HAMILTON ASSOCIATION POWER HOUSE OF LEADERSHIP

While Toronto attracts a lot of press as a power centre – positive and negative - in sheet metal terms Hamilton holds its own.  In terms of leadership, the Hamilton & District Sheet Metal Contractors Inc. the local association of OSM contractor members has produced an impressive number of leaders – locally and provincially.  A number of its members have served as Directors on the OSM Board of Directors (Rick Guidolin, Carman Presti and Jim Taggart) one of them, Hubber, becoming OSM President.  Wayne Peterson current OSM Executive Director hails from the Hamilton Association.  For many years, Hamilton’s administrator was the redoubtable Dr. George Moller Doctor of Jurisprudence and a ferocious champion of the association’s its interests.  As a consequence throughout the years, the Hamilton association has had its finger on the pulse of sheet metals concerns, contributing both energy and imagination.  It also boasts the only female president of any of the provincial associations.

Lorne Hubber of Lancaster Sheet Metal Inc. described by one of his colleagues as “the historian of the group” has taken a leading role in association work for decades. He notes that when Construction House was build, mechanical, general and sheet metal contractors put financial resources into the building.  Today, the Hamilton Association remains a “small owner” of the site.  The Hamilton Association also plays a lead role in the Hamilton Bid Depository along with electrical, mechanical and sheet metal contractors, as Hubber points out, “We’re a one-third owner.”  In fact, Hubber remembers that his association was one of the founding associations of OSM.  “At the time, there were only about five areas in Ontario that formed OSM.  Now, we cover the whole province.”
 
Ellen Anscombe president of the Hamilton Association describes herself a complete newcomer to the sheet metal industry.  When she agreed to become president a little over a year ago, Anscombe had only been in business for about the same length of time.  As a new business owner of Penney Flashing and Sheet Metal in partnership with her husband, the idea of joining an association of peers seemed the best way to connect.  “I got involved because we are a small company looking to establish ourselves but I think it’s important to make a contribution at the same time,” Amscombe says.  She points out that Hamilton’s boundaries are unique, “We’re caught between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario and sit on the American border.  If we work on common concerns we will be able to make progress.”

Carman Presti president of Millprest Sheet Metal Co. Ltd. and member of the Hamilton Association has a vision that would see the local association grow in numbers.  Currently a small cohort of active contractor members meets once a month to discuss local concerns.  “I would welcome a larger membership base within our association,” Presi says.  “We certainly all share the same issues and if we spoke as a single voice, we would command greater authority.”  Presti deems the association the best advocate to raise issues – and get action – on several sensitive areas. “In my opinion, our two biggest road blocks are market share and the fact that we have a strong influx of non-union contractors in the area.”
Presti would like his association to explore solutions to problems that traditionally have placed unions and contractors on opposite sides of the table.  “We get together as an association, we talk strategies, we hold joint meetings with the union and with respect to the non-union contractor we’re all in the same boat.  As a local member, I bring my wishes for a more flexible work week, for different models for paying overtime, for creating a larger free zone to the table.  I know they will be discussed, I hope for workable solutions.”