Notes on the NCMA Summer Convention

I am the Region 5, which covers most of the Western United States, Executive Committee Representative on the NCMA board of Directors. The other region 5 board members are: Eric Absalon (Basilite), Wade Ficklin (Oldcastle Architectural Inc.-West), and Matt Morey (Calstone Company Inc.). The Executive Board does a lot of the work for the organization. Bob Thomas is the executive director that is hired to manage the staff.

The NCMA Board meets twice a year to make sure that the organization is running smoothly (both financially and operationally). Since Bob Thomas has been the executive, the organization is running much more smoothly and there is currently a great opportunity to move NCMA forward.

NCMA does a great deal for the entire industry. However, the industry, from East to West, is very divided. Even on the west coast, California builds buildings differently from the Northwest. On the East Coast, they don’t have the same needs for reinforced masonry. At this point, NCMA represents the Masonry and SRW divisions of the concrete block business.

A partial list of what was covered at the most recent NCMA meeting:

1) NCMA has at long last completed an updated version of the SRW design manual. This document changed the height manufacturing tolerances from 1/8” to 1/16”. At this meeting, many of the producers complained that the new tolerances were too tight, especially for DIY type SRW’s. The Board agreed to change the tolerance back to the old 1/8”. Everyone seemed to agree that for big commercial jobs, the closer tolerances were warranted but not needed for most of the SRW produced.

2) The NCMA board agreed to proceed with a plan to bring ICPI back into a newly formed umbrella type organization. Details to be jointly worked out in future meetings. Now the ball goes back to the ICPI board for voting. NCMA believes that in these difficult financial times, merging the two organizations into one can save cost. Many members of NCMA are also members of ICPI. Mutual Materials has been very active in both organizations.

3) NCMA has reduced expenses tremendously, mainly by reducing staff and eliminating programs. The organization is budgeted to break even for the year.

4) The NCMA Foundation does not have any money left due to the poor performance of the stock market. The mission of the NCMA Foundation is to advance and support the concrete masonry industry and the public interest through research and education programs designed to meet the future needs of the industry. Several projects have been funded, not by the foundation, but by the Paul Lenchuck scholarship fund.

5) Many members are excited about a new program called Vision 2020. The Vision 2020 Program is a collective effort by national and regional industry partners to recapture lost masonry markets and expand by the year 2020. This is a collaborative attempt by MCAA (Mason Contractors Association of America), NCMA , BIA ( The Brick Industry) and other local masonry groups to get together and talk with local planning officials in an attempt to get the planning officials to require a certain amount of masonry on every building in the various municipalities. This type of program has been effective in parts of the USA.

If anyone would like more information, please contact me either by phone or e-mail.

Sincerely,

Jim Anderegg
janderegg@mutualmaterials.com
425-503-7047