By: Hallie Boston
The Labor Citizen

The Mechanical Contractors Association of Cleveland (MCA), a 100-year-old trade association, was recently inducted into Kent State University’s College of Applied Engineering, Sustainability, and Technology Corporate Hall of Fame.

MCA currently represents about 90 mechanical contractors in Northeast Ohio who perform heating, air conditioning, plumbing, refrigeration and process piping installations and maintenance.

MCA formed a student chapter at Kent in 2007, the same year the university established a major in Construction Management. MCA expanded its partnership with Kent State to include internships and full-time placements within the plumbing and pipe fitting industry.

To date, 14 full-time employees have been hired by MCA contractors out of this conjunction as project managers, BIM operators, estimators, procurement managers and safety directors.

“The Student Chapter has infused fresh new talent into our member firms,” said Thomas Wanner, executive director of MCA of Cleveland. “(It) helps us keep up with the ever changing technology that faces our industry.”