Masonry Magazine March 2005 Page. 56

Words: Jared Kennison, John Cotton, Carl Cook
Masonry Magazine March 2005 Page. 56

Masonry Magazine March 2005 Page. 56
News

Industry News continued from page 53
The NAHB Research Center's NHQ Program offers training modules to help contractors and framers improve the quality of home construction and building safety. The training materials are designed to improve product installation as well as reduce callbacks and red tags. The full-service training program includes job site assessment, on-site training and program evaluation.

"Builders and contractors are the key to installed product quality and performance," says Frank Alexander, NHQ program director for the NAHB Research Center. "The NAHB Research Center's NHQ Program brings building partners together to establish and implement quality assurance principles in the home building industry. Simpson is helping to lay the foundation for other manufacturing companies to design training tools that facilitate the proper installation of products."

Simpson's overall training program consists of self-training booklets, videos and CDs covering essential information on the correct installation of connectors and other Simpson structural systems.

For more information about the NHQ Certified Training Materials program and to receive a copy of Simpson's certified training module on fasteners, visit www.strongtie.com and click on "Workshops and Training"

Rental Service Corporation
Appoints Chief Operating
Officer

Effective March 1, 2005, Erik Olsson has been appointed Chief Operating Officer for Rental Service Corporation (RSC). Olsson has served as Chief Financial Officer for Rental Service since joining the company in January 2001. In his new position as COO, Olsson will oversee the effort to fulfill the equipment rental needs of the more than 200,000 RSC customers in North America.

Olsson has served Atlas Copco, the parent company of Rental Service, for more than 16 years. After graduating from the University of Gothenburg with a degree in business administration and finance, he joined Atlas Copco in 1988 as a controller. He then took a position as financial manager for Atlas Copco's CMT Brazil division in Sao Paulo before returning to Sweden in the position of Vice President of Finance for Secoroc, another Atlas Copco division. In 1998, Olsson was appointed Chief Financial Officer for Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation in Milwaukee and held that position for three years before being promoted in 2001 to CFO for Rental Service Corporation.

Note: Feeling left out? Send your company's press releases and photos to: jen@lionhrtpub.com.

Southeast Brick
Organizations Merge

The Brick Association of the Carolinas (BAC) and Southern Brick Institute (SBI) are pleased to announce the merger of their organizations to create the leading trade association dedicated to the advancement of brick products in the Southeast.

As of January 1, 2005, the new organization became Brick SouthEast and now serves a nine-state region, including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Southeastern Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. All member companies of both BAC and SBI became members of Brick SouthEast.

"This exciting step of bringing together two strong organizations will undoubtedly assist us in achieving our goal of advancing the benefits of brick,"

MCAA and Other MIC
Members Exhibit at World
of Masonry

The Masonry Industry Council (MIC) exhibited at Hanley Wood's World of Masonry in Las Vegas, January 18-21, 2005. The Masonry Industry Council is comprised of the Mason Contractors Association of America, the Brick Industry Association, the International Masonry Institute, the Portland Cement Association, the National Concrete Masonry Association and The Masonry Society.

MIC's booth consisted of training manuals, technical publications, resources catalogs and membership information for each of the participating organizations. There were also laptop computers available that highlighted the web sites and computer software offered by the masonry industry, such as the MCAA web site and MasonrySystems.org. Rashod Johnson, MCAA's Director of Engineering, helped to staff the booth for the MCAA.

For more information on the MIC, visit www.masonryindustry.org or contact Rashod R. Johnson at rjohnson@masoncontractors.org.
www.mason.contractors.org


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