Masonry Magazine June 2011 Page. 41
INDUSTRY NEWS
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News From MCAA
Advanced Masonry Systems
Completes Certification
Program
Advanced Masonry Systems Inc. has earned certification through the newly created Masonry Certification program, sponsored by the MCAA. The company's scope of masonry is commercial, institutional, industrial and restoration projects.
News From NCMCA
McGee Wins Sigmon
Award
Seventeen-year-old Wriston McGee, an apprentice with McGee Brothers Co. in Monroe, N.C., has won the David R. Sigmon Award and is the champion of the 2011 North Carolina Masonry Contractors Association Masonry (NCMCA) Apprentice Skills Contest. Wiriston, the son of Chris and Lori McGee of Monroe, joined 15 other NCMCA working apprentices in the May 21 competition at Custom Brick & Supply Co. in Raleigh. Wriston is enjoying a good run as a competitive apprentice and won the championship at the 57th Annual N.C. Department of Labor State Fair Masonry Apprentice Skills Completion in October. NCMCA member firms provided some $10,000 in cash, materials, equipment and tools for the event held annually the third Saturday of May.
LaVene Wins Upton
Award
The NCMCA has developed the national Masonry Certification program to provide customers with a tool to select mason contractors who are committed to quality and have backed it up with a commitment to continually educate themselves and all their key employees. Quality-of-work and end-user satisfaction are the foundation of the certification program. In addition, companies must renew their certification every three years.
"We congratulate Artisan Masonry Inc.'s commitment to demonstrate their quality service," says Jeff Buczkiewicz, executive director of MCAA. "Our goal is to provide architects, designers, construction contractors and consumers with an easy way to select and specify professional mason contractors. Certification now gives them the tools to seek out contractors who have committed their entire firm to meet the stringent requirements of the program."
The NCMCA recognized Paul A. LaVene with the Eleanor F. Upton Outstanding Associate Member Award. LaVene retired as president of the Carolinas Concrete Masonry Association (CCMA) in October 2010, after 20 years of service to the Carolinas masonry industry. The award, named for NCMCA's first executive director, is made in recognition of individuals who have made an exceptional contribution to NCMCA and to the masonry industry over an extended period. LaVene's award makes only the eighth time the Upton Award has been presented since it was created by the NCMCA leadership in 1981.