MCAA Regional Report, Region I

Words: Monty Fairweather, Darrell Evenson, Zack AndersonAlaska - No State Chair
Idaho - No State Chair
Montana - Zack Anderson
Oregon - Darrell Evenson
Washington - Monty Fairweather

Economic Conditions/Forecast/Competition

It is still not good. Because the northwest was one of the last geographical areas to be affected by the recession, it, as a result, is anticipated to be one of the last areas to begin to see a recovery. Washington and Oregon have strong regulatory climates as well as rely on state government stronger than other areas of the country. Both states are heavily impacted by the amount of debt incurred by the state which is at record high numbers.

Many believe the construction industry will again see record low numbers in the northwest during 2011. Getting through the winter and spring of 2011 will hopefully be the biggest challenge. High points include some school and hospital and military construction in the future. However, the amount of masonry on the schools has been reduced in the last four years.

Alaska
No report.

Eastern Washington/ Northern Idaho
In Eastern Washington, bricklayer hours were down 50% in 2009 and an additional 60% in 2010. The good news is that architects are busy and hours could pick up by summer of 2011.

Montana
Montana’s masonry construction is down. The Majority of the work bidding is publicly funded projects such as schools, highways, water/sewer treatment plants and hospital additions and renovations. Volume is down by 50% this year which is off 50% from the prior and is looking like we could be down another 25% in 2011.

Efforts are being focused on specialized projects such as highway projects that have masonry guard walls and government funded projects.

Oregon
Some masonry construction is visible but like the rest of the northwest, contractor hours are down.

Washington
Masonry hours have dropped more than 50% statewide since 2008. The State, Capital construction budget is proposed to include $2 billion — but mainly for “shovel ready” public construction projects through 2014. Very little new construction is included in the Capital Construction budget. Private commercial construction dropped by another 20% in 2010 for a loss of 50% since 2008.

Workforce Development

Washington
Western Washington has 50 Brick Apprentices, 44 Tile/Finisher,10 Marble Setters and 34 PCC; and one class sponsored by the Masonry Institute of Washington (MIW) at the University of Washington.

Oregon
Oregon has three engineering classes that we sponsor located at Oregon State University, Portland State University and the Oregon Institute of Technology. We will have two hands on masonry day’s for the engineering students at Oregon State and Portland State.

Montana
Montana currently has 7 masonry apprentices. The Masonry Industry Promotion Group is working with union mason contractors and masonry suppliers to develop masonry programs at Montana State University in the architectural department. Design build projects, lectures, hands-on demos and plant tours have all been implemented at MSU.

Eastern Washington/Northern Idaho
Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho Apprentices total 27 for 2010. In Eastern Washington, the Masonry Industry Promotion Group (MPG), in conjunction with the Eastern Washington Masonry Producers Association, just celebrated their 28th annual Masonry Design Competition with Washington State University for third year architectural students.

Alaska
No report is available.

Marketing Efforts

Regionally
The MIO, MIW, Northwest Concrete Masonry Association (NWCMA) and the Washington State Conference of Mason Contractors (WSCMC) met in Seattle, Washington to coordinate and plan regional activities for 2011. Specifically scheduled are six, regional, I-Code webinars focused on the 2009 updates and targeting the engineering community; and identifying topics for research projects during 2010. In order to save money, as each of the respective organizations have been hit hard by the recession, we will be creating joint marketing literature during 2011 that highlights specific projects that are highly visible in the northwest.

Washington
The MIW will be sponsoring the 2011 Annual Golf Tournament and weekly Lunch and Learn programs and a community service project is in the works.. Also on the schedule for 2011 is a design industry focus group that will help the masonry industry identify marketing trends within the design community.

Schools and Fire will be our industry targets for 2011. Too many school envelopes are less than 50% masonry. We will work with the districts, architects and other influential parties to remind them of our positive qualities and we will be asking the fire-industry to help us with the education process.

Oregon
Oregon is gearing up for the Hammurabi awards program judging this year with the coordination of project entries and pictures, jury selection and time and place for judging and the venue for the awards. Masonry inspection seminars for contractors, engineers, inspection companies and inspectors will be held in March and MIO will be co-sponsoring the masonry codes seminar through TSM to be held in Portland in June. The MIO golf tournament in July and the Christmas party in December are annual events that will continue in 2011.

MIO also participates and sponsors the Local Union Pin awards and apprentice tool box awards. We are involved in the local CSI trade show and dinner. We are expanding our lunch and learn programs for architects and engineers. This program is now eligible for continuing education credits for contractor license renewal through the Oregon Construction Contractors Board.

MIO is continuing to update the information and projects for Masonry system.org, and lunch and learn programs are going strong.

Eastern Washington/Northern Idaho/Montana
The jobs that have been bid in our area over the last two years are trending 80% non union to 20% union. This has seriously cut into promotion funding and forced us to slash our promotion budget until the economy and the union bricklayer hours turn around.

Alaska
No Report available.

Legislative Update

Washington
In coordination with the NWCMA, the MIW, MPG and WSCMC, Washington’s masonry industry is fighting against providing financial incentives and preferential treatment for timber products in construction.

We will also be lobbying with our industry partners to ensure masonry is recognized for its “green-ness” and not disenfranchised by the timber industry. We will work with the Dept. of Ecology so they understand mortar is not pollution; and the Governor’s office to help them recognize that the envelope of a building should be key in their Greenhouse Gas reduction plans. We will also continue to pursue lifecycle considerations for state capital construction and military construction within Washington.

Additionally, unemployment insurance and workers compensation premiums have more than doubled and the masonry industry will continue to work for lower costs for the masonry industry.

The State is looking hard to find new money and it is our goal that our industry not suffer further. We will continue to fight against a new mineral extraction tax.

Oregon
We are involved with the Oregon Ergonomics committee and assist NWCMA on the codes.

Montana, Idaho and Alaska
No report is available.

MCAA Regional Report, Region I

Economic Conditions/Forecast/Competition

Workforce Development

Marketing Efforts

Legislative Update

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