Masonry Magazine September 2007 Page. 14
Q&A
Jeff Buczkiewicz, MCAA Executive Director
On July 2, 2007, Jeff Buczkiewicz became the new executive director of the Mason Contractors Association of America (MCAA). We recently spoke with Buczkiewicz about his thoughts, goals and aspirations for the Association.
Masonry: First off, tell us a little more about your history prior to becoming the executive director of MCAA.
Buczkiewicz: Well, I have a degree in political science from Northern Illinois University, with a dual emphasis on international relations and public administration. I entered the masonry industry as director of marketing and membership with MCAA 10 years ago, and was in that position for six years. I left MCAA to become the executive vice president for the Building Stone Institute (BSI). I was with them for about four years.
When I was with BSI, we worked collaboratively with a lot of other organizations. Fortunately, I was involved with some boards and groups that took part in a lot of joint work in the industry. I got to see how other groups operated; it was a nice experience to see how some things work and some things did not.
Being on the supplier side gives me a different perspective with regards to how the suppliers feel about the collaborative things that MCAA is proposing. It gave me a whole different perspective and, hopefully, a different angle as to how I can work with the suppliers in the future within our organization.
Masonry: And you're going to be working hand-in-hand with the suppliers and BSI quite a bit in the future.
Buczkiewicz: Yes, I would like to work more hand-in-hand with a lot of organizations, not just with the BSI.
I think I have a different perspective and I understand their perspectives. In the past, these organizations were kind of told, "You guys really need to be involved with us, but we're going to decide how to do this. I really feel that we need to have a different approach, and that we need to give them a spot at the table and ask them what they feel we need to do as an organization for their particular material. What do we need to do for stone? What do we need to do for brick and block? How can we facilitate the work force development, and how can we teach our members things that suppliers want them to know? They are selling the materials and supplies, they know advances and technologies that are coming down the pipeline, and they'd be a great source for providing educational opportunities.
Our approach is going to be completely different. MCAA will be looking to the suppliers to provide information to us regarding their specific products and where they think we need to work on a variety of different areas such as training, educating, promoting, etc. for their products. The MCAA will act as a conduit for the masonry industry and the clearinghouse for the training and education. We will put together what all the suppliers are proposing and provide a systems approach to our training, education and promotion. Ultimately, this is how it works in the real world; the contractors purchase supplies from a variety of masonry suppliers and then we put the system together.
Masonry: So you've put a little bit of thought into this have you?
Buczkiewicz: (Laughs) Yes, just a little bit. I've put a lot of thought into it over the years. The industry is and has been very segmented.
For instance, if you're with the brick suppliers, they have a limited amount of marketing budget and education resources that they can apply, and they want to see all of that go toward brick education and training. It's not fair for us, the mason contractors, to say 'You have to look bigger and beyond the scope. This is what you should do. I think it's fair to say "Let's work with you and within your means. Tell us what