MSCA Stars Meet for Las Vegas Summit

The Mechanical Service Contractors of America (MSCA) hosted its Second Annual MSCA STAR Summit this month. The meeting included a tour of the largest LEED® certified building in the world and setting strategies for the challenging year ahead.
Forty of MSCA’s highly-qualified MSCA STARS convened at the Palazzo Resort Hotel in Las Vegas, to attend educational sessions focused on developing marketing expertise and branding in a challenging economic environment. Later, they were given a tour of the sophisticated heating and cooling command center for the huge facility. (According the U.S. Green Building Council, the Palazzo is four times the size of the second-largest LEED certified building.)
“MSCA makes this kind of opportunity available to those members who have reached the highest levels of qualification in heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration system service," says MSCA Board of Managers Chairman Jeff McCoy. "We sited this summit with special focus on the opportunities that a national emphasis on sustainability and responsible maintenance affords to our industry.”
Attendees participated in a focused strategy session led by Don Neal, an internationally known marketing, branding and customer management expert based in Washington DC. Neal walked the attendees through an up-to-date marketing plan tailored for mechanical service companies operating in a challenging business environment. Many of the STAR Summit attendees are MSCA GreenSTAR qualified as well.
Chris Klehm U.S. Green Building Council LEED faculty, gave attendees an honest rundown of opportunities and roadblocks in the months ahead. Klehm has been involved in more than 30 LEED projects over the past 30 years, as a specialist in green building, construction and consulting. He is founding chair of Pittsburgh’s Green Building Alliance and author of the USGBC Program LEED for General Contractors and Construction Managers.
Klehm described key aspects of the recent stimulus package, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, that are important to service contractors. He also explained how to take of advantage these new opportunities.
Summit attendees also received company-specific marketing materials created and provided by MSCA and aimed at communicating the standards-based quality of service provided by MSCA STAR and GreenSTAR contractors.
MSCA STAR is a rigorous qualification program recognizing contractors who meet or exceed operating and training standards set by MSCA. To become a GreenSTAR, an MSCA STAR contractor must meet additional stringent criteria including that the company: employ at least one LEED Accredited Professional; be a member of the U.S.G.B.C.; verify that at least 25 percent of employees have participated in green training; demonstrate the promotion of environmental responsibility by offering specific sustainable services and recommending green procedures and equipment; establish an internal commitment to green by attaining LEED certification, of any type, for their building, or by developing an internal “green policy”; and have participated as part of a project team with a LEED EB or LEED NC registered project within the three years previous to application. MSCA STAR and GreenSTAR applications are reviewed and approved by a third-party independent company.

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