Around The Block - April 2022

2022 will be a exciting year in the masonry industry. COVID mandates have lifted and we are getting back to normalcy. More in person events are starting to take place! SCMA committees are meeting back in person. The SCMA 76^th Annual Conference is right around the corner in June! Even with great news we recognize that our industry continues to face challenges of driver and production labor shortages and supply chain issues. Whereas none of these are easy fixes, we can as the SCMA continue to leverage our institutional knowledge on best practices between companies to lessen the burden. Keep in mind, we’re all in this together!

James Cain, SCMA President

St. Simons Island is one of Georgia’s Golden Isles, lying midway between Savannah, GA and Jacksonville, FL. The islands are a popular resort playground, offering a mix of natural beauty, rich history, and quaint charm, coupled with the allure of inviting year-round weather. Visitors are enchanted by the natural canopy of moss-draped live oaks and the memorable Tree Spirits, hand-carved images of weathered faces that immortalize the area’s sailors who lost their lives at sea. The King and Prince offers a complete resort experience, including oceanfront dining at ECHO, beachfront activities to horseback riding, tennis, biking, and fishing. A variety of tours are available that provide samplings of the areas’s history and culture, whether by foot, bike, trolley, or boat.

Keynote speaker: Mr. Aris Papadopoulos is founder and chair of the Resilience Action Fund and Resilience International Action Fund. He authored the book “Resilience - The Ultimate Sustainability: Lessons from Failing to Develop a Stronger and Safer Built Environment.” He is also a 9/11 World Trade Center Survivor.

The industry has spoken in favor of the CMU Checkoff. On March 11, the board nomination process officially closed. Our region, Region 2, had the largest number of producers apply to the national board out of all five regions. Thank you to all the producers who stepped up and applied.

We expect the Commerce Secretary to possibly announce appointed members of the Concrete Masonry Products Board in May or June 2022. More exciting: the first organizational meeting of the new board could be as soon as summer 2022!

Mark Wilhelms and James Cain have been working since February on gathering feedback from producers, states executives, and other industry people. They have used this feedback to assist them in building out the roles and responsibilities for all five regions of the Regional Advisory Committee (RAC). The SCMA is excited to be asked to assist in building out the Regional Advisory Committee stucture with the goal of sharing recommendations to the national board at one of the first meetings in the summer.

Currently, the search is on the an interim CEO, Concrete Masonry Unit Checkoff (CMU). If you know of someone who is passionate about moving the induustry forward to have them to apply. We expect this to be a highligh sought after position! Learn more at Interim CEO (cmucheckoff.com)

In early May, the SCMA will hold a virtual meeting with all Region 2 producers to update them on the efforts being made at the national and regional level.

In March, James Cain and Mark Wilhelms, Midwest Block, gave an update on the Checkoff Program. SCMA members were well-represented at the meeting! Check out the photos!

Thank you to SCMA 2020-21 Board Chairperson, Sam Finney

The SCMA gratefully appreciates and recognizes Sam Finney of Tidewater Block for his dynamic leadership as SCMA Board Chairperson from 2020 – 2021.

SCMA Welcomes Mr. Jody Wall as the 2022-2024 Board Chairperson

“The SCMA is so blessed to have a list of great leaders within our association. Jody brings years of institutional knowledge and expertise to help us move the masonry industry forward,” said James Cain, SCMA President.

The Codes program was a huge success! We had over 585 code officials in person & virtual attend the SCMA/NCMCA 2hr. presentation titled “A Primer for Code Officials - Code Interpretation and Practical Application of Masonry.” This presentation was given in January, February, and March of this year. The positive feedback was unbelievable! Special thanks to Tina Subasic, Ryan Shaver, Doc McGee, Steve Stout, Tim Manning, and Lynn Nash for an outstanding job! The next step will be traveling to all five states within the SCMA to help code officials better interpret and understand masonry over the next couple of years.

Check out the photos!

Block 201 Seminar - Huge Success!

For the first time in nearly two years, the SCMA held its first in person event. With over 45 people in attendance, every seat in the room was filled. “It was so great to see producers sending their employees for training and the opportunity to network with their peers.” said James Cain, SCMA. We were blessed to have SCMA associate members Rich Matzke with Besser, Donnie Howard with Argos, and Kevin Vaughn with Vulcan sharing their institutional knowledge with the attendees.

Consultant, Frank Werner did a fantastic job presenting on ASTM C90 and C140 and managing the program. Special thanks to the SCMA Education Committee Chair, Chris Mitchell and full committee for the tremendous effort to make this happen! Great teamwork!

Check out the photos!

Do not miss out on the SCMA Concrete Masonry Academy! The SCMA has held over 85 courses over the last three years! You will find member courses and industry partner courses from around the country! Most are either free or a nominal charge.

Looking for More Knowledge in the Admixture World?

Launching SCMA BLOCKFLIX

Have you heard all the craze about SCMA BLOCKFLIX? Tired of watching the same videos on YouTube or TikTok videos that are too short? Looking for a way to boost employee morale? Be adventurous and setup a Movie and Lunch event for your employees and watch BLOCKFLIX. Leverage BLOCKFLIX while impressing your new employees with over 30 quality FREE videos. Quality content while deepen your knowledge of masonry!

The SCMA is extremely excited about our new partnership with Professor Ece Erdogmus, PhD, PE. She is the current Chair and Professor at the School of Building Construction at the Georgia Institute of Technology. We’re excited to be involved with the summer camp for high-school students on June 16. This will include a hands-on masonry wall building exercise that will also relate to some virtual tasks and technology use activities (they may “inspect” the wall with infrared camera, or laser-scan after construction, etc.). Special thanks to Robin Keenum on the GA Promotions Committee and Linda Potter with Hohmann & Barnard Inc. for establishing the relationship.

Michael Areheart with the SC Promotions Committee spent months trying to get a meeting with the university. Eddie Deaver has a good relationship with the lab and engineering department which helped with this process as well. The hard work is paying off with our first meeting held in March and second meeting scheduled for early April to discuss how to get masonry into the undergraduate and graduate degrees, their senior design class and future research opportunities and scholarship opportunities.

Pat Porter with Adams has been working to establish a new relationship with this school. Pat now has a relationship with Dr. Musibau A. Shofoluwe who is the Professor & Graduate Coordinator for their Built Environment and Science and Technology Departments. There is interest in several topics including: Masonry 101 Lecture, Hands on Installation Demonstration, sending different CMU products to display in their classes, and possibly a Plant Tour for the students and faculty. Pat attended the “Networking, Meet & Greet” held by the NC A&T Construction Management Dept. in Greensboro which was very well attended by faculty, general contractors, and students in the construction management/built environment program.

Fantastic weather for the NC State College of Design students to participate in a plant tour in Morrisville, NC along with a hands on demonstration led by Macy Williams of Brodie Contractors, Inc. This tour was a part of an ARC 232 course led by Grey Isley, PhD.

Check out the photos!

SCMA/NC State College of Block Wall Design & Unit Design Blockfest

Thanks to all the students who competed and supported the competition. The weather was chilly, but the competition was great! Thanks to Grey Isley of the NC State College of Design for hosting the Competition on campus. Special thanks to Adams Oldcastle and Johnson Concrete for their efforts to make this event a great success!

Check out the photos!

Great SCMA event at JMU! We had roughly 20 architectural design students that joined us for a 1hr. Masonry 101 presentation as well as 2hr. hands-on workshop.

Special thanks to Chandler Concrete, Roanoke Cement, and Valley Building Supply for the donation of supplies and, more importantly, donation of their time!

Check out the photos!

Great commitment from SCMA members to build an exciting future with East Carolina University. With the endowment in place through East West Products and the grassroots efforts taking place with Adams Oldcastle we are seeing our efforts paying off through block tours and Blockfest done annually.

Check out the photos!

Bennett Honored with Namesake Scholarship | Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

SCMA Architectural Scholarship

The Southeast Concrete Masonry Association (SCMA) has established the Paul LaVene Architecture Scholarship Program for full-time students engaged in the pursuit of an architecture undergraduate or graduate degree at eligible colleges and universities in the North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee. The purpose of this program is to support students pursuing a degree in the architecture field while encouraging innovative design, application, or utilization of manufactured concrete masonry and/or hardscape products in the build community.

Learn More

Georgia

On Feb 4, the SCMA was invited down to the GA Department of Education TIEGIA Winter Conference in Macon, GA to facilitate a hands-on Masonry 101 Workshop. Tim and Curtis with Pyramid Masonry did a fantastic job with hands-on demonstration and showing best practices. We had about 35 teachers attend the masonry session and it was just phenomenal. Great questions and, more importantly, hands-on training for them so they can go back to the classroom and share with their students.

In June 2022, the SCMA will be presenting a Masonry 101 Workshop at Camp T&I, an annual summer professional learning experience, which brings teachers together who can help students develop interest in these possible careers. More than 200 teachers will travel to the Golden Isles College and Career Academy for Camp T&I, which serves teachers in specific CTAE (Career Technical Agriculture Education) programs.

“This is really the cream of the crop in the state of Georgia that shows up here,” said Tim Elliott, program specialist for architecture, construction, communication and transportation for the Georgia Department of Education. “These are the ones wanting to better themselves so they can better the classroom.” The SCMA is very excited to have the opportunity to showcase masonry at such an event! This firsthand masonry industry knowledge is valuable to instructors who may be challenged with teaching the proper techniques to the students

Check out the photos!

Tennessee

The SCMA is working with MIT to get a statewide approved apprenticeship in place early 2024. We’ve also been asked to help write the TN Workforce Development Coordinator job description so this job can be filled in 2024.

The SCMA has been selected to present a “hands on” Masonry 101 Workshop at the 2022 Institute for CTE Educators at the Chattanooga Convention Center in Chattanooga TN in July.

The Institute for CTE Educators, commonly referred to as the Institute, is designed for high school CTE teachers and CTE Directors to engage through sessions, and workshops. Attendees have opportunities to explore instructional and resource best practices, network, and grow their individual professional focus on preparing students to meet the demands of the postsecondary pathway of their choosing.

North Carolina

NC Skills USA

SCMA member Fay Block Materials has agreed to supply the materials for 2022 NC Skills USA. It is exciting to see our associate and producer members rally around this April 28 event at the Greensboro event. SCMA members will donate their time and resources. With 80 high school students participating come out and be a part of this event!

Goldsboro Masonry Competition

SCMA member, Adams Oldcastle, set March 11, 2022 as the date for their 40th Annual Masonry Top Trowel/ Lineburner Contest for high school masonry programs in the eastern part of the state. This event always draws hundreds of students to compete as well as learn various companies who are exhibiting. Special thanks to Chris Mitchell and the Adams team!

Check out the photos!

South Carolina

SC Skills USA

SC Skills USA was held at the Greenville Convention Center with schools represented from all over the state. Special thanks to Michael Pike and the Adams Oldcastle team along with the McGee Brothers for a great event!

Check out the photos!

The SCMA has been selected to present a Masonry 101 Workshop at South Carolina Education & Business Summit on June 27-30 at the Greenville Convention Center for high school CTE teachers.

For more information, please contact James Cain at 704-352-6831 or jcain@scmaonline.org.