MCAA Regional Report, Region E

Words: Mike Cook, Dick Dentinger, David Gillick, Mike Heitkamp, Jason Thompson, Rick Martagon, Michael Schuller, Maria Viteri, Scott Walkowicz, J. Borchelt, Darrell McMillian, David Biggs, Pat Conway, Stephen Gantner, Phillip ShinnIowa - No State Chair
Kansas - No State Chair
Minnesota - Dick Dentinger
Missouri - Mike Heitkamp
Nebraska - No State Chair
North Dakota - No State Chair
South Dakota - No State Chair

Workforce Development

Minnesota

According to Mike Cook, president of the Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers Local 1 of MN/ND, bricklayers hours worked totaled 1,505,554 in the first 10 months of 2013 compared to 1,498,609 in 2012. That is an increase of 0.5%. The number of bricklayers working in October 2013 totaled 1,395 which is up 1.86% from October 2012. The bricklayers are building their way back up, but they have a ways to go to get to the hours we had back in 2008 before the market crash.

According to Cook, the bricklayers work bench in the hall has been empty for the last 6 months.  Many of the member contractors are looking for more workers than are readily available.  Also according to Cook, they have been able to accommodate the needs of most of the contractors by bringing in workers from other areas of the country that did not have as much work.  Cook added that this is one of the advantages of the union work force: they are able to reach across the country to get workers to fill the needs of our contractors.

Cook stated that he has received reports from many contractors stating that they see plenty of work coming up for 2014.  The new Vikings Stadium broke ground in early December. While this project will not fill all of the bricklayers needs, it will keep a good portion of the men and women from all of the trades working over the next two years, Cook added.

Cook stated that the improvement in the stock market has helped the bricklayer’s pension and health funds.  The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been a challenge for the Union Health Funds.  Many changes have been mandated and will go into effect January 1, 2014.  The BAC has made changes to accommodate the mandates, but it has come at a cost to the members.  Changes like those we have made with the BAC Health Fund are never easy to accept by the membership.  Hopefully, the changes that we have made will better serve the members in the future.  The bricklayers union will continue to monitor the Health plan and make the necessary changes so that they can offer a plan that has good value to their members.  

According to Rick Martagon, Apprenticeship Coordinator for the Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Local 1 MN/ND Apprenticeship Training Center in St. Paul, MN, the Center has a busy year scheduled, offering Apprentice and Journey level classes to its members as well as hosting workshops for high school students and community non-profit organizations.  The BAC Outreach Programs serve high school youth (general student population and at-risk youth; at-risk can be defined as economically at-risk, criminally at-risk, academically at-risk, and a number of other factors), community supported adult programs, and college level programs promoting BAC crafts.
 
Apprenticeship, Journey level, and Outreach Classes began in September. Currently the BAC has 140 Apprentices.  One hundred two (102) of the 140 are actively participating at the Training Center.  The remaining 38 are working towards completing their apprenticeship hours.

The Training Center has announced another University of Minnesota Architecture Masonry Workshop. This three credit program will begin on January 21. The BAC, IMI, and MC&MCA have worked together to sponsor this program.  The program continues to be one of the fastest enrolled workshops at the U of M. Dave Mensing will be the instructor for the course with assistance from Mark Swanson from the International Masonry Institute. 

Martagon has also announced the arrival of a new outreach program named “Construct Tomorrow.” This effort features collaboration between the Apprenticeship Coordinators Association of Minnesota (ACAM), Department of Labor and Industry (DOLI), and the Association of General Contractors (AGC). It is designed to bring a fun hands-on experience to students at their high school. The program was launched at Humboldt High School in St. Paul in early September. For more information about Construct Tomorrow, “like” it on Facebook or look for the write up and video on www.workdayminnesota.org.

For additional BAC Apprenticeship/Journey Level training information visit www.bactraining.org.

Missouri

The first semester of the bricklayers 2013-2014 apprentice program began in September 2013. Over 66% of the new apprentices are PCC (Tuckpointing, Caulking & Cleaning) reflecting a growing need in the restoration market sector.

The apprentice instructor is also conducting journeymen upgrade training, such as crane and signaling training and OSHA 10-Hour and 30-Hour training.

To encourage minority hiring, the JATC Management Trustees submitted a proposal for contractor subsidies for apprentices.

Economic Conditions / Forecasts

Minnesota

Masonry construction continues to slowly recover from the recession in this country. Residential construction in Minnesota is occurring at double the rate of last year. Commercial construction remains slow, however. Construction is wrapping up on the Central Corridor that will provide light rail service between St. Paul and Minneapolis. Our members have realized some work on this project and more build out along the rail line is expected in terms of commercial and residential building. The Legislature will be back in session by the end of February 2014 and are expected to be looking at a large bonding bill that would include vertical construction including schools, public buildings, and the Capitol itself. The bonding bill is also expected to include roads, bridges, and the next light rail project called the Southwest Corridor line. Last session the Legislature passed bills to authorize and pay for a new Vikings stadium in downtown Minneapolis and a new Saints baseball stadium in lowertown St. Paul. These projects are expected to include our general contractors and masonry contractors in completing that work.

Missouri

As of August 2013, Missouri’s unemployment rate is 7.2%, only slightly better than the country’s 7.3% average, as per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

As of October 31, 2013, bricklayer hours are 4% lower than this time last year.

There are grave concerns on how the Affordable Care Act and excessive regulations (i.e., OSHA’s silica standards) will impact the overall economic recovery.

However, commercial mason contractors report a slight backlog heading into Fall 2013 and the residential market is accumulating hours. Contractors are optimistic that 2014 will experience an uptick in all segments.

Masonry Marketing Activities

Minnesota

Starting this year, the MC&MCA took over all marketing and promotional efforts conducted by the Midwest Masonry Promotion Council. For the past five years, contractors, suppliers, and producers contributed into a promotional fund which targeted the architectural community in Minnesota. In 2013, Craig Hinrichs will have conducted 80 lunch time seminars with architectural firms promoting masonry products and masonry workmanship. Hinrichs is an employee of the MC&MCA and has an office with AIA Minnesota in Minneapolis.

Hinrichs has produced and presented five different graphic presentations to architectural firms fulfilling their continuing education credit needs under health, welfare, and safety requirements. For 2014, he is developing a presentation entitled “Energy and Cost Saving Masonry,” which will include the new energy code standards that architects will have to meet. Hinrichs is providing more and more technical expertise to architects as they design projects. His strong working relationship with architects has been a big plus in terms of the masonry industry winning back market share.

The MC&MCA continued to participate in a structural masonry promotional effort involving the bricklayers, the IMI, Laborers, and LECET. The target of this effort is engineers and engineering firms. The MC&MCA has four representatives on this Minnesota Masonry Council which also includes four representatives from labor. Both Craig Hinrichs of MC&MCA and Mark Swanson of IMI work together with the MMC and coordinate additional promotional and marketing of masonry and union labor throughout Minnesota and the upper Midwest.

MC&MCA and other masonry management and laborers organizations feel strongly that the marketing and promotional efforts in these slow economic times will pay dividends when the market turns around and begins to grow once again.

Missouri

David T. Biggs kicked off the 2013-2014 seminar year for the Masonry Institute of St. Louis by presenting “BIM for Masonry Initiative: An International Roadmap” to 200 engineers and architects over a two-day period, September 24-25, 2013.

MISL’s 2013-2014 schedule includes:
  • Pat Conway (IMI): Designing and Detailing Durable Masonry Walls
  • Jason Thompson (NCMA): Community Functional Resilience
  • Maria Viteri (IMI): High Performance Masonry: Energy and Thermal Mass
  • Michael Schuller (Atkinson-Noland & Associates): Condition Assessment of Masonry Facades, Investigating Masonry Structures: Nondestructive Techniques
  • J. Gregg Borchelt (BIA): Contemporary Brick Design, Loadbearing Brick Design
  • Scott Walkowicz (Walkowicz Consulting Engineers): Structural Masonry Case Studies
  • Phillip Shinn (Jacobs): International Existing Building Code (IEBC)
  • Stephen Gantner, Jr. (Cannon Design): Riding the Storm Out: A Look at Recent Wind Events
  • Edgar F. Glock, Jr., (Glock Architecture): Basic Masonry: Old & New
  • Darrell McMillian (MISL): St. Louis Masonry Then and Now, Allowable Stress & Strength Design Comparison: Out of Plane, and Masonry Retaining Wall Options
MISL reported that sponsorship of these weekly seminars were quickly snapped up by local mason contractors and area suppliers, since it provides affordable promotional exposure to 150-200 design professionals per session.

The MISL’s 16th Annual Masonry New Products Show will be held at the St. Louis Masonry Center on February 4-5, 2014; mason contractors are targeted on the first night and then the exhibitors’ focus turns to the design professionals on the second day.

McMillian continues his trifecta of masonry marketing duties: in addition to providing technical assistance to contractors and design professionals and conducting educational programs on and off site, starting in January 2014 McMillian once again will teach a structural masonry course two days a week on the campus of the University of Missouri-St. Louis to students on the campus of the Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla, using distance learning technology.

The Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville (“SIU-E”) is again offering a Masonry Design course in the Fall 2013 semester, after the success of the Fall 2009 and 2011 offerings. The MISL and the Masonry Institute of Southern Illinois helped finance the initial 2009 course and it was so successful, the university was able to provide funding going forward.

The completed BIM-M research project by Rutgers University professor Dr. Jie Gong, Ph.D., formerly of SIU-E, has been received by the MISL. Dr. Gong developed building element models and model creation tools for masonry materials that will be incorporated in Building Information Modeling (“BIM”) software.

McMillian is serving as Project Manager for Phase II, Project 4, Tasks 1-7 of the BIM-M Roadmap Initiative. Besides coordinating the efforts of the Construction Management Workgroup and the Construction Activities Workgroup, McMillian will provide leadership for tasks including:
  • Revising and res-submitting survey to wider range of mason contractors and associated stakeholder groups;
  • Identifying best practices of BIM use in other non-masonry subcontractor areas;
  • Soliciting input from general contractors and construction managers to their views on BIM-enabled masonry construction
  • Meeting with mason contractors at previously-established venues (MCAA, IMI, TMS meetings and others)
  • Preparing detailed “scenarios of use” in the areas of safety, planning, material procurement, quantity take off, cost estimating, wall bracing, etc., that can be used to gauge the potential for BIM implementation in these areas
  • Presenting these “scenarios of use” to mason contractors and validate / revise
  • Preparing detailed report for use by the initiative and by mason contractors, making recommendations for subsequent projects on masonry construction workflows.
The MCA / OSHA Partnership continues to flourish. The 10 contractors in the partnership reach over 58% of all industry hours. The partnership’s DART (Days Away Restricted /Transferred Duties) has decreased from its revised baseline of 1.7 to 0.9 as of September 30, 2013. The partners meet once a quarter with the OSHA Area Director and general contractor safety professionals to discuss best practices. On September 3, 2013 contractors participated in a regional OSHA Stand Down for Fall Protection Training, with John J. Smith Masonry Company representing our industry at the Missouri State Capital ceremony.

St. Louis recently created the “Masonry Structural Coalition”, which will take a more direct approach in reaching key decision makers to market increased use of structural masonry. Until the business development staff is hired, Mr. McMillian and MCA Executive Director David Gillick are carrying out those duties, working with various contractors to meet with owners and design teams to convince them that load-bearing masonry can meet their budgets and schedules, all while providing energy efficiency, durability, safety and aesthetic value to their projects. With two years invested in developing this process, several projects are heating up and all the prep work is starting to pay off in converting these projects to load-bearing masonry.

Competitors/Trends

Minnesota

Our competition continues to be precast. The battle grounds continue to be in big box stores and commercial buildings. The focus of our masonry promotions efforts in Minnesota in working with architects, engineers, developers, and owners is to educate and inform decision makers as to the long term benefits of masonry products and union workmanship.

Missouri

Open Shop contractors continue to expand. In order for union contractors to compete, both the Bricklayers’ Union Local No. 1 of Missouri and the Eastern Missouri Laborers’ District Council have introduced market recovery programs, funded by increased union membership dues. Contractors must apply for these grants, subject to approval by the unions’ executive committees, and they can be applied to the hourly wage, material expenses or fringe benefit obligations

Competing materials — wood / steel stud — are becoming more prevalent. Competing trades are also expanding their scope of work to include installation of thin veneers, caulking, cleaning and restoration.
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