Students Learned About Industry Opportunities at GreatFutures Forum

Day two of MCAA’s Great Futures Forum opened with an energetic video. See for yourself!

Career Development Committee Member Jon Finch noted that MCAA’s annual career-related conference has grown from and event with 60 attendees to this year’s more than 300.

MCAA President Greg Fuller welcomed attendees to his hometown of Indianapolis, saying “I’m delighted to note that this year we have our largest attendance ever, by a wide margin.” His remarks highlighted the opportunities the mechanical industry offers, both in terms of great futures and lifelong learning available from MCAA.

Before we begin our sessions, I’ve been asked to offer a few serious words of advice. Let me start with a few words about myself, so you know where I’m coming from.

I’m the owner of North Mechanical Contracting, a mechanical construction and service contractor serving commercial, industrial, life sciences, institutional and public sector clients across central Indiana.

I started by becoming a journeyman plumber in 1985, became a superintendent and joined North Mechanical in 1991 as a Project Manager. I transitioned into the company’s leadership as Vice President and purchased the company in 1997, becoming President and Owner. I know you can do the math… that’s 12 short years from starting at the company to becoming it’s owner and president.

And that is just the type of opportunity you can find in the mechanical industry.

All it takes is the willingness to work hard, be willing to take on new responsibilities, and continue learning throughout your career.

For example, our industry is always one of the first to incorporate the latest advances in technologies and practices into our companies – ever increasing use of tablets, Smartphones and apps, augmented and virtual reality, BIM and LEED, drones and total robotic stations. They are changing the way we do business, manage projects and relate to our customers.

Education is a priority at MCAA – in fact, we call ourselves the “education association.” Our education programs for your career include:
– an Institute for Project Management and an Advanced Institute for Project Management;
– an Advanced Leadership Institute for senior executives;
– an annual conference for our contractors specializing in the service side of our business;
– an annual conference that focuses on fabrication and modularization, two trends virtually transforming the way projects are built;
– an annual conference on construction technology;
– an annual conference focusing on the all-important topic of jobsite safety;
– and many, many other conferences, seminars, workshops, webinars, publications and apps…I could go on, but my point is that MCAA member companies take education very seriously, and so do we as their association.

There are people here who have started incredibly successful careers and companies using these resources and educational programs. I dare say that you can, too.

We have a lot of resources on the web.

MCAA.org has hundreds of these same publications that you can download, for free. You just need to create a profile, identify your student chapter, and you’re in.

And the mcaagreatfutures.org website has been redone and relaunched this week to provide news on our student chapters and our industry and assist you in getting your resume in front of our members. If you haven’t logged in and uploaded your resume, talk to Adrienne or Megan or Harlee or any of the staff here and get that done today.

So I’ve told you that in my opinion, you will find more success, more variety of responsibility at an earlier age, and more exposure to new technology with one of our companies that with a gc. I firmly believe that.

What I want to add is that the mechanical industry is a family, where people build connections and develop life-long relationships.

We all watched with horror as Hurricane Harvey flooded homes and vehicles across Houston. The destruction devastated over 350 individuals in MCAA’s family, folks who work for member companies. MCAA started a disaster relief fund, and in three weeks we raised a significant amount of money and were able to cut checks totaling 443 thousand dollars to these individuals to help them rebuild their lives.

That’s family. It’s our family. And we’re inviting you to join it.

In closing, let me say that I have no doubt that whatever path you follow, you are going to have a great future! I look forward to seeing many of you at our annual convention in March in San Antonio, and at the finals of the student chapter competition there.

So enjoy your time here, please take advantage of the educational and networking opportunities, and please join me in giving yourselves a round of applause for being here! After all, we are the champions!