Masonry Magazine March 2007 Page. 20
Contractor to Contractor
Masonry is never going to totally compete with concrete; we're going to show them that we have something special to offer. Obviously, modularism in masonry is easier than concrete in its structure, with the big panels. We need the masonry people to educate architects and engineers on the reliability and versatility of all of these different textures and different looks-things that are more difficult to do with concrete.
Concrete people are out there doing their job; they're promoting their industry. The masonry industry is not united. The way we've done it in the past is 'us versus them. We need to unite as an industry under one big umbrella, and get out there, showing building systems and providing architects with information on the benefits masonry has to offer.
Masonry: What do you feel are the most critical issues you'll face with future government regulations?
Johnson: OSHA's charge is to create and enforce laws that protect the American workforce. But people have been put in place with all sorts of power and no elected officials to watch over them. So without careful oversight, we have people with the power to severely damage and overburden companies, without regard to the effect on our industry.
Immigration is already having a huge effect on our political landscape. Most of our country was built on labor from families that immigrated to this country in the last two or three generations. It is sad to see that there is no program in place to allow legal immigration and to properly document and process applications in an orderly fashion. I can only speak for our situation in Utah, but we have a shortage of both trained and untrained employees, and we are being stunted in our growth because of this shortage of labor.
Masonry: Which group do you feel has the bigger impact on masonry's future: architects, engineers or general contractors?
Johnson: Owners and architects call all the shots in determining what a building is made of and how they envision it. Again, marketing and education are the keys to promoting masonry to these two groups.
Masonry: What do you like most about being a member of MCAA?
Johnson: Educating myself and associating with like-minded individuals that I find in this Association are some of the key reasons for our success. Don't stand by and let such a valuable opportunity slip by!
On a national level, the MCAA has the opportunity to bring cohesiveness, so certifications in Utah are similar and carry the same kind of weight as certifications of someone in Las Vegas or back in New York. They can unite all the different associations around the country, creating something that's universal. They have the power, as a large group, to go to architects and the AIA and say, part of a prequalification that would support you having the experiences on the projects you design is using somebody that has these certification processes in place. This kind of education could be promoted from the national level to the local level.
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