Metal Construction Association Winter Meetings Deliver

By Heidi J. Ellsworth, RCS president. 

Dale Nelson of Roof Hugger awarded Larry A. Swaney Award  

RoofersCoffeeShop® (RCS) is proud to be a partner with the Metal Construction Association (MCA). During their 2022 winter meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona, I was able to attend the meetings and learn more about the important initiatives of this association. 

The mission of the Metal Construction Association is to promote the use of metal in the building envelope through marketing, education and action on public policies that affect metal's use. Under the leadership of current Chair James Bush of ATAS International, the association continues to work to not only promote the use of metal in building architecture but also strive to generate important technical information for the ongoing improvement of installation practices. 

A highlight of the meeting was the awards program where several distinguished metal construction professionals were recognized. For the Larry A. Swaney Award it was incredibly exciting to see Dale Nelson of Roof Hugger receive this distinction. The award is entrusted to an individual who has worked unselfishly for the success of the association and the betterment of the metal construction industry as a whole. The recipient is recognized for reflecting the spirit of Larry A. Swaney, the founding president of the association and an individual committed to promoting communication, cooperation, sharing and unity, as well as fostering growth and enhancing the betterment of metal construction. 

Also recognized was Miguel Pena of GSSI for the Patrick R. Bush Service Award.  This award recognizes one individual from an MCA member company who has recently made significant volunteer contributions to the Metal Construction Association. Pena is the chair of the METALCON Liaison Committee, and worked endlessly with PSMJ, MCA’s partner for METALCON, to host a successful METALCON event last October. He was instrumental in executing the new METALCON Live monthly webinars. These webinars give people in the construction industry an opportunity to stay current with metal initiatives and to learn new techniques to ensure proper installation, and so much more. 

With several councils and committees reporting during the meetings, it was obvious that there is an emphasis on sharing the benefits of sustainability, durability, performance and safety. There were reports from the Codes and Standards committee chaired by Andy Williams of Panel Cladding Solutions and Bob Zabcik of Z-tech Consulting, the Technical Committee chaired by David Stermer of Metal Sales Manufacturing Corporation, the Market Development committee chaired by Lee Ann Slattery of ATAS and many more. All the committees are focused on providing information for the metal construction community around changing standards and ongoing metal success stories. 

The MCA also hosts several councils and alliances during their meetings. Renee Ramsey, executive director of the Metal Roofing Alliance presented the market growth of residential metal roofing and the growth of roofing contractors. The current chair of the MRA is Dick Bus of ATAS and according to him, “The Metal Roofing Alliance (MRA) is the leading voice for companies and professionals involved in the residential metal roofing industry. Since its inception in 1998, we have shown millions of people just how beautiful, durable and economical metal roofing can be.” With yearly studies and market analysis the MRA is showing that the growth of metal continues in double digits yearly. 

Additional councils including the Accessories Council, Insulated Metal Panel (IMP) and Metal Composite Materials (MCM), Retrofit, Roofing Council and Single Skin Metal Wall Panel Councils and Alliances reported to the membership. Reports included technical updates, market development initiatives along with a variety of new projects underway that will continue to provide great value to those in the metal construction industry. 

The MCA Winter and Summer Meetings are open to members and non-members. Attendance offers tremendous insights into everything about metal in construction. Save the date for the 2022 Summer Meeting is June 13-15, at the Hilton Rosemont/Chicago, 10 minutes from O’Hare International Airport. RoofersCoffeeShop will be there. 

Learn more about the Metal Construction Association by visiting their RoofersCoffeeShop directory or visit www.metalconstruction.org.