Chapter Spotlight: How SMACNA St. Louis Built a Union Model That Still Works

The sheet metal market in Missouri is different from any other region in the U.S. “It’s this unique little bubble that we have, the St. Louis bubble, where unions are still strong,” says SMACNA St. Louis Chapter Executive Director Susan Miller. “I think our residential market played a huge part in that.” Nonunion competitors crowded SMACNA contractors out of most residential markets years ago, but SMACNA St. Louis sacrificed to keep that sector. “There were years when contractors were taking a loss to hold on to that new construction, but during COVID, the residential work carried SMACNA when other companies were unable to work.” 

SMACNA St. Louis and SMART collaborate on several residential rebate programs to encourage homeowners to choose SMACNA contractors. SMACNA administers the maintenance agreement program, which gives customers a $25 rebate if they sign a maintenance agreement for a regular clean and check.  

“We give over 20,000 rebates a year, so we’re writing 20,000 checks for $25 each,” Miller says. “The contractor will go to the home, perform the work, and the maintenance agreement is signed. The contractor pays SMACNA $10, and we issue the $25 rebate check at the end of the month. We then submit all the rebates to the union, and the union gives $20 to SMACNA for each one.” The extra $5 per maintenance agreement covers the administrative costs for the program. “I majored in accounting for three years before I switched to business management, so that is what I started doing with SMACNA.”

“We built our program over customer interaction and taking care of the customer,” adds Paul Heimann, vice president of Welsch Heating and Cooling in St. Louis. “We sell them maintenance agreements, so we’re in the house twice a year, building a relationship.

 “We’ve got 6,000 maintenance customers, so that’s 12,000 service calls that we’re going to do next year alone,” Heimann adds. “Sometimes they have no idea what a furnace or an air conditioner or a filter is. Our guys educate the customer as best we can and build that relationship so we can continue servicing that customer for a long period of time.”

Cooperating with SMART on the residential rebate program is just one part of SMACNA St. Louis’s strategy to keep unions strong. “We have a great relationship with Local 36, which I know is not always the case around the country,” Miller says. “We don’t just meet when it’s time to bargain. They sit on our Architectural Sheet Metal Committee to help us keep and grow that market. Every year, they invite me to their pinning ceremony, where everyone gets their pin for their one-year anniversary, their 25-year anniversary or their 40-year anniversary. They reciprocate and come to our events. Everybody’s end goal is the long-term health of the sheet metal industry in St. Louis.”

Open and honest communication is central to Miller’s leadership style. “When I first took this job, I didn’t quite understand all the benefits that the union workers received,” Miller says. She called Ray Reasons, Local 36 President and Business Manager, who put Miller in touch with the person in charge of benefits. “She spelled it all out for me.” 

Heavy Metal Summer Experience provides an annual opportunity for Miller to invest in relationships with the local and her contractors. “A team of people, both union and contractors, select the students together,” Miller says. “We visit three to four contractors the first week, and the second week we take over the school, and the instructors teach the kids. I have Post-It notes on my desk with a list of all the kids that have gotten apprenticeships because of this program. Currently, we have over 400 people on our waiting list to become apprentices.” 

Miller relies on the SMACNA St. Louis board and the Metal Industry Fund board to make things happen. Both boards are large, giving Miller a total of 21 board members. She appreciates every member. “These people are so invested in SMACNA and in the culture they built,” she says.  

The contractors build SMACNA, and SMACNA builds the contractors. “One of my passions is getting back to the grassroots of SMACNA training and educational offerings,” Miller says. “Our technical standards set us apart, and that’s who we are and why we exist. We have all this contractor education available to us. We’re using some of our funds to encourage our contractors to send people to national SMACNA trainings and educational programs.” 

Miller’s own background is nontraditional. She earned a business management degree, then pivoted to become a stay-at-home mom to four children. She reentered the workforce by taking over the business office of a church before she learned of an opening at SMACNA. “I started as the bookkeeper running the residential rebate program in February 2021 and was promoted to the Associate Director position. Then the contractors wanted me to take this job.” 

SMACNA changed Miller’s life. She loves going to the Chapter Executives Institute every year and getting to know the other chapter execs. “It’s awesome to pick up the phone and have this network,” she says. “You’re not expected to know everything. You grow, and you learn, and, before long, you’re speaking the SMACNA language.”