As we continue growing our member network, MIACCA is pleased to welcome our newestassociate member,Michigan Saves—a nonprofit organization dedicated to making energy improvements easy and affordable for all Michigan energy consumers. Unique in its authorizednetwork of energy-efficiency and renewable energy system contractors. 

Members gain exclusive rights to offer Michigan Saves financing to their customers with a portfolio that includes programs for residential, commercial, and municipal customers.  Joining this network offers contractors a convenient, 24-7 way to stand out from their competitors by allowing them to direct their customers to participating lenders that provide unsecured, low-interest, and longer-term loans online and by phone receiving a decision within minutes. 

One of our very own contractor members—Schaafsma Heating and Cooling—is a Michigan Saves authorized contractor that has enjoyed an average sale increase while helping their customers make affordable energy improvements.

In the opinion of Bill Krestakos, MIACCA's president and Schaafsma's vice president, joining the Michigan Saves contractor network has been a smart business decision that's helped Schaafsmaincrease its revenue while adding significant value to its existing services.

"Michigan Saves financing has been very effective and easy to use, allowing us to close more business at a higher price," said Krestakos. "At the same time, we're able to help people who aren't necessarily prepared to buy a new furnace or needed equipment, and that's where Michigan Saves financing makes it possible for customers to afford it."

Visit them today at michigansaves.org

MIACCA is proud to announce that we were able to sponsor Ferris State University students in being able to attend the 2019 ACCA Annual Conference in San Antonio, TX.

Click Here to read the Ferris State thank you letter

ACCA has awarded MIACCA members Phil Forner of Allendale Heating Company and John Sedine of Engineered Heating & Cooling the prestigious The Spirit of Independence Award and the Distinguished Service Award respectively.

According to ACCA "John Sedine has been a devoted leader in the industry and ACCA for more than 25 years. He served as Chairman of the ACCA Board of Directors in 2010, served on the Board of the Michigan contracting association, and has served on several state and national code councils. John has contributed to the success of ACCA's standards and codes programs by lending his expertise to the development of multiple ACCA initiatives, including the Quality Installation program, ACCA Manual LLH – Low Load Homes, and countless other efforts."

The Spirit of Independence Award, given to Forner, is ACCA's highest honor. "[It is] presented to an individual who makes significant and lasting contributions to the strength, success, and independence of HVACR contractors. The award recognizes one individual who goes above and beyond the call of duty, displaying creativity, ingenuity, and perseverance in their pursuit of a better industry.

As all of you, our members know, being a part of MIACCA is not only a locally recognized privilege showing professionalism and a commitment to the HVAC/R industry, but our members are such whom are recognized by even national standards.

MIACCA is proud to have these contractors as part of our brood and we look forward to seeing how our members continue to innovate and build in our industry.

Click HERE to read about the Spirit of Independence award and HERE to read the full Distinguished Service Award

As many of you know, MIACCA has implemented a program to help promote proper licensing and consumer safety. We are now able to report that we have been 100% successful on our follow-ups with each submitted form which has led to an incident in which a proper permite was not pulled, was followed up on by MIACCA, and the proper permit has been pulled. 

This is proof positive that the program works and we still need your help to continue to make it effective. Remember, this is anonymous and it is intended to ensure the safety of our public and our contractors.

So if you suspect that work is being done without the proper permit being pulled, please complete the following. (please fill out as much as possible to expedite processing) Here is a link to our RAP Program Reporting form: Click Here

Last month MPSC held a collaborative meeting in Lansing to discuss the possibility of a website providing information as to how to retrieve information regarding the new Value Added Program (VAPS).

The website's goal is simply information. "If you are a utility and the law says you must provide information to all of your competitors, you may not know who they are; this website will be designed to level the playing field in making an informed request by providing all of the needed information," said Director Bill Stosik.

Why MPSC is envisioning each utility having a website of its own in which a user can make a request - basically a way to have easy access to all pertinent information - although no conclusion was made as to the implementation of the site and whether it should be hosted by each utility.

Other topics regarded the level of security needed and the timelines for such an implementation. Essentially, the issue will be how the data is transferred from one entity to another entity and if the recipient has an acceptable level of Information Technology security in place to satisfy the security policy of the sender (utility).

The meeting adjourned stating that it will try to get a report within a couple of weeks though MPSC was not sure what will happen after the report is submitted or how long before a response will be made regarding the access to the VAPS information.

MIACCA on behalf of our members has submitted the following comments to the MPSC for their consideration: Click Here to read MIACCA's comments 

Tuesday, March 19th at 2:00 p.m. EST 

60 Minutes - Advance Registration Required

Summary

Employers are increasingly perplexed about how to avoid mistakes in confronting the use of marijuana by employees, on and off the clock.  In this webinar, we will explain recent changes in state law, and we will suggest some effective guidelines for establishing workplace safety and productivity in this fast-changing environment. We will talk about medical marijuana, what steps employers can take today, and what steps they should avoid, when confronted with a medical marijuana issue in the workplace.  This webinar will be rounded out with some concrete real-world examples and frequently occurring scenarios which any employer can learn from.   

With MIACCA's encouragement and pointing out that the Bureau of Construction Codes (BCC) had not published the required annual report, since the Skilled Trades Regulation Act (STRA) took effect in 2016; the BCC has now made available its annual report for the 2018 fiscal year.  Having an annual report available to STRA licensees and others that shows the BCC and STRA board activities as an important tool in seeing if the STRA is actually doing what it was intended to do. 

MIACCA will be attending an upcoming meeting with the new director of Licensing of Regulatory and Affairs (LARA) to bring up the minimal STRA enforcement action BCC pursued last year and how can enforcement of unlicensed activity be improved under the STRA.  The BCC Annual report also enables our contractors to bring up questions and concerns to MIACCA for public comment at future board meetings.  Please email any concerns or questions about the report to mjdsmith@miacca.org