MCAA Regional Report, Region I

Words: Steve BormanAlaska - No State Chair
Idaho - No State Chair
Montana - Zack Anderson
Oregon - Darrell Evenson
Washington - No State Chairman


Economic Conditions/Forecast/Competition

The Pacific Northwest is still waiting for the dream to resume. 2011 was a continuation of economic hard times from 2010. Not a lot worse, but no improvement. The forecast is another 12-18 months before an uptick is expected. States remain over budget and underfunded. Capital budgets for public construction took an average 15% hit in 2011 affecting the public works commercial sector. Forecasters are now reporting the housing market will come back significantly stronger and faster than first anticipated but we’re still waiting for the beginning of the comeback.

Alaska

No report is available

Eastern Washington/Northern Idaho

Eastern Washington, bricklayer hours continue to be slow. 2011 appears to be a 5% increase over 2010 which is still 60% lower than 2008. The good news is that architects are getting busier and hours could pick up by summer of 2012.

Montana

Montana’s remain slow. There are some indicators that 2012 will be a slight improvement.

Oregon

Some masonry construction is visible but like the rest of the northwest, contractor hours continue to be at an all-time low.

Washington

The State Capital budget saw a 15% reduction from the 2012-214 biennium and only 17 schools are slated to be built statewide. Hours continued to drop by 15% in 2011.

Marketing Efforts

Alaska

No report is available

Regionally

The MIO, MIW, Northwest Concrete Masonry Association (NWCMA) and the Washington State Conference of Mason Contractors (WSCMC) met in Seattle, Washington to coordinate and plan regional activities for 2012. In order to save money, as each of the respective organizations have been hit hard by the recession, we put together an 18 month masonry statewide calendar for 2012. Additionally, we will be creating joint webinars directed at the architecture community that can be utilized for continuing education credits.

Washington

The MIW will be sponsoring the Annual Golf Tournament and the Bi-annual Awards of Excellence; in 2012 as well as continuing the weekly Lunch and Learn programs.

2012 Awards of Excellence will be co-sponsored with AIA Washington as a joint effort to save money and increase exposure for both organizations. Additionally, this year MIW will be recognized as the 2012 Presidential Sponsor for AIA Washington which includes six masonry focused education programs, an architectural symposium and an architectural tour.

Oregon

Oregon is gearing up for the Hammurabi awards program judging this year with the coordination of project entries and pictures, jury selection and time and place for judging and the venue for the awards. Masonry inspection seminars for contractors, engineers, inspection companies and inspectors will be held in March and MIO will be co-sponsoring the masonry codes seminar through TSM to be held in Portland in June. The MIO golf tournament in July and the Christmas party in December are annual events that will continue in 2012.

MIO is continuing to update the information and projects for Masonry system.org, and lunch and learn programs are going strong.

Eastern Washington/Northern Idaho/Montana
28 years strong, the MPG will continue with the masonry design competition and structural engineering classes at Washington State University and Gonzaga.

Legislative Update

Washington

In coordination with the NWCMA, the MIW, MPG and WSCMC, Washington’s masonry industry is fighting against providing financial incentives and preferential treatment for timber products in construction. Even with the strong timber history in the Pacific Northwest, In 2011, we were successful in turning the negative, industry legislation into a product lifecycle/Embodied Energy study. We will continue to work on a positive outcome from this University of Washington and Washington State University state funded research project.

Additionally, workers compensation reforms were passed in 2011 that will help to slow the cost of the increases for our masonry contractors. Additionally, we spoke directly with the Director of Labor & Industries about the plight of our industry since the recession began and was able to get a suggested 9% premium increased reduced to 4%. We will continue to work to lower costs for the masonry industry.

The State is looking hard to find new money and it is our goal that the industry not suffer further. We will continue to fight against a new mineral extraction tax.

The International Energy Code and the International Green Code are knocking at our legislative doors. As we assess the impact of these future programs, we will work to maintain our footing.

Oregon

We are involved with the Oregon Ergonomics committee and assist NWCMA on the codes.

Montana, Idaho and Alaska

No report is available
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