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**NEW** The 2010 Calendar! Please mark your calendars for these must-attend events! Please click here to get registration packets for these events!
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- HOW TO SURVIVE A RECESSION IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY: UMCA Education Seminar
- PROJECT MANAGERS IMPACT ON FINANCIAL OUTCOMES: UMCA Education Seminar
- UMCA CONTRACTOR MEMBERS TO RECEIVE $1,000 EDUCATION CREDIT
- WESTERN MECHANICAL CONFERENCE: San Diego, California March 3-5, 2010
- 2010 LEGISLATIVE SESSION OFF TO FAST START
- WEBER STATE STUDENT CHAPTER UPDATE
- HEADS UP-MARK YOUR CALENDARS!!
UMCA Associates
UMCA News
HOW TO SURVIVE A RECESSION IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY: UMCA Education Seminar
On Thursday, February 11, 2010 Dr. Thomas C. Schleifer, a veteran in construction management, and founder and President of the largest international consulting firm in the contracting industry, will be speaking to members of UMCA, NECA and SMACNA. Schleifer will speak about the economic and industry developments with respect to the financial situation of the recession. He will discuss concerns among forecasters, contractors, and buyers of construction services and will provide a clear and tested method for preparing and prospering during market changes. Schleifer contends that cyclical markets are the norm and believes that world-class organizations should be structured in such a way as to remain profitable no matter what the market circumstance. His presentation will include specific actions to manage a construction enterprise during the slow-down. Schleifer believes that “a construction organization that has prospered during its growth already possesses the knowledge and blueprint for how to make money in a declining market; they either don’t recognize it or consider it ‘dismantling’ to their organization.” Schleifer’s message is one all companies could use, particularly during this turbulent time. Join us for his seminar on February 11, 2010 at the NECA training facility from 8:30am to 12:00pm. Coffee and juice will be on hand and the seminar is free of charge. There are still a spots available at this seminar. Although the registration deadline has passed, please contact the UMCA Office at 801-364-7768 if you are interested in attending.
PROJECT MANAGERS IMPACT ON FINANCIAL OUTCOMES: UMCA Education Seminar
For most people the terms “financial management” and “enjoyable” would never be used in the same sentence. However, the UMCA is going to prove those people wrong by offering the seminar “Project Managers Impact on Financial Outcomes” to members on February 17, 2010. David Ashcraft, an expert in the training area of financial management will be coming to Utah to help UMCA members learn to have FUN while learning about financial management. Mr. Ashcraft will present case studies to members as they work together to uncover the math mystery buried in “Work in Progress” (WIP). Not only will participants learn where numbers come from, but they will also learn to recognize which numbers provide key information and learn about the problems and opportunities this information can present. Project managers will become well versed in financial topics and will further be able to effectively make projects more profitable. Come learn about the impact project managers can have on the company income statement and balance sheet as well as how the WIP can affect year end profits and cash flow. Further increase knowledge about the impact of both over and under billing and analyze the difference between gross profit percentage and mark up percentage. Join us on February 17, 2010 at the Little America Hotel from 8:00am to 2:00pm where both breakfast and lunch will be served. Attendance at the seminar costs $200 and the last day to turn in registrations is February 10, 2010. To register, download the registration form here and submit it to the UMCA Office via fax, mail, or email.
UMCA CONTRACTOR MEMBERS TO RECEIVE $1,000 EDUCATION CREDIT
The Utah Mechanical Contractors Association has an exciting line up for the 2010 Education Series. The series was just recently kicked off with the January 28th BIM Seminar which was reviewed in this eNews. Other upcoming educational events include;
February 11th How to Survive a Recession in the Construction Industry
February 17th Project Managers Impact on Financial Outcomes
March 5th-6th Foreman Training
March 25th Construction Contracts and Legal Concerns
April 29th Project Profitability
May 20th Enhancing Your Business With Safety
October TBD Project Manager Training
With such an outstanding agenda, the UMCA would like to really encourage UMCA Members to attend as many of these seminars as you can. Many of them will count toward continuing education for license renewal over the next couple years. To create further incentive to attend these seminars, the UMCA is pleased to once again announce a $1,000 Education Credit which will be given to each contractor member to use toward ANY UMCA or MCAA Educational Seminar. If you intend to use your credit toward any seminars, please simply indicate so on your registration form and the UMCA Office will keep track of your Education Credit usage thus far. If you have any questions concerning the Education Credit or any of the UMCA Educational Offerings please contact the UMCA Office.
WESTERN MECHANICAL CONFERENCE: San Diego, California March 3-5, 2010
The deadline for registering for this year’s Western Mechanical Labor-Management Conference has been extended until February 12, 2010 so delay NO LONGER! The WMC is a great conference where the leaders of the western states gather to discuss progressive joint labor-management programs and industry challenges. On the agenda this year will be presentations on; “The Future of Green Building”, “Nuclear Power Resurgence”, “UA National Pension Fund Update”, and much more. If you’re still looking for reason to attend, think Sunny San Diego or Salt Lake Inversion. The conference will be held at the beautiful Hyatt Regency Mission Bay with golf at the challenging Salt Creek Golf Club. The registration packet can be downloaded here, but additional information and registration materials can be found at http://www.westernmechanical.org/info/ or contact the UMCA office for assistance.
_READ_MORE2010 LEGISLATIVE SESSION OFF TO FAST START
The 2010 Legislative Session kicked off last week and is off to a blistering pace. Early indicators show that the 2010 session will be very active with numerous construction related bills being pre-filed. Presently we are seeing issues dealing with; Contractor Continuing Education, Supervision of Plumbing & Electrical Apprentices, HVAC technician licensure, Mandatory Drug Testing on State Construction Projects, Mechanic’s Lien Amendments and many more yet to be drafted. The USC priority legislation will be addressing some of the “inequities” in subcontract terms. The original plan was to address and eliminate the “No damage for delay” provision. However, after meeting with numerous legislators this year it became clear that support was growing to create a level playing field with “mutuality provisions” a.k.a. “what’s good for the goose is good for the gander”... Hopefully, the construction industry associations will be able to come together to develop a sensible approach to dealing with these divisive issues and develop the true partnership among all parties that is so frequently spoke about. Stay tuned!!
WEBER STATE STUDENT CHAPTER UPDATE
The WSU-MCA Student chapter continues to grow and evolve and is poised to provide a real return on the UMCA investment. In January, UMCA board member Derrick Sander, A&B Mechanical Contractors, Inc., and UMCA staff participated in the Parson’s Construction Management Open House. Through this event it became evident that there are many extremely talented students interested in great careers in construction management. Please keep this in mind if you are looking for a potential project manager, estimator, or intern. The UMCA has several resumes of student chapter members and would really like to have them working in the mechanical contracting field. The WSU-MCA Student Chapter is building our future leadership and we believe firmly that these students will be the key to our future success. The chapter also participated in their first MCAA Student Summit that was held this past fall in Denver Colorado. The chapter prepared a full bid proposal and schedule for the Denver Health Medical Center and competed against 25 other student chapters. Although they were not selected as one of the final four to compete at the MCAA National Convention they had a great experience and have further honed their skills for the 2010 competition. Please contact the UMCA Office if you would like to get involved in this great opportunity or if you would like additional information.
HEADS UP-MARK YOUR CALENDARS!!
Some of the best events of the year are the UMCA Social/Sporting Events. Due to the high popularity of these events, we are pleased to have dates locked up so that you can add them to your calendars and plan to attend. The below list is of the most current dates for our upcoming events. **Please note that the UMCA Trap Shoot will take place in September (as opposed to the usual November time) per member requests. **
Monday, June 28, 2010 UMCA GOLF OUTING
Wasatch Mountain State Park 1:30pm Shotgun Start
Thursday, September 16, 2010 UMCA TRAP SHOOT
Great Salt Lake Gun Club 4:00-9:00pm
Monday, December 6, 2010 UMCA HOLIDAY PARTY
Location TBD 6:30pm*
*subject to change
BIM PRESENTATION PROVIDES FRESH OUTLOOK: UMCA Education Seminar
The UMCA Education Series kicked off on January 28, 2010 with an informative presentation on “Building Information Modeling”, by Ben May of May Construction Services. Ben presented a case study on the Topaz Project, 250,000 square foot Data Center in South Jordan, Utah with a snap shot review of other notable Utah projects such as; City Creek Project, University of Utah College of Nursing, Snow College Library and the Montage Resort. Attendees also received valuable information on the different software tools, field BIM, leveraging new tools & existing data sets, and how BIM has been proven to be valuable. The future is now and a real opportunity exists for those progressive mechanical contractors that embrace this technology. May Construction Service can substantially reduce your “learning curve” and can act as an extension of your core project management team, or provide side by side training as you develop your internal staff capabilities. For a copy of the BIM slideshow, please click here to view the PDF and for more information on May Construction Services go to; http://mayconst.com/
Harris Companies: PHC News’ Contractor of the Year
Plumbing and Hydronic Contractor News recognized Harris Companies as their 2009 Contractor of the Year in the December issue of 2009 (please see link to article here). According to PHC News, Harris Companies was chosen based on “its dedication to the environment with its sustainable design principles and LEED-involvement programs, and successful commercial projects such as work completed at the TCF Stadium/University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, and St. Joseph’s Hospital, St. Paul.” Their main projects tend to focus on health care, mission critical, institutional, industrial and commercial markets. Harris Companies also takes pride in the fact that they are an employee-owned organization that is focused on long-term client satisfaction. While Harris Companies’ headquarters are based out of St. Paul, Minnesota, we are proud to have the Intermountain Branch based out of Salt Lake City, Utah, as one of our members. For more information about Harris Companies, please visit their website at www.hmcc.com.
National News
CONSTRUCTION UNEMPLOYMENT NEARLY DOUBLE OVERALL RATE
Construction industry unemployment reached 19.1% in October (62,000 jobs lost), nearly double the country's overall unemployment rate of 10.2% (190,000 jobs lost) and close to double the industry's 10.7% jobless rate of one year ago, according to the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. The construction industry's job loss rate is down from its 67,000 job loss per month average over the past six months, still better than the 117,000 average monthly job loss rate for the industry logged in the previous six-month period.
_READ_MOREOSHA PROGRAM WILL TEST CHARGES OF UNDERREPORTING
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently announced a new National Emphasis Program on recordkeeping that will test its ability to assess whether employers are under reporting workplace-related injuries and illnesses. The program, which became effective September 30, directs OSHA inspectors to scrutinize all 2007 and 2008 injury and illness records for a sampling of employees at selected workplaces in historically high-risk industries. OSHA said that the program was prompted by several recent academic studies that have asserted underreporting of injuries.
_READ_MORE