Masonry Magazine February 1984 Page. 13
The two years 1982 and 1983 surely constitute the worst period economically that our members and Association have encountered since the founding of MCAA. It has been a period of economic distress for most mason contractors and their employees. It has been a period when great, and sometimes nearly intolerable stress has been placed on our members, the Association, and the masonry industry.
To have served as MCAA's President during this period has been a singular experience. There could have been no adequate preparation for the experience. There probably will not be an adequate way of summing up what has transpired.
As the Association's President for the past two years, I have struggled, along with your officers and our staff, to find ways of coping with MCAA's problems. And I have witnessed the struggles of our members as they attempted to cope with the individual problems confronting them.
The experience has been a sobering one, but, ultimately, it has been heartening. It has proven, once and for all, the strength and resilience of our members, the industry, and our Association. That proof of our ability to survive and move forward should stand us in good stead as we face a future full of both problems and opportunities.
Coping With Problems
The poor business climate of the past two years has had many effects on MCAA members. Some of those effects will be short-lived-they will disappear when business improves. But others undoubtedly will endure and help shape our business careers for years to come.
Among the most significant effects of the depression have been the consequent growth of non-union competition to MCAA member firms, and the growth of non-masonry competition in the building marketplace from new products and systems. These developments, while they certainly have had an independent existence of their own, were exacerbated and dramatized by the 1982-83 depression. Coping with these developments under the conditions of the past two years has been difficult, but progress has been made.
MCAA Committees
Much of our progress has been due to the understanding and unstinting work of our members serving on a broad range of MCAA committees. These committees have done an exceptional job of preparing programs and materials that are helping our members now, and will help them even more in the future. To single out a few:
# Education
This committee has begun developing a one-week accreditation seminar program for contractors that may be ready for implementation this year. Such an accreditation program which may be held at an institution of higher learning-will cover many topics, such as insurance, legal matters, financial management and estimating. It may be looked on as a step in the direction of the establishment of an accreditation program for mason contractors a goal which MCAA is now actively pursuing.
# Insurance
This reactivated committee is led by Dick Harris and is now deeply involved in a review of mason contractors' insurance needs in order to develop appropriate additional insurance coverage programs.
# Masonry Panel Contractors
The pioneering work of this committee, chaired by Fred Daues, has been completed. The committee has achieved its goal of producing a masonry panel specification, and has conducted a seminar at this conference on the subject of masonry panels.
# Masonry Systems Marketing
This committee, under Co-Chairmen Dick Felice and Jim Cope, has been developing a reference manual to guide the marketing efforts of mason contractors. At this Conference, the committee has conducted a seminar during which it presented the results of its study of effective marketing techniques and tools.
# Safety
Monitoring of federal efforts in the safety field conducted by the Occupational Safety and Health Agency is one of the primary tasks of Don Grant's committee. OSHA is currently reviewing and revising its industry safety standards, giving added importance to the work of this committee.
# Materials Handling
Under the leadership of Tony Luczynski, this committee's work has concentrated on the the development of a manual for proper handling of all masonry materials at the job site. Mason contractors know how important this subject is, and the results of the committee's work are certain to be helpful to all of us for a long time to come.
Coping with Problems And Opportunities
By DONALD O. LEONARD
Immediate Past President, Mason Contractors Association of America
This article represents the text of Donald O. Leonard's annual Report of the President delivered at the January 30, 1984 Opening Session of MCAA's 34th International Masonry Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel.