Articles

Stephen Borg

November 2016: Government Affairs

I write this column having just returned to Washington, D.C., after another great couple of days with the Mason Contractors Association of America at our Mid-Year Meeting in beautiful Scottsdale, Ariz. I’d like to send out a big thank-you to Mike and Colleen Sutter for hosting us in their home state and showing us how therapeutic and inspirational the Arizona landscape and sun can be.

Gary Micheloni

November 2016: Full Contact Project Manager

As you open this issue of Masonry Magazine, we enter into November, the holiday seasons of Thanksgiving, fall football, Black Friday, pre-Christmas, post-election, you name it. Politically, it may be a time of jubilation or condolences for you — depending!

George Hedley

November 2016: Business Building

If you were asked by a good friend to pour money down the drain, would you do it to make them happy and avoid conflict? No! Then why do you do it on construction projects for your customers? Contractors often try to avoid conflicts and keep their customers happy by not asking for extra money for work performed that is not included in their contract. Everyone knows additional work orders must be in writing before you start extra work if you want to get paid for it. But there are always a million excuses why formal approval for added work wasn’t obtained until after the work was performed.

Karen D. Hickey

October 2016: From the Editor

Each month, the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC of America) releases its analysis of U.S. Department of Labor data, with the latest construction employment statistics. And each month, almost without fail, the press release includes a call for more to be done to help attract workers to construction.

Michael Sutter

October 2016: Chairman’s Message

With the MCAA Midyear Meeting just completed, I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who helped put it all together. This was my first Midyear Meeting since becoming chairman, so I really didn’t know what to expect. There was a lot of preparation, for sure, but most of the work was done by Jeff and the rest of the staff at MCAA. Everyone was involved in some way or another, including Tim, Todd, Angie and Lorra. Thank you very much for making my first Midyear a success.

Stephen Borg

October 2016: Government Affairs

As President Obama ramps down his time in the White House and looks to his life beyond the political spotlight, some were hoping that he would go away quietly and not try to slip in new regulations as he left. Unfortunately, it appears that President Obama has other thoughts. He has ordered the Treasury Department to release a new proposed rule that would push back on Congress’ bipartisan resolution on the “death tax” and create a political wedge between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

Jeremy Douglas

October 2016: Trowel Tech

Mason contractors across the country face similar challenges when out in the field. With the help of Hohmann and Barnard’s director of technical services, Jeremy Douglas, Masonry delivers answers to some of your most technical, complicated questions.

George Hedley

October 2016: Business Building

If you were the general manager of an NBA basketball team, one of your top goals would be to have the best players in each position on your team. With only five players on the court at any one time, every one of them is critical to winning. If you don’t do a good job hiring the right players for the right positions, your team won’t win many games. And eventually the fans will stop coming out and spending their money with your company. In other words, the success of your winning team depends on having the right players on the floor at all times.

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