Masonry Magazine May 2002 Page. 41
TALENT ADDRESSES MCA ST. LOUIS
Former U.S. Representative Jim Talent addressed members of the Mason Contractors Association of St. Louis at their regular monthly meeting in April. Talent has been a strong supporter of small business and particularly subcontractors while serving in the U.S. House of Representative and Chairman of the House Small Business Committee. Prior to leaving the House of Representative to run for Governor of Missouri, Talent introduced the Skilled Workforce Enhancement Act which aimed to give contractors a tax credit of $3,500 for every apprentice that they train.
Currently, Talent is seeking election to the U.S. Senate against first term incumbent Jean Carnahan who was appointed to the Senate after her deceased husband won a narrow victory against John Ashcroft two years ago. According to many political insiders, Talent has a strong chance of defeating Carnahan.
During his meeting with the members of the MCA St. Louis, Talent presented his views on key issues from the "Death Tax" to possible ergonomics standard.
HOME GROWN TOOLS
Homegrown Tools features innovative tools and ideas adapted by contractors from around the country. This column does not accept tools or ideas that are for sale by a manufacturer. The only ideas or tools published will be "homegrown." We encourage readers to submit their own "Homegrown Tools" to the editor of Masonry Magazine at 1910 S. Highland Ave. Ste. 101 Lombard, IL 60148. The publisher of this magazine does not endorse or promote the use of any of these ideas or tools. Readers should evaluate these ideas for safety and effectiveness and adapt their own thoughts on the usefulness of these tools and ideas.
This month's feature submitted by: Steven Fechino, WASCO Masonry, Nashville, TN
WELDED SYMBOLS/BRANDS
My co-worker needed to borrow a few hammers for a rock job that he was doing with one of his crews. I had no problem loaning some hammers for his use since I have welded my brand on the tools. They were promptly returned at the end of the job.
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE / continued from page 6
At our Midyear meeting in September, the MCAA Board will reevaluate our association's role in recruiting and training our industry's labor force. As an association, we will debate long and hard whether or not we need to spend our resources to recruit and train our workers or should we reallocate those resources to other programs and let other organizations spend their resources to recruit and train. It seems logical that our industry's efforts should be focused through the Mason Contractors Association with strong financial assistance from our suppliers.
Both the signatory and non-signatory apprenticeship training funds require substantial amounts of money to achieve our goals. At the present time MCAA and other organizations each contribute to their own funds for training. The fact is that we are the individuals who must guarantee the end product and therefore the MCAA must be a major facilitator for the guideline standards for training.