Serving the Industry Has Been a Rewarding Experience

President’s Message

By G. Alan Griffin

Eight years ago when I was first elected to one of the four senior officer positions with the Mason Contractors Association of America I looked into the future at the eight year commitment that I had just made in agreeing to serve as a senior officer and thought that the next eight years would seem like an eternity.

Looking back over the last eight years and especially over the past two years as the President of the association I marveled how completely wrong my assumptions were. The last eight years have passed in what seems like a blink of an eye.

The last eight years have been extremely rewarding to me as I have dedicated myself in trying to provide the best service I can to the advancement of our industry and our association. I can look back with pride at all that we have accomplished for our industry's mason contractors.

Our association has worked very hard in attempting to build an industry that is more unified and works more cooperatively. I believe that we have taken the first steps toward achieving a more unified industry. And I believe that the next two years will be extremely exciting as we witness the industry working more in sync with each other and not at odds with one another as has been the case in the past.

During the past two years, we have won many battles for the mason contractor. We have seen success in government regulations and building codes. We have gained influence in exposing our customers to the benefits of using masonry. We have brought the industry a little closer through stronger ties with our chapters and members. We have communicated better with all of the industry's mason contractors through an ever improving Masonry Magazine and our association website. We have exposed hundreds of thousands of high school students and thousands of high schools to the benefits of a career in masonry. We have put a face to masonry with our elected official's in our nation's Capital. And we have made membership in the Mason Contractors Association of America more valuable to our members.

While the past two years have been very rewarding to me, I wouldn't be honest if I didn't express a few regrets . I regret that more of you hopefully reading this article haven't joined the MCAA. Maybe many of you believe that you are already a member because you are reading this magazine or because you are a member of a local mason contractor association. As my term gets ready to expire later this month at our annual convention, I only wish that I had a little more time to convince each of you join us today. The success of everything that we do as a national association depends on the size and strength of our association and the amount of resources we have available?simply put, more members giving more money to support our programs.

The MCAA is combating competitors with larger budgets aimed at taking away masonry markets. The associations that represent the tilt-up and precast industries have large annual budgets. Their members wholeheartedly support their national initiatives through dues. Is it any wonder why we have lost market share to these competitors? There are 17,000 mason contractors in our country and only 1,000 are members of the MCAA. Think of what we could do if everyone joined the national association. I hope that you will all join the association and lend your financial support to the incoming officers of the MCAA. Give them the financial tools to finish the job that has been started and maybe we can all look back two years from now and marvel how successful we have been in building stronger masonry markets.