doug Burton exploring the possibility of rebranding the Association, including a new logo.

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. But there is some concern about folks becoming complacent because everyone is so busy. Increasing business is not the same as increasing or even maintaining market share.
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