75 YEARS LATER: THE SMACNA & SMART PARTNERSHIP

SMACNA and SMART began working together to improve the sheet metal industry 75 years ago, long before anyone used “partnering” as a verb. Over the past three months, Partners in Progress has examined the factors that initially led SMACNA and SMART to the realization that the two organizations could achieve much more success working together than either could accomplish on its own.

While it is of interest to know the timeline and key accomplishments over the past 75 years, we shared the national partnership journey for another key reason—to inspire SMACNA contractors, Chapters, and Locals to begin or continue to work together at the local level to expand markets and create work opportunities for our respective members. Thanks to the efforts of the current and former SMART and SMACNA leaders, any Locals and contractors who recognize they must work together to make a difference have access to numerous resources and programs that will help them launch projects that will assist them in meeting their goals.

Wondering where to start? Check out and register to access pinp.org, the SMART-SMACNA Joint Best Practices Market Expansion Task Force website that serves as a clearinghouse for resources, educational programs, and proven industry best practices, including:

• Expertise Branding Logos Take advantage of SMACNA and SMART’s branding campaigns and sign up your company, Local, Chapter, or JATC to display the HVAC,

HVAC Expertise: It’s like blanket coverage for sheet metal

Wouldn’t it be great to have a guarantee that your HVAC system will work the way it was designed? Just look for the HVAC Expertise logo and rest assured you’re hiring the right team. Visit www.hvacexpertise.com or a local SMACNA contractor. E-P-01 Two wrongs don’t make a right. Something’s wrong. Your HVAC system isn’t working. You don’t care why—you just need it fixed. . . yesterday. How do you make it right? Look for the logo. Visit www.hvacexpertise.com or a local SMACNA contractor. Don’t add to your HVAC problems. Hire Expertise.

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Industrial, Architectural, and/or Green Expertise logos on its websites, marketing materials, letterhead, and all communications. • Free Professionally Prepared Ads for Marketing

Once you have incorporated the Expertise logos into your communications strategy, you will have access to FREE, professionally prepared ads to promote the advantages of hiring a contractor with the right expertise who will use professionally trained craftspersons on customers’ jobs. • Customizable Recruitment Ads, Banners, and Posters

Knowing what messages about the tremendous career opportunities in the sheet metal industry resonate best with potential applicants, parents, and guidance counselors is

#MJMGkey to any successful recruitment campaign. Professionally prepared recruitment ads are available in English and

Spanish. Some ads are designed so that local areas can enter starting wages for new employees who “earn while they learn” and wages for journeypersons. Other customizeable tools include banners for websites and posters for job fairs.

Ads and materials can be modified with local information, ordered and purchased through the website, and shipped directly, or they can be ordered for dowload and local printing. • Peer Recruiting/Brand Ambassador Program

Employees who have fulfilling, well-paid jobs will likely have the most influence inspiring their peers to seek career opportunities the sheet metal industry. Sign onto the “My

Job is My Gym” Industrial Athlete Brand Ambassador

Program and take advantage of the social media recruitment campaigns led by SMACNA and SMART. Industrial Athlete t-shirts for Brand Ambassadors and employees can also be ordered on pinp.org. Note recorded webinars are available that walk industry partners through the various recruiting resources and provide suggestions for incorporating them in local campaigns. • Partners in Progress Publications & Past Conferences

Need a refresher on what other Locals and Chapters are jointly working on in their local areas? Visit pinp.org to read current and back issues of Partners in Progress magazine, which feature industry success stories. Also posted are the presentations and materials from previous

Partners in Progress Conferences back to 2002.

Best Practices

There are certainly many resources and great ideas on pinp.org, but there are some additional things SMACNA and SMART affiliates can do to promote their partnerships and the industry.

• Enhance Labor & Management Attendance at the

Next Partners in Progress Conference Expose as many labor and management representatives as possible to the important presentations and messages at the 2022 Partners in Progress Conference, which will be held March 1-2, 2022, in Las Vegas. Follow the lead of successful Local 280 and SMACNA-British Columbia partners and bring new labor and contractor representatives to each conference.

Identify several apprentices who have the potential to become industry leaders. Bring them to the conference to learn why it is imperative that labor and management work together, and to get their fresh perspectives.

• Submit Local Success Stories to Partners in Progress

Take advantage of all the free, positive press coverage you can get for your joint labor-management initiatives.

Share details on local building projects, labor-management initiatives, recruiting or marketing campaigns, charitable events, or other success stories with the Partners in

Progress editors at press@pinp.org to be featured in the monthly magazine, a press release, and social media posts. This coverage can reach potential customers and job applicants, and it instills pride in members who have worked on featured projects.

• Invite the Best Practices Task Force to Meet in Your

Local Area The SMART-SMACNA Best Practices Market

Expansion Task Force meets twice annually to develop and refine industry resources and programs for labor and management partners. As in-person meetings resume, consider inviting the Task Force meet in your local area to share their work and ideas with some Local, contractor, and Chapter representatives. You will have the opportunity to ask questions and share your efforts. • Need a Resource But Can’t Find It? Reach out to the

SMART (ppimentel@smart-union.org) and SMACNA (mpowers@smacna.org) BPMETF staff representatives or to Partners in Progress (info@pinpmagazine.org) to inquire. They can recommend the appropriate resources or suggest to the Task Force new resources for development.

At the close of the 2020 Partners in Progress Conference, SMART General President Joseph Sellers, Jr. and SMACNA President Angie Simon challenged all the attendees to meet with their respective labor or management partners to identify areas of shared interest, whether those relate to recruiting, retention, business development, adapting to technological innovation, or other topics of importance, and work collaboratively to improve and promote the signatory sheet metal industry. The Best Practices Market Expansion Task Force and the Partners in Progress team have worked diligently to make it easy and affordable for local parties to accomplish their joint goals because our collective future depends on it. ▪

“#MJMG

• Follow Partners in Progress on Social Media See the innovative projects that labor and management partners are working on or building in their local areas.