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Find-a-Contractor Masonry Buyer's Guide
February 2019

Show Your Love For The Industry

Chairman’s Message

By

I always equate February as the month of love.

You may be thinking at this point that it is totally inappropriate for me to talk about love and my personal life in my Chairman’s Message. Although I do love my wife and plan to treat her to a nice dinner out for Valentine’s Day, I plan to talk about the love of masonry and love of our teams.

I’ll start with the love of the industry. I love masonry of all kinds. A few things I love about it include: strength, endurance, aesthetics, variability, sustainability, craftsmanship, beauty, arches, clean lines, decorative details, unique patterns and on and on you get the point.

To me, it’s not just an art. It’s more than that. As I said above, it’s strength, endurance, and sustainability make it a smart building material. Why else would institutions of higher education almost always look to masonry? They’re constructing buildings to last. These buildings are worth lasting because of the aesthetics and value they bring to the campuses. As I drive around and see so many tilt-walls and stick-frame buildings going up, I can’t help but think we’re now building many buildings just like everything else in our life – disposable.

But it’s not all gloom and doom. With programs like the Check-Off program, we can help fight to get our wall share back. Remember to talk to your block suppliers about your support of this program to help push this along. Visit www.cmucheckoff.com to learn more about this.

But back to love – the other thing I think is important about the love of the masonry industry is that you show and teach your love to your teams. Let me clarify. I’ve talked before about the sense of pride I have in the buildings me and my team have built. If you’re reading this, you’ve probably got at least a few you’re proud of. Like I said above, they’re there to last. This means you can show your kids, your grandkids, and, if you lived long enough, even your great-great grandkids. This love, this pride of what you build, is what I encourage you to instill in your team. This pride can be contagious and really help with your ability to recruit new talent. Everyone wants to be proud of what they’re doing deep down. Your team will appreciate any recognition of the work they’ve done.

That takes me to my next point that I wanted to discuss – love of your team: the men and women you work with. Whether you are a mason, an office coordinator, a project manager, an estimator, a laborer, a foreman, or even the owner of the company, I encourage you to love your team. Show them you care by treating them with respect. Everyone deserves that.

Let’s face it though. That’s not always easy to do. There will be times when you don’t agree on something, or mistakes are made. The key here isn’t that you disagree – it’s how you disagree. I’m a big believer that you always get more with honey than you do with vinegar. If you do this, your team will love working with you, and if they love working with you, chances are they’ll reciprocate. This will make you love working with them too and the cycle continues. I realize that this may not always work in every case but, for the most part, my experience is that this is the key to having a good working culture.

I think we can all agree that we all could use a little more love in this world. John Lennon said “all you need is love,” and while I don’t agree with him 100%, I challenge you to show your love this month (and always) – both love for masonry and your love for your teams.

Until next month... Happy Valentine’s Day!

Chairman’s Message Archive

The American Dream

August 2019
The American Dream

Doing Our Part

May 2019
Doing Our Part

Preparing for D.C.

April 2019
Preparing for D.C.

Recent Updates

September 2018
Recent Updates

Masonry’s Future

August 2018
Masonry’s Future

Worthwhile Work

June 2018
Worthwhile Work

A New Beginning

February 2018
A New Beginning

Givers Gain

January 2018
Givers Gain

Things to Remember

March 2017
Things to Remember

Looking Forward

February 2017
Looking Forward

A Fresh Start

January 2017
A Fresh Start

Who Moved My Cheese?

September 2016
Who Moved My Cheese?

Giving back

December 2015
Giving back

An exciting year ahead

February 2015
An exciting year ahead

Defining success

December 2014
Defining success

Staying busy for you

August 2014
Staying busy for you

Ready for action

February 2014
Ready for action

Thanks

January 2014
Thanks

Happy holidays

December 2013
Happy holidays

MCAA Midyear update

November 2013
MCAA Midyear update

The MCAA in D.C.

August 2013
The MCAA in D.C.

A Lot Happening

July 2013
A Lot Happening

Eye opening

June 2013
Eye opening

Positive movement

March 2013
Positive movement

Headed to Vegas

February 2013
Headed to Vegas

New beginning

January 2013
New beginning

It’s finally over

December 2012
It’s finally over

My trip to the Rockies

November 2012
My trip to the Rockies

The 2012 election

October 2012
The 2012 election

Stay involved

September 2012
Stay involved

Networking

August 2012
Networking

Summer time

July 2012
Summer time

Exciting time

June 2012
Exciting time

Working for you

May 2012
Working for you

New beginnings

March 2012
New beginnings

Farewell!

February 2012
Farewell!

One more to go!

January 2012
One more to go!

Join us in Vegas

November 2011
Join us in Vegas

As the world turns

August 2011
As the world turns

A Bright Future

May 2011
A Bright Future

Tidbits From MCAA

March 2011
Tidbits From MCAA

Time Flies By

February 2011
Time Flies By

The End of the Year

December 2010
The End of the Year

Busy Times!

November 2010
Busy Times!

South of 40

October 2010
South of 40

What Are We Doing?

August 2010
What Are We Doing?

Moving Forward

March 2010
Moving Forward

A Fond Farewell

February 2010
A Fond Farewell

A New Year

January 2010
A New Year

Start the Year Strong

December 2009
Start the Year Strong

MCAA in D.C.

September 2009
MCAA in D.C.

Brick Voids

August 2009
Brick Voids

Vision 2020

February 2009
Vision 2020

State of the Association

February 2009
State of the Association

The Silver Lining

January 2009
The Silver Lining

Impact on the Hill

June 2008
Impact on the Hill

New Horizons

February 2008
New Horizons

Wrapping up Another Year

December 2007
Wrapping up Another Year

Greetings From Italy!

November 2007
Greetings From Italy!

We Need Your Help!

January 2005
We Need Your Help!

The Strength of Unity

November 2003
The Strength of Unity

Changing of the Guard

February 2002
Changing of the Guard

“We can make a difference together and bring masonry back.”

Paul Oldham
Ollier Masonry, Inc.
MCAA member since 2001

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