IMI on Display at World of Masonry

Designers and builders learned a lot from the three IMI seminars on Masonry Construction and Detailing, Estimating, and Supervisor Training. They also learned that BAC/IMI is the single industry source for training and project assistance.

For those in the masonry business, the big event each year is the World of Masonry, held in conjunction with World of Concrete. And at this year’s show, held in January in New Orleans, one of the biggest attractions was BAC/IMI. In fact, “Team IMI” — BAC craftworkers, contractors, and consultants — was everywhere.

This year’s exhibit, which highlighted BAC plaster and cement masonry programs, also drew crowds for continuous presentations on Contractor College, refractory, diversity in recruitment, and arch design. Attendees learned more about IMI’s wide portfolio of training and technical services, and took advantage of IMI’s “The Masonry Doctor Is In” program, where staff architects and engineers provide on-the-spot answers and technical consultations.

In the show’s seminar program, IMI filled three of the ten slots with presentations on Masonry Construction and Detailing, Supervisor Training, and Estimating Masonry Projects, the latter by IMI Trustee Dan Schiffer of Schiffer Mason Contractors, Inc. (Holt, MI).

The show also attracted attention to the skilled craftworkers, including plasterers of the newly merged Local 6 Louisiana/Mississippi/ Alabama. Other highlights included the Masonry Camp tent and, of course, the skill and artistry of BAC craftworkers and IMI instructors.

On the exhibit floor, Team IMI stood out in a sea of 1,600 exhibitors, with a 1,500-square foot space that included mock up displays in nearly all the masonry trowel trades — plaster, refractory, brick, tile, marble, terrazzo, stone, and pointing/cleaning/ caulking/restoration.

“These shows do help our business and recruiting efforts,” says Joseph E. Herron of Stebbins Engineering & Manufacturing Co. (Port Allen, LA), which contributed exhibit materials for refractory, a masonry market that was new to many. “They bring attention to the skills needed to maintain the art of masonry.”

Merlin Taylor, President of Local 6, invited new signatory contractors to the show. Most had never attended such industry events. “Some were in awe and were not aware of all the products and services available… It was such a huge awakening… The fact that plastering was featured along with the other BAC trades, and that it was given enough of a spotlight at the show, made people realize what IMI and BAC had to offer and dispelled notions of a dying trade.”

In fact, one general contractor told Taylor that because of BAC and IMI he was going to start bidding more masonry. “Once he saw the services, and the people, he was ready to go,” says Taylor.

All told, some 60,000 construction professionals recognized Team IMI’s unique position in the masonry world as a provider of craftworker training and design and construction expertise in all the masonry crafts.