CHICAGO — The Metal Construction Association (MCA) elected its 2014 officers and board of directors at its Annual Meeting on Jan. 27 in Clearwater Beach, Fla.

Karl L. Hielscher, president/CEO of Metl-Span, Lewisville, Texas, was elected chair of the association. Norbert Schneider, president of Umicore Building Products, Raleigh, N.C., was elected vice chair, and Ed Karper, North American coil marketing manager for Akzo Nobel Coatings Inc., Columbus, Ohio, will serve as secretary.  Dale Nelson, president of Roof Hugger Inc., Odessa, Fla., was elected treasurer. Todd E. Miller, president of Isaiah Industries Inc., Piqua, Ohio, will serve as past chair. Also serving on the Executive Committee is Bill Croucher, director of engineering for Fabral, Lancaster, Pa., as technical committee chair; Renee Ramey, marketing manager for Steelscape Inc., Kalama, Wsha., as market development chair; and Bill Hippard, vice president of sales at Precoat Metals, St. Louis, as president of the Metal Roofing Alliance.

In addition to the officers, those serving on the 2014 MCA Board of Directors are: Jim Bush, ATAS International, Allentown, Pa.; Bill Croucher; Jerry Hatley Jr, International Metals Processing LLC, Indianapolis; Bill Hippard; Laurel McLallen, Flexospan Inc., Sandy Lake, Pa.; Brian Partyka, Drexel Metals Inc., Ivyland, Pa.; Renee Ramey; Roger Sieja, Wismarq Corp., Inverness, Ill.; Vlad Sobot, Sobotec Ltd., Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; David Stermer, Metal Sales Manufacturing Corp., Louisville, Ky.;  Don Switzer, Steel Dynamics, Butler, Ind.;  Jim Tuschall, Tuschall Engineering, Burr Ridge, Ill.; and Bob Zabcik, MBCI, Houston, Texas.

Laurel McLallen, David Stermer and Bob Zabcik are all new additions to the board this year. “MCA welcomes the insight and input from our new board members,” said MCA Chair Karl Hielscher. “We look forward to the contributions from this talented group of metal construction industry professionals.”

MCA's 2014 Annual Meeting held Jan. 26-28 at the Sandpearl Resort in Clearwater Beach, Fla., was attended by more than 125 current members, interested parties and guests. In addition to the election of officers, the meeting focused primarily on council and committee work, especially technical and market development activities, a state of the association report, and a reception and awards dinner. Kermit Baker, chief economist for the American Institute of Architects in Washington, DC, presented “Charting the Construction Recovery” during the Opening General Session.

 MCA's next national meeting is the 2014 Semi-Annual Meeting, scheduled for June 23-25 at the Westin O'Hare in Rosemont, Ill.

For more information, visit www.metalconstruction.org.