Contractormag Com Sites Contractormag com Files Uploads 2014 03 Chuck Fell
Contractormag Com Sites Contractormag com Files Uploads 2014 03 Chuck Fell
Contractormag Com Sites Contractormag com Files Uploads 2014 03 Chuck Fell
Contractormag Com Sites Contractormag com Files Uploads 2014 03 Chuck Fell
Contractormag Com Sites Contractormag com Files Uploads 2014 03 Chuck Fell

MCAA’s Chuck Fell talks about workforce issues

March 7, 2014
As busy as he was with preparations for the upcoming convention, Fell was good enough to answer some questions from CONTRACTOR at the end of February. Here are a few questions we asked him: After all your years in the business, what is the most important thing that you have learned? What is the biggest problem facing your firm? What are you hearing from MCAA members as being the biggest problem facing contractors nationwide?

HOUSTON — Chuck Fell, the president of CFI Mechanical here, takes over as president of the Mechanical Contractors Association of America at the close of the association’s annual convention in Scottsdale, Ariz. in mid-March.

Fell is the founder of CFI Mechanical Inc., a mechanical construction and plumbing contractor known for placing an emphasis on professionalism and adherence to world-class quality standards.

Fell first got involved with MCAA at the local level at the MCA of Houston, where he served as the organization’s president, as well as on the Boards of Directors for the Plumbers Negotiations Committee and the Local 68 Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee and as chairman of the Health and Welfare, Pension, and Apprentice Trust Funds Committees.

A past president of the MCA of Texas who also served on the MCA of Texas/Texas Pipe Trades Joint Apprenticeship Committee, Fell later parlayed the knowledge gained from his state and local involvement into involvement at the national level with MCAA. His first attended various educational programs, then served on the Labor Estimating Manual Committee and the Plumbing Contractors of America Board of Directors, where he also served as chairman. He is a graduate of MCAA’s Advanced Leadership Institute.

Chuck Fell is the founder of CFI Mechanical Inc., a mechanical construction and plumbing contractor.

With greater involvement came greater recognition of his achievements. In 2006, he was appointed to MCAA’s Board of Directors, and to the Executive Committee in 2011. A GBCI–LEED AP BD+C, Fell received IAPMO’s Joseph Kneidinger Green Contractor of the Year Award in 2011.

As busy as he was with preparations for the upcoming convention, Fell was good enough to answer some questions from CONTRACTOR at the end of February.

CONTRACTOR: Did you grow up in the Houston area? Do you have any family in the trades? How did you get your start? What did you study in college?

CHUCK FELL: I grew up in Avon Lake, Ohio, just west of Cleveland. I don’t have any family in the trades. I studied architecture at Kent State University.

C: What was your first job? How did you get into the industry?

C.F.: I started right out of college with Natkin & Co. at Epcot Center at Walt Disney World in Orlando.

C: What did your first boss teach you?

C.F.: He suggested that I really learn and understand this trade, so the first few years I was registered as an apprentice at UA Local 803 in Orlando, while working in the office as a project detailer. This offered me the insight to really learn what this trade is all about, both from the field perspective and from the operational management side.

C: Were you the founder of CFI Mechanical? What made you decide to address both the HVAC market and the plumbing market?

C.F.: I founded CFI Mechanical in 1996. Prior to 1996 I was Assistant Vice President and Houston Operations Manager for Natkin & Co. When I left Natkin, I decided to capitalize on the experience gained in my previous position to bring a viable option to the Houston plumbing and mechanical market. CFI has a great team that provides quality installation and repair services to the commercial real estate, property-management, facility maintenance and industrial industries within the Greater Gulf Coast Region.

C: How do you think your experience with CFI Mechanical is the same as and different from the experience of other mechanical contractors in MCAA?

C.F.: From the perspective of throwing caution to the wind by taking on the huge financial risk of starting your own company, I suspect my experience is about the same as every other MCAA contractor who “took the plunge.” And, as your company succeeds and you’re able to do good things for your employees, your clients and your family you rightly feel very proud.

C: What do you most enjoy about your job?

C.F.: I enjoy knowing that each individual project is unique and has its own set of challenges. I enjoy working with all my employees. I let them do their jobs without being an overbearing type of boss, while providing an atmosphere that is both rewarding and enjoyable for everyone. This business can be very stressful at times and it’s an ongoing challenge to keep your team motivated and focused.   

C: You won IAPMO’s Joseph Kneidinger Green Contractor of the Year Award in 2011. How important is green or sustainable construction? What are you hearing back from your customers about saving energy and water?

C.F.: We promote CFI as a proud Green LEED contractor. Almost all of the new construction projects that we have under contract are LEED rated buildings. Our customers are very keen to achieve maximum energy and water savings, and we show them how to most cost-effectively do that.

C: After all your years in the business, what is the most important thing that you have learned?

C.F.: To focus on client relationships, first with our customers and secondly with our subcontractors who perform work for us, for they are also representing CFI. 

C: What do you want your daughters to know about this business?

C.F.: I want them to know that companies such as ours truly help safeguard the health of this nation. We protect the environment by providing potable drinking water, medical gas installations, waste disposal and storm water management systems. We also provide the means for people to live comfortable through our air conditioning installation and service, and to people in Houston that’s especially important!

C: What is the biggest problem facing your firm?

C.F.: Today’s aging skilled work force and the tremendous need for skilled trades people to replace them is CFI’s biggest challenge.

C: What are you hearing from MCAA members as being the biggest problem facing contractors nationwide?

C.F.: Beyond the work force shortages facing our industry, it’s remaining competitive with the open shop.

C: What is MCAA doing to try to fix that problem? 

C.F.: We continuously strive to provide our members with the tools they need to remain competitive, especially with the open shop. I hope to aid our members in meeting that challenge by continuing our joint strategic planning efforts with our labor partners at the UA to jointly address those issues that negatively affect our ability to compete in the marketplace.

C: As a trade association, what is MCAA’s greatest challenge? 

C.F.: Getting more of its members to take advantage of the industry’s best educational resources and programs.

C: How important is political action to MCAA?

C.F.: Incredibly important, and this year it is more important than ever. Solving the crisis facing multiemployer pension plans in 2014 through enactment of reform legislation is a must.

C: If you were limited to accomplishing just one goal this year as president for either the association or its members, what would that be? 

C.F.: Convincing all MCAA members of the benefits to be gained by getting involved in their local and national associations.

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