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CGA newsletter – August 2009

• President’s report
• GAMA
• GCABC

President’s report
By David Husson, CGA president
The Canadian Glass Association (CGA) held its board meeting May 29, 2009 in Vancouver, B.C. The board meeting followed the GCABC Annual Golf Tournament. The main topic for the CGA board was the future of the association.

The board spent the majority of the meeting discussing the formation of a strategic plan to move the association forward. Plans are being developed to form committees that will represent the key areas of concern for the national association. There will be a technical committee, a marketing committee, a government relations committee and a membership committee. If you are interested in further information please access the website. You will find the terms of reference for each committee and the contact information for the chair person. If you are interested in participating please contact CGA executive director Zana Gordon at zgordon@canadianglassassociation.com

Over the next few months the national association will be working towards supporting provincial/regional associations in those areas that are lacking in representation. The goal is to provide a provincial/regional entity that the companies in those areas will be able to join an association to take advantage of the benefits in membership.

The Canadian Glass Association is in negotiations with possible partners for preferred rates and pricing for members of the national association. These special rates will of course filter down to the members of each of the provincial/regional association memberships.

The new website has now been posted. It is still a work in progress and the board is working on relevant content.

This is an exciting time for the Canadian Glass Association. With continued positive activity the association is confident it will become an association the industry can be proud to be involved with and the place where others come for answers.

The next meeting for the Canadian Glass Association board is during the Construction Canada Conference in December 2009.

GAMA
By George Kennedy, GAMA president
I’d like to start by thanking all of the members of our executive for their support. We continue to experience very high levels of construction activity, so the numerous hours of volunteering that they do are truly appreciated.

The Glass and Architectural Metals Association (GAMA) is having another great year. We already had some interesting guest speakers for our meetings and we continue to bring in speakers from a variety of backgrounds that prove to be interesting and informative.

 Recently the association has taken the “Certificate of Leadership” program to the next level. The Provincial Glaziers Association of Alberta (PGAA) has taken over the program to extend it province-wide. The PGAA recognizes the members at the Glass Trades Association (GTA) and GAMA at the Annual General Meeting for their achievements.

Our executives and volunteers have taken on the task of ensuring our representation at Expo Career Fair. Our members think it was a great experience for the high school students who precipitated. The career fair was hosted by Calgary Construction Association on April 29, 2009 at the Round up Centre. We had approximately 4000 high school students attend. We hope that this effort attracts people to our ever growing industry.

GAMA is raising money for a scholarship in the name of GAMA to help our apprentices in funding for school. We hope to raise $10,000 which will be matched by the government.

The world skills completion comes to Calgary in 2009. (www.worldskills2009.com) As only the second Canadian host of this event in its 59-year history, World Skills Calgary 2009 Ltd. is hosting the 40th World Skills Competition from September 1-7, 2009. More than 900 Competitors will compete simultaneously in 45 skill categories during four-days of intense competition on Stampede Park in Calgary, Alberta. Hailed as the pinnacle of global skills, trades, and technology competition, this biennial event promotes excellence and international competency industry standards.

In Alberta we have more than 330 apprentices registered with the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT). SAIT started running a satellite Glaziers Apprenticeship Program last year in Edmonton, due to the amount of students that had to travel from Edmonton to Calgary.
www.gamaweb.org

GCABC
By Zana Gordon, CAE, executive director GCABC
The Glazing Contractors Association of B.C. (GCABC) has been very busy these past few months. The association had its first Vancouver Island Chapter meeting and board meeting in February.

The Central/Okanagan Chapter Meeting will be in September of this year. This year’s golf tournament looks like it will outdo the success of last year’s event. The tournament is at Hazelmere Golf and Country Club and we have even more golfers than last year. GCABC would like to thank sponsors Finishing Trades Institute of B.C., Alumicor, Transparent Glazing, Dow Corning Corp., PFG Glass Industries, Soprema Inc., and Terasen Gas for all their support of the association, especially during these tough economic times.

GCABC’s Education Committee is offering a Bursary for first-level apprentices looking to enter the glazing industry. We offer three opportunities; one in each of the larger areas – Vancouver Island, Lower Mainland and the Okanagan. This opportunity is being offered to encourage new interest in entering the glazing field. The Education Committee has partnered with many larger associations and they have a members-only pricing that will apply to GCABC members.

The GCABC Technical Committee is working on revising the glazing specifications manual to reflect the new national building code standards and specifications. Once the revised version is completed it will be distributed as a national standard. This will allow each of the provincial associations to simply add appendices to the manual that will reflect their specific provincial regulations. The timeline for completion of this revision is early 2010. The new manual will be available in hard copy and electronic format.

Please watch our website for current information and upcoming events, social activities, meetings and educational opportunities.
www.gca-bc.org