MCAA 2009: It’s good for you and your business

Businesses across America are looking for new ways to boost their bottom lines and MCAA just may have some ideas. The association’s annual convention in Scottsdale, Ariz. (March 1–5, at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa), hosted by MCAA president Jack Wilhemi, will be loaded with business-building ideas and strategies for growth that will help contractor members rethink and retool their businesses while enjoying a needed break from winter’s worst in the warm Arizona sun.

Get on the BIM bandwagon

In response to the growing industry interest in technology-assisted building design, MCAA 2009 will offer three sessions on Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Intelligent Estimating. These sessions will help contractors take the important and increasingly necessary steps into this new age of technology.

Steve Shirley of University Mechan­ical & Engineering Contractors, Inc./an EMCOR company (El Cajon, Calif.) will lead a session in which he will share insights and the lessons he learned from implementing the BIM process over an eight-year period. He will focus not just on the detailing elements of this new and exciting technology, but on how the adoption of the process and the obstacles encountered have changed and enhanced all aspects of the contracting business.

For those who are just beginning to contemplate BIM for their businesses, Craig Pearson of Pearson Mechanical Services, Inc. (Hugo, Minn.) will lead a session that will explain why information technology (it) is essential to the successful implementation of BIM and that it must be treated as a foundation for the process and not as an afterthought.

The all-important legal questions that have emerged from this new technology will be the subject of an important session to be led by attorney Kerry Kester with the firm Woods & Aitken llp (Lincoln, Neb.). Claims, contracting patterns and contract document issues associated with automated estimating and BIM will be addressed, along with the legal ramifications of new technologies and design standards.

Helping the tough get tougher

With markets tightening, “business as usual” is yesterday’s news and MCAA has lined up speakers to help contractors find new ways to reposition their business for the changes and challenges that lie ahead.

Dr. Kevin Freiberg will be on hand to help business owners sail from a sea of sameness into an ocean of the extraordinary. He will discuss the choices that leaders and their people must make to create a culture of commitment and accountability in which people take charge of their professional lives and create the freedom to achieve incredible business results.

Business growth expert Steven S. Little will shake up contractors’ comfortable view of their business with a humorous and insightful look into the growth-stifling behaviors that are keeping new, promising opportunities at bay. He will discuss an array of strategies that business owners need in order to realize substantive change and significant growth.

More than ever in our recent history, business owners are looking for the magic bullet that will help them harness the elusive growth force that will produce new levels of excitement, innovation and energy for the task at hand as well as those envisioned for the future. Dr. Paul Stolz just may have found it -- the Adversity Quotient (AQ), a theory and a method for measuring and strengthening human resilience. Busines­ses that have applied AQ within their workforces have experienced increased capacity, productivity and innovation as well as lower attrition and higher morale. Dr. Stolz will lead a session at MCAA 2009 to explain the three important facets of AQ science--theory, measures, and methods--that stem from 40 years of research and 20 years of application.

Go green!

It’s not just a color anymore, but a new way of doing business and constructing buildings that makes the most of using less. The U.S. Green Building Council, which originated the LEED® rating system for high performance buildings, has instituted major changes to the system and Courtney France of France Sustainable Solutions (Denver) will explain what those changes are and how LEED points apply to them. She also will explain how mechanical and plumbing contractors contribute to a LEED project and what roles and responsibilities they will have within a design team. Contractors who have a LEED project in their future should plan to stop by this session.

How do you make an existing building better? Tim Wentz, University of Nebraska–Lincoln professor and a seasoned former contractor, will facilitate a session that reveals how retro-commissioning can significantly improve the performance characteristics of an existing building by lowering energy costs, avoiding system downtime, and reducing complaints from the building’s occupants.

Back to the future

The future is brighter than ever for the 120-plus college students who will attend MCAA 2009. They will meet and greet future employers throughout the week as they explore the mechanical contracting, plumbing and service industry and the career opportunities opening up for the most talented and best qualified.

Those candidates may be found at the finals of MCAA’s 2008–2009 Student Chapter Competition. Four teams of six members each will present their proposals for this year’s project, a 73,000-square-foot, two-story replacement hospital in northern California owned by the Howard family, owners of the world-famous racehorse Sea Biscuit. The teams, representing Northeastern University, Purdue University, University of Nebraska–Lincoln and University of Washington, will do their best to convince a panel of three judges that they are the best company for the job. The top prize will be $5,000, and the honor and glory of reaching this pinnacle of MCAA’s student chapter program is priceless for these aspiring young professionals.

Inspiring speakers

MCAA 2009 is not all business; the program also will make way for special moments with very special speakers.

Opening the convention is former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, who will present his view of our changing world and all of its accompanying challenges with reasoned, thought-provoking ideas. His unique insights are drawn from his study of the natural world; the biological revolution’s impact on health; the state of information systems; the effect of mass communications; the infrastructure and implementation of international finance; the benefits of lean manufacturing; the challenges presented by military, terrorist and international crime threats; and of course, America’s political system. Gingrich will demonstrate how lessons learned in one discipline can be applied in another -- and how all fields of study share a common connection to information technology.

Topping off MCAA’s Annual Awards of Excellence Ceremony will be a living legend to Notre Dame University football fans, Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger. The never-say-die player for the Fighting Irish, against all odds and during the last 27 seconds of Notre Dame’s last home game of the season, sacked opponent Georgia Tech’s quarterback (the only play in the only game of his college football career) assuring a win for his beloved team. Rudy’s inspiring story of how he achieved his life dream, and more important, how he pays forward his success by helping others, is carries life lessons for us all.

Sports broadcaster extraordinaire Bob Costas will close MCAA 2009 with stories of sports legends and events that only a behind-the-scenes reporter could know. Widely renowned for his thorough, intelligent, easy-listening commentary on regular and major sports events, Costas took center stage last summer as the principal anchor for the “NBC News” coverage of the Olympic Games in Beijing, China. His commentary on the pageantry and beauty of the opening ceremony, his interviews with the champion athletes and the stories behind their achievements brought home the drama and thrills that helped us all feel connected to the Games. He’ll share all of that and more for a memorable Closing Session. What a way to go!

This is just a taste of what MCAA 2009 will encompass. There’s lots more; more speakers to help contractors learn about and try out business-building ideas and ways to better enjoy personal time with family and friends; recreational events for relaxation and fun; and lavish, entertaining parties that never fail to delight and amaze. Most important, it’s a week that brings the mechanical industry together to build lasting relationships.