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!
Metal Construction News Article, New Year, New Opportunity for Metal Buildings, highlighted the challenges facing the metal building industry: supply chain and labour shortages, price volatility, finding and retaining qualified workers, rising interest rates, and uncertainty about what’s ahead.
“While we continue to grapple with the industry’s human resource challenges, we must not lose sight of influential market trends.”
Harv Friesen has decided to retire and wind down Kesho Construction, an outstanding and reputable metal building erection company that has been in business for over 30 years!
Harv served on the AMBA board since the very beginning of AMBA (1995) and for over 18 years as a board director, he worked hard to encourage both young and older metal building erectors and workers to attend all available training and apprenticeship programs. As an owner of an erection company, Harv felt that it was important to promote the metal building industry as a legitimate and certified trade – he fully supported his workers through advanced education and training programs.
Four years of dealing with COVID and almost a year of enduring Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have had profound global effects. The world continues to struggle with volatile energy supply, extreme inflation, food insecurity and material and labour shortages. Central banks have aggressively raised interest rates to specifically target inflation.
Well, 2022 is now in the rear-view mirror and it certainly was eventful! From COVID, the war in Ukraine, soaring inflation, supply chain disruptions – we had it all. The Christmas Season arrived with weather that dealt North America a series of brutal winter storms, totally disrupting holiday travel and leaving people abandoned and unable to get home. What a year!
AMBA continues to be focused on supporting Metal Building Erectors and filling seats in the Ironworker (MBSE) Education Program. The AMBA membership pays for itself when members send their employees for Ironworker MBSE training at NAIT or SAIT. AMBA has increased each of the 1st and second year awards to $1,500 – these awards are presented to the applicants achieving top marks in year 1 or 2. Additionally, there is a $750 bursary available for any AMBA member employee attending 1st year or 2nd year MBSE training. If you know of Erectors that are not currently part of AMBA, please share this message. As MBSEs retire, we need to ensure that we have a pipeline of well trained erectors.
Welcome to 2023, a year that seems poised to hold good potential for Alberta in general, and our Steel Building Market in particular. Alberta has always persevered through the ups and downs of political and economic winds of change. Strong indications are that we will see increased population growth and economic activity, as we build on our oil and gas legacy and at the same time, transition into alternative energy markets and carbon capture and storage.
Opportunity awaits in our Fall 2022 newsletter.
In this quarter’s update, we are highlighting Alberta’s urgent need of apprentice MBSE Ironworkers. Every erector and contractor that I have talked to are all short staffed and are having a lot of difficulty attracting new employees into the trade. You may be eligible for our awards and bursaries valued from $500 to $1,500!
Your Board of Directors has specifically targeted new member growth as a goal for the next few quarters. We know that there are numerous erector companies working around the province that are not currently enjoying the benefits of membership. Our collective strength is in numbers and in having a broad base of professionally qualified and ticketed member companies in all market segments throughout the province.
Get to know our Featured Member Westman Steel, and check out a project profile form Metal Structure Concepts, Stag’s Hollow Estate Production facility, when it came time to expand their winery, they engaged MSC to build their new warehouse for their Shuttleworth Creek Vineyard.
Bexson Construction is a growing business, their main office is located in Lloydminster, Alberta with work all around Alberta and into Saskatchewan. They are seeking hard working individuals to join their team.
It’s turning out to be another very unpredictable year. While inflation is skyrocketing with rates many have never seen before, Alberta is reaping the benefits of shocking energy prices with an estimated $3.9B budgetary surplus – far exceeding what was forecasted. Our province is set to lead the country in economic growth: 5.5% forecasted for 2022. The price of oil is once again catapulting this economic windfall. However, this ‘boom’ is different from the past. Oil companies, having been so battered by collapsing oil prices, are choosing to direct profits towards paying down debt rather than investing in capital.
