Expect Professional Growth Through Relationships
Date:March 01, 2018
Contact:Dave Koubek, Chairman of the Metal Building Manufacturers Association
Those professionals who pick the right partners succeed. We know that instinctively, but it becomes even clearer when we think it through. Consider, for example, all that we have learned about this industry through our interaction with publications like Metal Construction News and Metal Architecture. Think about the many benefits we've all received by partnering with industry-leading organizations like the American Institute of Steel Construction, Design Build Institute of America and Metal Building Contractors & Erectors Association. Just think of all that we learn from contractors and erectors, developers and owners. I know I truly enjoy learning about the wide variety of businesses that depend on metal building systems to house their operations.
Solid, trusting relationships are essential for everyone who intends to succeed. Some of the strongest relationships I've developed are with the members of the Metal Building Manufacturers Association (MBMA). That's really why I wanted to take on the chairmanship of the association for 2018. I'm very excited because we're all working toward a common goal: to transform the non-residential construction marketplace by demonstrating that metal building systems are the most flexible, cost-effective and most durable building type available in the construction market today.
Relationships Promote Vision
MBMA's vision is backed by an understanding of the opportunities that the association creates to build relationships and to influence change. External educational offerings are a key. MBMA already has a wide variety of videos, podcasts and webinars that are effective tools for anyone in the architecture, engineering and construction industry. Now is the time to take this information, expand upon it and promote it to further enhance the perceptions and preferences that will make metal buildings more valued than ever. We will also reach out to more audiences to educate the financial and insurance industries, and to further the education of code and building officials.
As we branch out and broaden the reach of our message and our relationships, there is one audience that is extremely important: the Millennials-those women and men in their 20s to mid-30s. They will be tomorrow's metal building proponents, tomorrow's senior decision makers and the developers of the future. They will be taking over your job and mine in the next few decades.
We not only need to understand them and the way they work, but to help them understand and communicate the value of metal building systems construction: how fast it goes up, how adaptable its construction is, how resilient the buildings are and how eco-friendly the materials are. After all, what other building product is as recycled and repurposed, or that utilizes natural resources so effectively? The future rests with those who will carry the banner into that future, and I hope we are building those relationships, raising them up and training young leaders who can carry on the passion we feel for the industry forward to future generations.
Sustaining Great Strategic Objectives
At MBMA, we've created some meaningful objectives for the future, and we hope you'll reach out and help get others in your organization involved in the association. MBMA's strategic plan provides many opportunities for you to get involved. A strategic plan on paper is great, but we need your best people to help bring a plan into reality. You really should join us to find out which of our future objectives and initiatives that follow will bring the most opportunity for you, your company and the future of our industry.
Leverage the technical capabilities within MBMA through research, code activities and technology transfer to increase the competitiveness and acceptance of metal buildings with respect to other forms of construction.
Enhance and elevate the perception of metal building systems as a high-quality, adaptable, durable building construction approach that produces economy, speed to market and single-source control.
Grow the MBMA membership and create better engagement with current members.
Create an active outreach and advocacy program that supports the growth of the industry.
Support the core values of safety and the six safety principles.
Educate the designers, owners, our members and future designers of metal building systems.
Generate studies on the non-residential construction market to create better market intelligence for MBMA member companies.
With these initiatives, we'll also complete the research necessary to show that metal building systems are faster to market and more economical for owners.
As you can tell, we're working hard to help the industry on every level, but the reality is that the relationships we cultivate make all of this possible. There's no secret recipe for making an industry great. It's all about people who exhibit drive, ambition, intelligence and passion. By working together, we benefit each other and raise the bar. Contact Dan Walker at mbma@mbma.com to get active in MBMA and to help us build a better future for us all.
Dave Koubek is chairman of the Metal Building Manufacturers Association. More information about the association is available at www.mbma.com.
Metal Construction News March 2018