WE ARE BUILDING IT... AND HERE THEY COME

While walking alone through a cornfield in 1989’s Field of Dreams, Kevin Costner’s character, Ray Kinsella, hears a strange whisper: “If you build it, they will come”.

That experience would send some of us running out of the haunted field as fast as we could, and it would leave others scratching their heads trying to figure out what “it” is that we are supposed to build. Fast-forward through some movie frames, and Ray discovers “it” is a baseball field. Ray takes a leap of faith, and when he builds the field, whole teams of dead baseball players show up to play.

Ray’s corn field stadium was pretty simple. Today, stadiums are $100 million dollar plus ventures that provide tremendous amounts of work and pride for sheet metal contractors and workers throughout the United States and Canada. It’s a given that it takes great labor-management collaboration to win coveted stadium work. Contractor and union representatives share requirements for becoming the successful bidder and performer on high-profile stadium projects that will be admired by sports fans for decades to come in “Plaing the Long Game” on page 4.

Labor and management in the sheet metal industry are not limited to building ductwork or showcase stadiums. We also build relationships. SMACNA New Mexico and Local 49 provide a great example of the way persistence and partnership can pay off. Industry leaders from New Mexico describe their joint efforts to educate state legislators and prove that labor and management can work together across political lines to secure fire life safety. Learn more in “Relationship Maintenance” on page 7.

© Can Stock Photo / Keifer

With record amounts of work projected in many jurisdictions, one of the most compelling needs is for SMACNA contractors and SMART Locals to work together to recruit the best potential talent for our industry. Learn how SMACNA Chapters, contractors, and Locals in Boston and St. Louis ran highly successful Heavy Metal Summer Experience camps in their areas this past summer in “Heavy Metal Summer Rocks Boston & St. Louis” on page 10.

When you’re the only person (or one of few) on a jobsite who looks like you, being in a room of 3,100 allies can be a very powerful experience. Tradeswomen Build Nations is the world’s largest gathering of tradespeople and leadership—find out how SMACNA and SMART represented at the 2022 event in “Tradeswomen Build Nations” on page 12.

Internal relationships likewise require building and nurturing. Doing that with difficult employees and co-workers presents a unique challenge. Workplace coach Joel Garfinkle shares his insight on how to deal with difficult co-workers and move beyond conflicts in “Moving Beyond Workplace Conflicts” on page 16. One of the important qualities of great leaders is decisiveness,

but many of us suffer from “analysis-paralysis” from time to time. Decisiveness may not be an innate, inherited trait, but that means it can be practiced and improved. Learn why being decisive does not always mean being perfectly right. Turn to page 18 for tips on “How to be More Decisive in Life and Leadership”.

Office work is certainly not for everybody. My Journey on page 20 features an apprentice in Waterloo, Iowa, who realized during engineering school internships that he did not like working in an office because he was more of a hands-on person. His discovery led him to a more fulfilling career in the commercial HVAC industry.

As we wrap 2022’s final issue of Partners in Progress, we are thankful to all those in labor and management who worked together to improve our industry in 2022. Our staff and the staff and the leadership of SMART and SMACNA wish all our industry partners a joyous holiday season and a healthy and prosperous 2023. ▪

BE4ALL CALENDAR 2023

This 2023 BE4ALL calendar is a tool for your members/ employees/colleagues to learn more about the different cultures and faiths that make up our ever-evolving industry. Each month highlights several important holidays/observances your peers may take part in and even a few that might be less familiar. In addition to noting the exact date of the observance, an explanation of that particular day’s significance and history can be found directly below the calendar.

Please post this calendar in a public space, such as a break room, lunchroom, or other communal meeting areas. By doing this, we hope you can use this resource to start meaningful conversations that will enable you to learn more about your colleagues and develop a new understanding of the different cultures, ethnicities, and faiths that make up the sheet metal industry. If you want to learn more about a particular day, scan the QR code so you can travel to the BE4ALL website where you can learn more about the history and tradition associated with a specific observance. ▪

We are bulding it ... and here they come.