Sheet metal & Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association

SMACNA welcomes returning Bronze Associate Member ALAN Manufacturing Inc. of Wooster, Ohio.

“Challenging” is a major understatement for the award-winning architectural work performed by SMACNA architectural contractor CMF Inc. of Orange, California, on Apple Inc.’s innovative $5 billion new Apple Park headquarters in Cupertino, California.

The Metal Construction Association recently presented the Chairman’s Award to SMACNA member MG McGrath, Maplewood, Minnesota, for their sleek wall panel work on the renovation to the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky.

What is the best way to attract new talent into the sheet metal and HVAC trades?

Attendees of SMACNA’s Project Managers Institute perfected their project management skills including leadership, financial management, and project planning during SMACNA’s sold-out course in Raleigh, N.C., in April.

Many members consider SMACNA’s Financial Survey Report an essential industry resource—to benchmark their company’s performance, analyze key metrics, and justify costs—to improve their profitability and cash flow.

SMACNA contractor ACCO Engineered Systems, Glendale, California, got the call to complete a fast-track construction project for their client, the University of Southern California’s new Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience based just 40 miles away in Los Angeles, California.

In addition to developing and issuing highly regarded industry standards, SMACNA’s Technical Services Department continuously fields questions about technical aspects of sheet metal construction and the application of specific SMACNA standards.

After years of short-term, last-minute extensions to the nation’s airport operation and maintenance program, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Act (H.R. 4) extending FAA programs for another five years through 2023.

SMACNA continues to be a leading advocate on Capitol Hill urging action by Congress this year to pass the Giving Retirement Options to Workers Act (the GROW Act, H.R. 4997), endorsing composite plans as a multiemployer pension option.

In addition to the flag presentation, Rep. Fitzpatrick discussed industry issues at the recent dinner with members of the SMCA Philadelphia chapter including Bill Reardon, chapter executive director, and Peter Jenkins, director of labor relations.

SMACNA welcomes these new members, including from our newest chapter, SMACNA Hawaii.

When I started penning this issue’s column on leadership, I took a bit of time to think about the “big picture.” Many of you business owners know what that includes—four generations of ownership, expectations of employees, staff morale, company trajectory, and leadership development—these are the topics that keep many of us up at night, but for me, they get me excited about the future prospects of my company.

SMACNA Premier Partner Daikin Applied designs and manufactures technologically advanced commercial HVAC systems for customers around the world. Its parent company, Daikin Industries, has more than $17 billion in revenue, 67,000 employees, 90 production sites, and customers in more 150 countries.

Smartphones, combined with the Internet of Things (IoT), not only allow people to remain plugged in with friends and family, they are also becoming a popular way to keep plugged in to what’s happening in the home.

Seven out of 10 civilian workers in the United States have access to employer-sponsored retirement benefits, according to 2017 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nearly 80 percent of employees with access to those retirement plans are participating in them.

When Thomas E. Martin, president of T.H. Martin Inc., Cleveland, was attending Ohio University on a football scholarship, he wasn’t sure about following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather into the sheet metal industry.

June 2018: Council of Chapter Representatives – June 10-12, Boston, Massachusetts; NJAB – June 25-27, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Last week SMACNA sent Capitol Hill staff to the House offices and a delivered a pointed letter to the U.S. House of Representatives asking bipartisan allies to express vocal opposition to the anti-Davis-Bacon amendments that Rep. Steve King (R-4th-Iowa) was to offer to H.R. 5515 – The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (NDAA).

SMACNA Chapters have the opportunity to nominate a member firm for the 10th annual Safe-In-Sound Excellence in Hearing Loss Prevention Award™ and put them in the running to receive national recognition for their safety and health efforts in hearing conservation.