BIM investment and fundraising Words: Jennifer MorrellAn initial investment from the masonry industry will be, in part, to entice the software firms, according to Jeff Buczkiewicz, president and CEO of the MCAA. The industry needs to convince the software companies that masonry is needed in their programs and should be a BIM component. “The software firms will need to invest a large amount of dollars in development of the initial software,” Buczkiewicz says. “The masonry industry supports this by offsetting some of their costs. Negotiations with the different software companies will happen after the roadmap is done, and will help determine the actual dollars that need to be raised for the project.” An initial industry fundraising effort will take place, whereby individuals will be asked to give $1,500 over a three-year period ($500 per year). The contributions will be made to the MCAA Foundation, so all contributions would be considered tax deductible (501 C3). Companies will be asked for greater contributions. Buczkiewicz adds that, once the software has been developed and implemented by the software firms, the programs will be maintained through the software firms that develop them, and no additional costs will be incurred by the industry.