Masonry Magazine April 1999 Page. 7
FROM THE PRESIDENT
1998 Report of the President
Presented to the Association at the 1999 MCAA Conference Annual Meeting on February 18th, 1999 in Orlando, Florida.
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98 which started out as one of the most promising years certainly turned into one of the most intriguing years in our nations history. A hint of a sex scandal has turned into the first impeachment of an elected president our nations history. The economy began strong and remained strong.
The Chicago Bulls made history by repeating their three-peat. The NBA celebrated by making history of their own and locked out the players and for the first time we had no professional basketball. Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa thrilled us all season long with a race for history and Roger Maris' home run record. John Elway finally won a Super Bowl ring. The Republicans maintained control of the U.S. House and Senate...barely. President Clinton maintained control of the White House...barely. The stock market made history. Seinfeld went off the air. John Glenn made history by becoming the oldest person in space. We learned about Y2K as we raced toward the new millennium. It was a full year.
The Mason Contractors Association of America also had an intriguing year. We started new programs, services were expanded and the associations' influence was finally recognized throughout the industry. We took on new challenges of completing a new wall bracing standard, publishing a hot and cold weather masonry construction manual, developed training materials in Spanish, exerted influence on codes and standards protecting the interest of mason contractors, and helped friends of the masonry industry win elected office. The masonry industry faced continued threats from competition. Not the competition from fellow mason contractors, but from competitive construction methods and an over bearing government. Never before has there ere been a greater need for a strong national mason contractor association fighting for the rights of its contractors. Never before have we had such a strong need to stay together as mason contractors to unite behind a common bond to compete for a large share of the construction market. At a time that the industry must come together, there are many who resent the resurgence of the MCAA. Instead of applauding the MCAA's stepping forward to share in the burden of building the masonry industry, there are many that seek to tear down our efforts. Never before has there been a time for the MCAA to ignore its detractors and move ahead on the course to build the industry and mason contractors futures.
The Mason Contractors Association of America has had a very strong year. Once again we experienced net growth in both membership and profit. The MCAA has become more involved in new areas of influence. We've expanded services and the image of the MCAA has grown. I am pleased to report that the state of the MCAA is strong and thriving.
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Workforce Developement
Recruiting and Training our industry's workforce remains one of our strongest needs and one of our strongest commitments. The MCAA leads the industry in this area. Several years ago, we spot lighted this problem and then focused the entire industry on solving the problem. Our challenge remains keeping the industry focused and mason contractors in the lead in the recruitment and training effort. We are now however, experiencing the influx of impatient suppliers into the recruitment and training arena. Armed with substantial funding that was denied to your association. These suppliers are spending needed resources to recruit the contractors workforce without contractor involvement. We applaud their desire to recruit but they must support contractors efforts. I urge our industry's suppliers and the associations that represent them to get behind the MCAA's effort to build our industry's labor force and not to go down a separate path. I call on our industry's suppliers to financially support this association to lead recruitment and training efforts and not waste crucial industry resources.
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