News

Membership Committee Report: Winter 2025

As we close the chapter on another year of growth and challenge in Alberta, I am pleased to report that we have gained some new members this past year and are currently, as an Association, representing the interests of 58 member companies.

Why do these firms want to be a Member of AMBA? 

Certainly, the roots of AMBA were firmly planted in creating the Metal Building System Erector as a certified trade here in Alberta.  This makes us unique across Canada and raises our provincial industry above all other regions in our great country.

Some other key factors in belonging to any professional Association include:

Advocacy – Which is at the heart of AMBA.

Networking – We all grow stronger when we can get together with like minded professionals and share ideas and concerns.

Access to Resources – The MBSE courses, exam and professional designation are all a result of countless hours of service to this industry by those who have preceded us in this association.

Comradery- Our primary social gatherings each year include the upcoming AGM in March and our very popular annual Golf Tournament in June, which this coming year is dedicated to the memory and service of our friend John Weran.

Learning – We as a Board continue to explore ways to add more opportunities to share innovations and ideas with all of our members.  Small table top presentations at our AGM help showcase new products and services that can help our members build their businesses.  Also, look for articles in our newsletter titled “What’s New” where we showcase new and innovative products that complement Metal Building Systems.

Exposure – The Board continues to work on ways to increase our industry’s “on-line” presence and help improve access to our Associations and our Members whenever anyone searches for Metal Buildings online.   Online and in our Newsletters you will see “Project Profiles,” where members can proudly showcase special or unique projects.

We encourage every member to consider what they could offer to either “What’s New” or “Project Profiles.”  Your Board would welcome any submissions – we will even do a professional write-up so you don’t have to do the work – and will post them in our newsletters, on our website and on all our social media feeds. 

We all know that Metal Buildings Systems of today are a far cry from the old notion of an ugly tin box.  Let’s work together to show the market the best of what we can be.

If you know of anyone working in the industry who you think should be a member, please pass their information on to any of the Board members so that we can encourage them to join.  There is strength in numbers and we want to continue to grow the Association for the future generations of MBSE specialists.

Kent Freeland

Membership Committee

Message from the Chair: Winter 2025

AMBA’s board had another busy year: planning and presenting the Annual General meeting and Annual Golf Tournament, exploring various ways we can support members and promote metal building construction and working with industry partners to improve apprenticeship and training programs.

We are pleased to announce that the Metal Building System Erector (MBSE) 2nd year bursary award has been increased to $1500, the Worksite Training Subsidy has been extended for another year and we have added a Metal Building Product Installation Training subsidy. Check out the AMBA website for further information: Here

Sadly, on September 5, we lost John Weran. John had been active in our industry for over 40 years and was a dedicated AMBA board member for 20 years, organizing many of the golf tournaments. We will miss John. Please join us at the AMBA 2025 Golf Tournament on June 12, 2025 at the Ranch Golf & Country Club to honor John.

We go into 2025 with a lot of uncertainty: Trudeau’s shaky political future, Trump’s threat of a 25% tariff on Canadian exports, a Canadian dollar in decline, slower projected global demand for oil and a slowdown in provincial population growth. Will lower interest rates, fiscal stimulus and potentially a change in federal government be enough to strengthen construction demand and provide our industry with another busy year?

  

We are looking for new board members. Being a part of the AMBA board has enriched my career and I’ve enjoyed learning from and working with a great team of industry professionals. If you would like to join our board, enhance your career and give back to your industry, reach out to me or any of our board members. AMBA could not exist without the support of our members and a diverse and dedicated board of directors.

Wishing all our members and member companies a Happy and Prosperous New Year! 

AMBA Newsletter: Summer 2024

The AMBA Winter 2024 Newsletter is now available! Check out our upcoming events and industry news. Announcing a 2024 AMBA 1st Year MBSE Bursary Recipient, Nathan Hutchinson. Also, check out news from our members, , a Project Profile by Behlen Industries & Atkinson Construction (ACL) Ltd., and more!

Derek Traviss Receives The Jim Mitchell Memorial Award

Congratulations to Derek Traviss! 

Walter Gegolick from Vantage Builders, presented employee, Derek Traviss with the $1,500 AMBA Jim Mitchell Memorial award for completion of his 2nd year in the MBSE program. Congratulations Derek!  

If you are an AMBA member and have an employee enrolled in NAIT or SAIT’s MBSE program, they may be eligible to receive an AMBA bursary or award. To learn more about this program click HERE.

Women in Trades

Women Leading and Building Canada’s Future 

 

Empowering women-identifying individuals to pursue a career in the Red Seal skilled trades 

In partnership with the Government of Canada’s Canadian Apprenticeship Strategy – Women in Skilled Trades, NAIT aims to support more women-identifying individuals pursuing a career in the Red Seal skilled trades before 2027 by:  

  • providing financial supports to reduce financial barriers 

  • hosting networking and conference events aimed at facilitating learning opportunities for women in the trades (see below for scheduled dates). 

  • providing EDI training and curriculum review for skilled trades program instructors and staff at NAIT. 

  • providing workplace EDI training to support employers with more diverse and inclusive workplaces 

 

Event schedule: 

Conference: March 6, 2025 

 Networking events: 

2024: June 12, September 25, November 27 

2025:  January 29, March 26 and May 28. 

 

To learn more about this program: https://www.nait.ca/nait/schools-programs/school-of-skilled-trades/beyond-the-classroom/women-leading-and-building-canada-s-future 

Nicole Mahoney RSE, Blue Seal Endorsed. 

Interim Construction - Mechanical Department Head 

School of Skilled Trades 

AMBA 2024 Golf Tournament

Winning team Left to Right: Shane Meaver, Adam Samuelson, Chris Stewart, Kyle McKeown

We had a fabulous day for golfing! Ralph Ward’s contributions to AMBA and our industry was celebrated by 72 golfers. With almost every golf hole sponsored, we were able to raise enough money for some pretty amazing prizes and top up our Metal Building System Erector bursary fund.  

It was also such an honour to have Nicole Mahoney from NAIT and Rob McCrea from AIT join us for the day. Our industry appreciates NAIT and the Government of Alberta for educating and certifying our metal building erectors.   

The AMBA Golf Trophy went to the Curber Manufacturing team:  Congratulations to Shane Meaver, Adam Samuelson, Chris Stewart and Kyle McKeown.  

Proximity awards went to the following golfers: 

Longest Putt: Geoff Seale 

Closest to the pin: Steve Triance 

Ladies Longest Drive: Nicole Mahoney 

Men’s Longest Drive: Adam Samuelson 

To view all the tournament photos click HERE

Congratulations to our trophy winners and proximity award recipients. Thank you to all our hole sponsors, our members who generously donated prizes, Impact Graphics for supplying the Golf Tournament Banners and table cards and to all our golfers and AMBA members for supporting our metal building industry. 

Apprenticeship and Industry Training

Ironworker MBSE Curriculum Guide is now publicly available in the Open Government Portal:  https://open.alberta.ca/publications/ironworker-metal-building-systems-erector-apprenticeship-curriculum-guide

 

Many thanks to Ken Lodwig who worked tirelessly over the last two years along with representative groups from the Ironworker (IW) industry and instructional staff to create this new AIT product that replaces the previous course outline.  

 

AIT continues to work with IW stakeholders to prepare the release of new exams in fall/winter 2024 that align with the new curriculum guide. 

 

If you are a final period apprentice, certified journeyperson, supervisor, employer, trainer or member of a stakeholder organization with knowledge of one or more skilled trades or Alberta’s apprenticeship system and are interested in sharing your ideas, opinions and expertise with AIT, apply now to participate in shaping your trade’s future: https://tradesecrets.alberta.ca/awarding-excellence/my-skilled-trades-network/.  

 

Rob McCrea CT RSE 

Apprenticeship Delivery and Industry Support Services 

Ministry of Advanced Education 

Message from the Chair: Summer 2024

Happy Spring!   

 

A cold and wet spring has made construction challenging! While Alberta farmers are shouting from the roof tops, the same can’t be said for construction crews navigating mucky sites! 

 

The AMBA board has been busy planning the 2024 Golf Tournament and steel building construction training sessions. Unfortunately, the response to the June 26 Curb Training session has been disappointing – erector companies have been too busy to take time away from building to attending the session. Although AMBA members identified training as one area where AMBA can provide value to the membership, the board needs more feedback on training timing and content so that we can ensure that we are working on initiatives that will be well supported and valued by our members. 

 

AMBA’s 20th Golf tournament, hosted at The Ranch Golf and Country Club in Acheson, was a huge success.  With almost all of the 18 holes sponsored and some generous donations, we were able to raise funds for Metal Building System Erector bursaries. The more seasonable weather was enjoyed by 72 golfers where we were able to celebrate Ralph Ward on ‘his game’ and his contributions to our industry and association. Thank you to all our sponsors and golfers for your support! 

 

Your AMBA board remains committed to working with you, our industry partners. Your support, engagement and feedback are essential to strengthen and build our industry.  

2024 AGM Recap

The 2024 AMBA Annual General meeting took place on April 17, 2024 with an excellent speaker lineup. Check out the recap here!