August 2006 Industry Leader:

When the Michigan Concrete Association (MCA) hired Bernie Cawley as their new director of marketing 10 years ago, little did they know that he would be pivotal in the Association's 400 to 420 percent growth, as well as bring educational and non-dues income opportunities to the members.

"We're one of the few associations that has more non-dues revenue (from training, affinity, building rentals, etc.)," he explains, "which allows us to keep our dues level reasonable and provides opportunities to get in front of non-members (contractors, architects and engineers, etc.) and offer different classes to them. It allows for freedom, because we're not always having to go to the members with dues increases to fund the development of new or additional programs."

As the director of marketing and administration for MCA, Cawley has put a lot of thought into the fact that the industry is extremely technical. "But consumers aren't interested in the technical aspects, they want a nice-looking quality product," he adds.

After 20 years in the office furniture industry and working in marketing for Fortune 100 companies, Cawley has learned to pick up on swings in the industry. For example, three years ago he says he noticed a shift in the "complaint" calls MCA was getting.

"They used to be 90 percent 'my driveway is cracking'," he explains. "All of a sudden, they were all about decorative concrete problems. The sudden shift indicated a problem with decorative concrete.... and there wasn't any formal training [in it] then."

Because he also noticed that most manufacturers didn't offer hands-on training, Cawley and the MCA put together a decorative concrete contractor certification program that tests written and hands-on skills through both a book test and a field performance exam (each student is assigned to a concrete pad they finish themselves throughout the training).

To date, MCA has had about 300 students through the program, which also requires American Concrete Institute (ACI) flatwork certification. Out of the 300, 100 have been certified through ACI and thus received their certification through MCA.

Cawley says the MCA requires ACI certification because "we figure if you can't do flatwork, you can't do decorative." ACI certification also requires documented hours of experience, so Cawley says that indicates people aren't getting into decorative (and thus getting their MCA certification) on a whim.

"ACI flatwork certification shows they are qualified, experienced people and we take them to another level through our decorative certification," he adds.

MCA's certification programs include Field Testing Technician (Level I), which covers the fundamentals of concrete and how to perform the basic tests in the field; Advanced Concrete Technician (Level II), which features mix design theory, strength evaluation, aggregates, troubleshooting and more; ACI Concrete Laboratory Testing Technician (Grade I) for technicians who routinely perform ASTM tests for concrete aggregates and cylindrical test specimens in the lab; ACI Concrete Strength Testing Certification, which covers the ASTM standards necessary for competence in testing and evaluating concrete strength; and ACI Flatwork Finisher Certification and Decorative Concrete Certification.

MCA's decorative concrete seminar and certification program is tailored for the concrete professional looking for hands-on training and market information that will diversify their current concrete offerings. It features two full days of application instruction mixed with business-essential topics such as costing, pricing, and promotion that provide the tools necessary for individuals or companies interested in entering the decorative concrete market.

With the goal of eventually getting all of Michigan's decorative concrete contractors through MCA's certification program in Lansing, Cawley says he also hopes specifiers start requiring the certification on jobs. He notes that some municipalities and architects are requesting certification, but most need to be educated as to why they should specify it.

"We want to show them how attractive decorative concrete is and make them aware of the product and that there's a good base of quality installers to use," adds Cawley.

To that end, the MCA has been building a base of certified contractors and promoting this base to groups through advertising, direct mail, and engineering and architectural seminars. They also have monthly columns in a number of Michigan newspapers, which pose questions such as why it's important to use a certified contractor, all in order to educate consumers.

Cawley says that consumer education has also been bolstered by all of the home shows on television. "Decorative concrete's a fairly popular topic on shows," he laughs. "People are much more aware from a commercial aspect as well, it's in stores, restaurants and on city streets...they're learning it's an attractive look that's long wearing and low maintenance."

Noting that the decorative concrete market has been growing by leaps and bounds, Cawley says, "There's been a lot of interest in our certification, but we have to turn a lot of that away because our program is only Michigan based."

Cawley says that the intent has always been to eventually have somebody like ACI take over MCA's certification program. "ACI has been through our training and started a committee," he adds, "but it could take between three and 10 years to get a formal certification program up and running...We feel national certification could add a lot of value to the decorative concrete industry.

"We're the only state in the U.S. that offers decorative concrete certification," he notes. "We know it's the wave of the future and we saw the need."

For Cawley, filling needs is a passion he brings to the table every day at work. "I've always seen a need and tried to fill it," he explains, adding that his job is anything but rote. "I don't do the same thing two days in a row, there's always something new happening."

At then end of the day, it's the people that make it all worthwhile. "The concrete industry is the nicest bunch of people I've ever come across," Cawley concludes. And that's why he's the perfect champion for certification—he wants to see to it that all decorative concrete contractors succeed.

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