Trade News
EMBP Acquires Super Stud
Eastern Metal Building Products LLC, the parent company of EB Metal US, announced the acquisition of Super Stud Building Products Inc. The acquisition includes Super Stud’s affiliates, Galaxy Metal Products, DragonBoard USA and FroMar Structural Wall Panel System.
The combination of EB and Super Stud will create a company that offers greater product diversification over a larger geographic territory with the same focus on customer satisfaction that they’ve always had. The brands will continue to operate in present locations with their familiar names while adding reach and coordination that is better than ever. Expect EB Metal in New England and Super Stud in the Tri-State and Mid-Atlantic regions. Super Stud and EB Metal will serve the South from their existing locations in Mississippi and Alabama, respectively. Super Stud affiliates Galaxy, DragonBoard and FroMar will continue operations under the same names from current locations.
Eastern Metal will serve as the parent entity for all subsidiary companies, with Ryan Filion continuing as CEO. The existing management teams of all companies will stay on board in their current roles. “I am excited to be able to combine our EB family with the experienced, talented and well-led team at the Super Stud affiliated companies,” Filion said. “With our combined strength, we are now positioned well into the future to cover the needs of our ever-expanding customer base.”
“Ryan’s extensive knowledge of the drywall distribution marketplace will help leverage a wider distribution of our product line,” said Ray Frobosilo, founder and former owner of Super Stud. “I’m confident Ryan’s stewardship will continue the same commitment to excellence in serving our customers that we’ve practiced for over fifty years.”
Founded in 1973 by Frobosilo, Super Stud Building Products is a manufacturer of the industry’s most innovative and diverse offerings of cold-formed steel framing components and accessories for use in the construction of commercial, institutional and residential structures. Super Stud has facilities in Edison, N.J., and Hattiesburg, Miss.
Founded in 2011, Eastern Metal is a New England-based metal stud manufacturer that has distinguished itself in the steel framing industry with its high customer service orientation. Eastern Metal adopted the EB Metal brand name from the founder, Robert Leonard in Montreal, who helped Bob and Ryan Filion establish the U.S.-based EB Metal business. The two companies continue to have a strong working relationship today.
Wisconsin Bricklayer Wins SPEC MIX Competition—Again
Wisconsin mason Michael Schlund made history at the SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 World Championship by becoming the first back-to-back winner since its inception in 2003. Schlund, with the help of his mason tender, Aaron Kowalski, laid 752 bricks in one hour to claim the title “World’s Best Bricklayer.” In addition to retaining his bragging rights, he’s also now the proud owner of a new Chevy Silverado Super Crew 4x4 truck, an Essick Pro12 Mixer and more than $15,000 in added cash and prizes.
Marking the event’s 22nd anniversary, SPEC MIX, LLC, hosted the competition. Renowned as the “Super Bowl of Masonry,” the action-packed bricklaying battle took place in front of thousands of spectators at the World of Concrete expo in Las Vegas.
For 60 minutes, Schlund and Kowalski battled against 25 other world-class masons from across North America to lay as many bricks as they could with as few craftsmanship errors as possible. The champion team, working together like a finely tuned machine, proved the competition is a true test of human skill, speed and stamina designed to determine the best craftsman in the masonry industry.
This was Schlund’s fifth time competing in the championship round after winning the Wisconsin Regional Series qualifier competition. In 2023, Schlund and Kowalski teamed up to put down 759 bricks to claim their first victory and World Champion title. This year, the two reunited to take on what was arguably the most skilled field of competitors in event history, including three-time champion Fred Campbell from Tennessee. And, for the second year in a row, Schlund left Las Vegas with the keys to a new pickup truck, a payload of cash and prizes, and the heavyweight belt declaring him the reigning World’s Best Bricklayer!
While on the winners’ stage, event emcee Tom Clark asked the champ, “How does it feel winning back-to-back?” Schlund responded, “Crazy, just crazy—I was more nervous this year laying than last year!” Schlund and Kowalski had a huge group of fans in the crowd. Using their cheers and support as motivation, they remained laser-focused to meet the judging criteria; a steady pace to result in a high brick count. Schlund was feeling anxious about the backside of his wall, thinking he could’ve done better. Yet, even after the judging session was over, his wall not only had the most brick, but it also had zero craftsmanship deductions. “Weeks before we left for Las Vegas, Aaron and I practiced 10 times trying different strategies,” Schlund continued. “I’ve got to thank the guys who donated the brick and my boss for buying the SPEC MIX mortar for us to practice. And I need to look up at my buddy, Joe. He passed away about a week after I won the event last year—I know he was smiling down on us today.”
PCA Reports Cement Manufacturers Ready to Fulfill Demands
Portland Cement Association leadership discussed testimony provided at the “Opportunities in Industrial Decarbonization: Delivering Benefits for the Economy and the Climate hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.”
“The issue is scalability,” said Mike Ireland, PCA President and CEO. “America’s cement manufacturers, who have spent and continue to spend millions of dollars to develop more sustainable products and have complied with EPA regulations for decades, have the facilities, the materials and the workforce in place to supply the nation’s immediate demand for resilient and dependable construction products.
“The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act aims to provide $550 billion worth in construction projects across the country by 2026,” Ireland continued. “America’s cement industry will be able to deliver millions of tons of its products to fill this steep order expeditiously, as well as satisfy the demands of the U.S. private sector.”
“As incumbent cement manufacturers, our companies recognize the importance of collaborating with policy makers, NGOs and technology innovators to expedite our industry’s arrival at carbon neutrality,” said Sean O’Neill, PCA senior vice president of government affairs. “For more than 100 years, PCA members have proudly supplied the building materials to meet our nation’s infrastructure needs, whether that is the Eisenhower Interstate System, the Hoover Dam or the Empire State Building, and we will continue doing so while lowering our carbon intensity and maintaining our industry’s commitment to sustainability. The demand for resilient and dependable infrastructure will only increase, and just as we have in the past, the cement industry is poised to meet that demand.”
New Rule About Misclassifying Workers as Independent Contractors
The Wage and Hour Division’s SWACCA-supported final rule making it harder to misclassify workers as independent contractors took effect on March 11. SWACCA’s advocacy team has been working on this final rule since the previous presidential administration issued a revised interpretation of these standards that broke with decades of longstanding regulatory guidance and made it easier to classify construction workers as independent contractors. SWACCA has advocated for over three years for this new rule that reinstates the longstanding six-factor “totality of the circumstances” test developed by well-understood federal court decisions.
While the final rule took effect on March 11, the fight is far from over. SWACCA is engaged in battling Congressional Review Act resolutions in the House and Senate that seek to nullify this rulemaking. SWACCA is also monitoring ongoing litigation in several federal district courts seeking to invalidate this final rule.
EIMA Launches AIA Course on EIFS With Drainage
The EIMA Promotion Working Group announced the launch of an AIA course titled “Performance and Design Benefits of Today’s High-Performance Exterior Insulation and Finish Systems with Drainage.”
The course marks the first time that EIMA has launched an AIA-CES educational offering on behalf of the industry in several years. The course is meant to provide a general overview (e.g. EIFS 101) on EIFS with drainage. The course-taker will learn the outstanding performance attributes of EIFS with drainage and how EIFS has evolved and offers drainage, WRBs and finishes more than ever.
To expand reach, EIMA engaged professional copywriters and is housing the course on Hanley Wood University’s portal.
While Hanley Wood is promoting the course as part of its university offering, EIMA encourages members to publicize the availability of the course so that as many architects and designers as possible can get educated about today’s EIFS with drainage.
For any questions or additional information about the course, contact Laurie Joseph, EIMA’s senior director via email at Ljoseph@eima.com.
https://www.wconline.com/articles/96124-eima-launches-aia-course-on-eifs-with-drainage
SPFA Announces Winners of Excellence Awards
The Spray Polyurethane Foam Alliance announced the winners of the 18th Annual SPFA National Industry Excellence Awards on March 6. Winners of the program, which is sponsored by Arkema and Evonik, are contractors recognized for having some of the spray foam industry’s recent outstanding projects. Winning contractors have demonstrated exceptional practices in the application of spray polyurethane foam as insulation, roofing, specialty applications and concrete lifting, as well as for noteworthy elastomeric coatings applications. The SPFA recognized all winners March 5 during a classic Vegas-themed awards ceremony held during lunchtime at the SprayFoam 2024 Convention & Expo in Las Vegas.
New to the awards program this year was the Small Business Award, which was given to Palmetto Spray Foam Insulation for the contractor’s Air Force Base C-17 Hangar project in Charleston, S.C. Palmetto’s project received the most total votes from both the panel of judges as well as the SPFA membership.
AGC Reports Construction Industry Adds 23K Jobs in February
The construction industry added 23,000 jobs in February—the most since August—as a strong gain in employment at nonresidential contractors offset a small decline at residential firms, according to an analysis of new government data the Associated General Contractors of America released March 8. Association officials noted that new figures on the number of job openings in the industry underscore the challenges firms are having finding enough qualified people to hire amid strong demand.
“Nonresidential contractors stepped up their hiring in February,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “But job openings and spending data released earlier this month suggests hiring would be even more robust if construction firms could find enough qualified workers.”
Construction employment in February totaled 8,162,000, seasonally adjusted, an increase of 23,000, or 0.3 percent, from the upwardly revised January total. The sector has added 215,000 jobs during the past 12 months, a gain of 2.7 percent. Employment at nonresidential construction firms—nonresidential building and specialty trade contractors along with heavy and civil engineering construction firms—climbed by 24,200 positions for the month and 158,500 (3.4 percent) since February 2023. Residential building and specialty trade contractors shed 1,200 employees in February but added 56,800 (1.7 percent) over 12 months.
Average hourly earnings for production and nonsupervisory employees in construction—covering most on-site craft workers as well as many office workers—climbed by 4.9 percent over the year to $35.21 per hour. Construction firms in January provided a wage “premium” of 18.5 percent compared to the average hourly earnings for all private-sector production employees.
Government reports on job openings and construction spending earlier this month show that demand for construction workers and projects remains solid, Simonson said. Job openings in construction at the end of January totaled 407,000, not seasonally adjusted, topping the 352,000 workers hired. The job openings data implies that contractors want to hire far more workers than they can find, Simonson added. In addition, spending on projects underway that month totaled $2.1 trillion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, 12 percent higher than a year earlier.
https://www.wconline.com/articles/96111-construction-industry-adds-23-000-jobs-in-february
Spackle by Dave Coverly
People News
ClarkDietrich announced the impending retirement of its President and CEO Jim Collins. Collins, who has been at the helm of ClarkDietrich since 2017, will step down March 31, 2025. Brian Panuccio, the company’s current chief commercial officer, has been tapped to take the reins upon Collins’s departure.
Panuccio
Collins
Barnaby Tool and Equipment announced Equipment Account Manager Raúl Rendon has joined the company at the North American headquarters in metro Atlanta.
