Sasha Demyan & Robert Tiffin - A Sneak Peek at MBCEA 2025 - PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Sasha Demyan and Robert Tiffin from Metal Building Contractors and Erectors Association. You can read the interview below or listen to the podcast.

Intro: Welcome to MetalCast, the podcast where we're turning up the heat on all things metal roofing. On this show, we'll explore the world of metal roofing from its durability to design, expert insights and  more. Join us as we bang out the details on the toughest roofs in the game. Get ready to unleash the power of metal roofing. 
 
Megan Ellsworth: Hello everyone. My name is Megan Ellsworth here at rooferscoffeeshop.com and  you are listening to a Roofing Road Trip. I'm so excited because I'm here with the folks from NBCEA and we're going to be talking about their conference coming up and all of the great initiatives they have coming down the pipeline. So, Sasha Demyan, Robert Tiffin, welcome to the podcast. 
 
Sasha Demyan: Thank you. It's great to be here. 
 
Megan Ellsworth: Yay. I'm glad to have you. So, Sasha Demyan, I'll start with you. Can you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your role with NBCEA? 
 
Sasha Demyan: So I am the executive director of the Metal Building Contractors and Erectors Association and  I have been since December of 2012 and  I'm also the executive director of our sister association, our educational arm, our 501(c)(3), the Metal Buildings Institute. 
 
Megan Ellsworth: Okay, very cool. Robert Tiffin, who are you? 
 
Robert Tiffin: Well, that's a great question on any given day, but for this call, I'm the President of the Metal Building Contractors and Erectors Association. I'm also the chairperson and  this will become relevant a little bit later, the chairperson of the Architect Committee for the Metal Building Manufacturers Association. But then the folks that pay me every day are Silvercote, I'm part of the national account team for that company. 
 
Megan Ellsworth: Amazing. Amazing. Well, I'm really excited to learn more about MBMA and MBCEA. Can you tell us a little bit about your conference that's coming up? It's the 56th Annual. What can we expect from the conference this year? 
 
Sasha Demyan: Well, there will be educational sessions, networking sessions, an exhibit hall and  a golf tournament. It's a time to rekindle old friendships and make new ones. This is the opportunity to have face time with your peers, your customers, your suppliers. It is the only place where everyone there is involved in metal building systems. 
 
Megan Ellsworth: Pretty cool. And that's May 7th through 9th, right, Robert Tiffin? 
 
Robert Tiffin: Correct. In Charlotte, North Carolina, absolutely. 
 
Megan Ellsworth: Nice, nice. Okay. Charlotte, what a beautiful time of year to go to Charlotte. That's going to be beautiful. 
 
Robert Tiffin: Absolutely. From the inside the hotel to the golf course, looks to be a good time. And if the previous ones are, you'll want to be there. 
 
Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. Yay. Okay. So what can attendees expect from the agenda for the conference? Are there any new or unique sessions this year that either of you are particularly excited for? 
 
Sasha Demyan: Yes, absolutely. Two sessions stand out this year for me that I'm excited about. One is a full walkthrough of a project. It's going to be from the planning stage through delivery and closeout. Now, we would typically have a management and a field track running concurrently at this time, but we feel all personnel will benefit from this session as it flows from the office to the job site with the teamwork needed to complete a project successfully. 

And then the other one is our very popular contractor and erector roundtable where members can use this as a live forum for the issues they are facing. This year we're going to do it a little bit differently. We're going to break out into smaller groups so the conversations are more focused and then we're going to come back together and share the takeaways from those smaller discussions. 
 
Megan Ellsworth: Wow, that's exciting. A full project walkthrough, that's kind of unique. Robert Tiffin, what are you looking forward to for the sessions this year? 
 
Robert Tiffin: Well, I personally love the roundtable because here are the folks that are making the buildings and the people that are putting them up. So it's truly an opportunity to say, have a healthy conversation of we need to deliver a quality product. Right? And what I love about this transition for this year of each individual table, having a conversation and presenting it to the floor is a little bit organic away from the, hey, panel, you're the manufacturers and we're out here in the field or   vice versa. So this is a new adaptation to try to create better results. 
 
Megan Ellsworth: That's awesome. That's really cool. That's what these conferences are really about is just being able to have that face time with your peers in the industry and getting a little insight on what they're doing differently and how you maybe could work together or what have you. So that's really cool that you're doing that. 
 
So the field personnel and management session tracks are back this year. That's exciting. What are they and what makes them so valuable and popular? 
 
Sasha Demyan: So providing these session tracks means that programming is going to be specific to running your business or training field personnel. So you can bring several employees from your company to education and information relevant to the role that they play. Craig Shaffer with SafetyWorks is our go-to presenter on all things OSHA. So field personnel will benefit from his session on fall protection, OSHA's new heat illness prevention standard and  an update on what's going on with OSHA in 2025. At the same time, management will be learning about litigation risk, having discussions with MBMA members, manufacturers and suppliers during our joint roundtable time, along with learning about the latest happenings in each of our associations during our association updates. 
 
Robert Tiffin: I'm was just going to say what the dual tracks bring is we're trying to focus the delivery or the opportunities to the individuals so that it grows so that, as Sasha Demyan pointed out earlier, your peers be like, hey, Megan, I haven't seen you at the last two and  here are the tracks that we're going to be talking about this year. And it's geared to what your position or your role is both in your company and what you're looking to do in the industry. So we're trying to create the appetizers, if you will, so people will show up. 
 
Megan Ellsworth: That's great. That's some powerful stuff, especially bringing people from the job site in, it's not just upper management coming to attend the conference. That's really cool and a great experience for everyone in a company. Love it. Before we get too far, I'd love to, could either of you give us a little bit of a rundown on the MBCEA and your partnership with MBMA and kind of how the two associations work together and all that jazz. It's kind of a curveball question. 
 
Robert Tiffin: Absolutely. I'll take this if you want, Sasha Demyan. 
 
Sasha Demyan: Sure. 
 
Robert Tiffin: In the popular meme languages out there, "I was this old when I learned something today," so I was thinking about the relationship and I thought it was five, but apparently it's eight years old now. And so this combination between the MBCEA and the MBMA came as a simple answer to the question. So why are the folks that make the metal building systems not actively talking to the people that put up the metal building systems? And it was that simple question that people were like, that's a fabulous idea. 

So we had our very first conference and that apparently eight years ago of the combined, we have general the same interests, but then of course that allows us to spin off into respective education classes for the respect about the manufacturer. They have their topics, so we carve out part of the conference specifically for their members. And then for the contractors erectors, as Sasha Demyan pointed out, we have tracks for management as well as the field personnel. At any given time, vendors like myself actually play in both fields. So we, for example, if I speak with my sales hat on for a second, I will drift in to listen to what the manufacturers are talking about for their review. But then I'll also come over to see the field personnel to elevate our game as a vendor partner as also to the ownership so that when we're creating a value stack for that, we understand. 

So the relationships have grown, I'll say tremendously. Little nuanced things, for example, each of the respective associations have committees from technical committees, marketing committees. So the simple question, why are two marketing committee chairs not talking to each other? How can a technical committee of the MBCEA leverage the resources from the MBMA because they've got on staff licensed engineers. So there's a great opportunity for give and take. And what I really love about the conferences are we get that personal time. So once you've spent five minutes over a plate of appetizers with somebody, any barriers are gone and you feel comfortable calling them to ask questions. And Sasha Demyan can concur with this. How many times do you hear, "I got a dumb guy question." So this conference has alleviated all that or   the questions still get asked, but now there's a laugh when we ask it. 
 
Sasha Demyan: Yeah, I was going to say, whenever there's a really tough question, it's like, let's ask the MBMA. They're really smart. 
 
Megan Ellsworth: Love that. That's why you have friends. 
 
Robert Tiffin: The MBMA loves it because they have spent years developing a deep library of white papers to six decimal places that not everybody uses. But now with the MBCEA they tie in. Or, the practical ones, we've had contractors erectors standing on a job site and they have a code official asking them a question or asking them a position statement. They now know who they can call, say Vince Sagan, Director of Codes and Standards at the MBMA. Vince will happily get on the phone and work it out right then, right there and the jobs can continue. 
 
Megan Ellsworth: Absolutely. Wow. Okay. Well, thank you for level setting that for me. So, Sasha Demyan, the MBCEA Conference is co-located with MBMA's Spring Meeting. How would you say these networking opportunities enhance the value of the event? 
 
Sasha Demyan: So speaking back to how Robert Tiffin just kind of explained our association with each other and how that started eight years ago, that's really the networking opportunities with contractors being able to say to the manufacturers, "Hey, here's what we're facing in the field. How can you help us solve that?" That's invaluable. Our contractors and erectors, we honestly, in the world of metal building construction, we're at the lowest level. 

So we are always looking to have our voice heard, the people in the field. And so having that relationship really gives us that platform to be able to say, "Hey, we're the ones putting up your metal buildings. Maybe it would be easier if you did this or   is it possible to do this with the drawings? And when you deliver, can you do this? How can we get a little more technologically advanced? Can you share your training information instead of in a booklet, maybe as a video?" So we can bounce ideas off of each other and they can say, "Yeah, that's a great idea," or, "that's not going to work." And so we have that platform to share with each other the real-world things that are going on and help try and solve them for each other. 
 
Robert Tiffin: A beautiful example of that happened a couple of years ago. So air infiltration has made its way into the energy code. So basically how much does a metal building system leak air? Like homestead back in the early 2000s. So the MBMA wants to get ahead of that because it's not as simple in a metal building system as it is in the residential world. So they created a task force. Well, to do the testing they needed contractors erectors. So it was a great symbiotic relationship. We went across seven buildings across five climate zones, all utilizing active MBCEA accredited members to make that happen. So it's a real-world application of networking top to bottom, left to right to deliver a result. 
 
Sasha Demyan: And I'd like to speak about something else when we talk about the value of these opportunities being co-located. We're excited to announce that the exhibit hall officially sold out two weeks ago. This proves how valuable our industry members, manufacturers and suppliers and other vendors feel their participation is with the contractors and erectors. Sponsorships went quickly as well. Again, validating this is the place where our industry members know that metal building systems contractors and erectors are going to be and  they don't want to miss the opportunity to get their brand out there. Of course, they're all in full support of our association and the industry. 
 
Robert Tiffin: I think there's even a waiting list, isn't there, Sasha Demyan? 
 
Sasha Demyan: There is a waiting list and I am working through that waiting list in the exhibit hall. 
 
Megan Ellsworth: Wow. Well, that's exciting. Congratulations. That's huge. 
 
Robert Tiffin: Oh, it is. And then the fun part from being a vendor to the sponsorship ideas, as Sasha Demyan pointed out, we'll say there's some friendly scrappiness involved between vendors to get the best opportunities, but it comes down to the return on investment. For example, I did the quick math for Sasha Demyan. If a flight's 500 and a hotel room's 175 or 150 and  then a rental car to visit one customer, I can now do this and I can meet with hundreds of customers and prospects in the same place. So from that standpoint, the old phrase of it's a no-brainer, it's still a no-brainer. 
 
Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, that's so true. That's so true. And it's like that with any industry event like this, they're just so important to lend ease of seeing each other and being in person and having that face time. It's so important. So MBCEA has a very rich history. It was founded in 1968, if I'm correct. And so how would you say the association has evolved over the years and maybe what are you most proud of out of that progress you've made? 
 
Sasha Demyan: Well, it's gone through several name changes and membership profile percentages of manufacturers and suppliers to contractors and erectors. So dealers may be heavier on the manufacturer side through dips and then regrowth. Since my involvement a little over 12 years ago, membership has almost quadrupled. So I am so proud of that. When I came on board and it was more contract, not contract, it was more industry member heavy, more manufacturer, more supplier heavy. And we have tipped the scales now and we are now more contractor and erector heavy, which was our goal obviously for the Contractors and Erectors Association. So that's where the focus really is. And the conference has, once again, become the premier destination for the metal building systems industry. So I'm super proud also of the growth and the participation we have at the conference level with everyone that's involved. 
 
Megan Ellsworth: Wow, that's great. Congratulations quadrupling the membership. That's massive. 
 
Robert Tiffin: And so to that point, just a couple of things. For example, we have other locations that want to start up local chapters. So, for example, Sasha Demyan and I were on a call just a couple of hours ago for the Tennessee Valley that actively wants to get involved. What's beautiful about the conversation is that they know the names and locations of other chapters that they want to emulate, but I would say the most proud that we are is of Sasha Demyan because this year she's the 2024 Hall of Fame inductee for our industry. All the work that she's done in our industry, it's a pinnacle to a, she's not done her career, clearly not, but it's a great milestone in that trajectory. So just want to make sure we get that on the record. 
 
Megan Ellsworth: Wow, congratulations. Oh my gosh. 
 
Sasha Demyan: I'm glad this wasn't the platform that Robert Tiffin sprang the surprise on me because if you would have seen that reaction. 
 
Megan Ellsworth: I love it. 
 
Robert Tiffin: We did our best, Megan, to keep it a secret. So we nominated Sasha Demyan and then went through. The only reason why we had to disclose it a month... It'll be announced at our conference. So we're bringing back the Hall of Fame to our conference, so it'll be announced. But the challenge is that the organization that puts on the Hall or sponsors the Hall of Fame also publishes a magazine a month early. So we felt it appropriate to let Sasha Demyan know ahead of time. So anyway, the happiness for our industry and everybody's voted for Sasha Demyan. 
 
Megan Ellsworth: I love it. Well, congratulations, Sasha Demyan. That is huge accomplishment and very well deserved. 
 
Sasha Demyan: Thanks. It's a huge honor. I'll be very proud to accept it at the conference. 
 
Megan Ellsworth: Oh, yeah, that's awesome. I love it. MBCEA has really played a big role in developing the Quality and Craftsmanship Training Series. How do these training programs help improve the skillsets of those in the metal building industry? 
 
So metal building systems are unique and schools just don't teach how to assemble them. We consider this a general overview of each phase of metal building assembly and have trained and enabled companies to train thousands in safe and correct metal building assembly. And MBCEA members have free access to this Metal Buildings Institute 11-module video series. It's a great product. We're building off of it and  I think we'll talk a little bit more about that later, what the next steps are to this great platform that we have, the Quality and Craftsmanship Training Series. We've added IMPs, we've added retrofit roofing. So through our educational arm, the Metal Buildings Institute, we've been able to create a lot of great training for this niche market. 
 
Megan Ellsworth: Rob, can you kind of dive into what has your experience been with the Quality and Craftsmanship Training Series? Do you know anyone that's taken it? 
 
Robert Tiffin: Yes. Well, I've taken it. 
 
Megan Ellsworth: Oh, good. 
 
Robert Tiffin: And I'll jump off of where Sasha Demyan said it was established. So today it's a video series, so we actually have used parts of it, the one particular, the insulation section for part of our onboarding session because it's a great video to watch. So for the technology and the depth of education, it's fabulous, but it's a leaping pad to what we're going to be talking about next, which is the education for the future. Because right now it's you sit in a chair and you watch a video, you can replay it and catch up, but it quickly gets you immersed in, first of all, simplistic, what's a metal building system? What are the components? And as I was sharing earlier, we specifically say watch the installation section so you can be at least comfortable when you hear certain terminology. And then that'll be the beginning of your journey into a metal building system and  in our case, insulating it. 
 
Sasha Demyan: What's also great about the program is that it is in English and Spanish, so it really helps out a lot of our contractors and erectors with their labor force, some that don't speak English. And so it's very helpful in that regard as well. 
 
Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, that's great. The more bilingual assets we as an industry can have, the better because people want to learn in their native language, so why not provide that for them? The MBCEA obviously focuses a lot on educating and inspiring people and  specifically younger generations about the metal industry, metal building industry. Can you talk a little bit on any initiatives or programs aimed at reaching the next generation of these professionals coming in? 
 
Sasha Demyan: So the Mid-Atlantic chapter actively supports a camp that's called Let's Build Construction Camp for Girls. Yeah, it's great. It's great. It introduces all the trades to middle and high school girls during a two-week camp. Now this one takes place in my backyard, so I'm able to go, I'm able to see the girls at the end. Because of the level that we're able to sponsor at, we can take a lot of fun stuff and give them some inspiring words at the end of their camp. We can see what they built. So it's a lot of fun. It takes place also in Arizona and Ohio. So we are really pushing our members and really just all construction professionals, I would encourage to support in some way if there's a camp local to you. It's a fantastic program. 
 
And then on the MBCEA side, personally, our assets, we have videos and customizable presentations that we've created for our members to use in their local career days in order to introduce careers in construction. And we have many that use these. We have many individual through the chapters or individual companies that are our members that will go to their local career days and have the opportunities to speak and use the videos and the customizable presentations that we have. There are so many great things out there that MBMA has put out, that BuildYourFuture.org has put out. 

So we really took that workforce development to heart a few years ago. And under Keith Wentworth as the president of MBCEA at the time and now MBI, we got all of the associations together and we all talked about the workforce, the lack of and  what we can do to inspire the younger generation. So we had some really great discussions and we really got together with social media, with sharing all the resources that all of the trade associations have in the metal building world. And so really we've got a great page on our website for the public to go to, to see all of these great assets. 

 Megan Ellsworth: That's great. I love the Let's Build Construction Camp for Girls. I'm friends with Lee Ann Slattery and Shelly Higgins. Shelly puts on the Ohio camp and  Leanne I think helps with the Allentown. And it's just so cool. I would've loved that as a kid. So I think that's just huge for this industry, really recruiting the next generation of not only our workforce, but women. And I think that's so, so awesome. So that's great that you guys work with them. 
 
Robert Tiffin: So to play off of that and  then to jump off of the video of the Quality and Craftsmanship Series is we have a lot of resources, right? From the people that are in the field, a lot of anecdotal, a lot of hands-on experience. How do you capture all that to today's learning style? So we've partnered with an organization, the NCCER. I catch myself on that every single time. This is another nonprofit organization that they specialize in, basically listening. So listening to us and all the experience and how we put all this together and  they created an online curriculum. Why this is important: We've had great traction. We actually went out to technical schools and some colleges wanting to talk about metal building assemblers as an actual class in their school. Everyone loved the idea, but you have to come to the table with a fully developed curriculum. They won't write it for you. 

So when we found the NCCER and  we're working through it now, in fact, I had a meeting an hour ago on unit seven on insulation. So this is a collaboration of the industry getting together to write. Now you'll love this, Megan. It's auditory, it's visual and  it's tactile. So we're taking a into considerations of different learning styles. And it's not one whereby you've seen other training where you press play, you go vacuum the house, make a sandwich, come back and  then you're certified. You've got to, there's mini tests halfway through as a barometer. Have you learned something? There's interactions, there's a reading portion, there's a voice over the reading portion. There's tests at the end before you can progress. Then there's the managerial view so that if you are an employee or a contractor or erector, we can see where you are in the stage and we're helping our contractors or erectors or   we will help them even put that as an incentive to learn or an incentive to a different pay scale. 

So we're thinking all the different ways that this education online can be done at their pace, expand their knowledge, quickly identify, we'll call them up-and-comers, to use an old phrase, but to make sure there's a consistency of teaching across the US. That's our latest initiative. It's a pretty big one, but I would say everybody from contractors or erectors to manufacturers to vendors, we're all in and heavily sponsored to get it done. 
 
Megan Ellsworth: Wow. That's awesome. I love that it's auditory, visual and  tactile because so many people are hands-on learners. That's so important. Love. Great. Okay, so we are at our last question already. This has flown by. So as we look forward into the future of the metal building industry, what role do you see MBCEA is shaping the industry's growth, technology adoption and  safety standards? 
 
Sasha Demyan: We will continue to drive quality programs like the International Accreditation Services AC478, Accreditation for Assemblers, to help contractors and erectors stand out from the pack. We'll continue to push safety awareness, like the need for temporary bracing to underscore or ensure safe job sites for metal building assemblers. Our technical committee will keep our finger on the pulse of code changes and potential changes and work to influence them and  then educate our members on how to meet those changes. 
 
Robert Tiffin: And then with the alignment, going back to our relationship with the MBMA, right? So step by step, for example, everything that Sasha Demyan has mentioned tie into the MBMA. So code changes, working with Vince Sagan, the director of codes and standards, they sit on the board or are actively involved in the IECC. Another acronym, I know. But the International Code Council is the folks that actually write, then approve the code for buildings. So we have a voice now in those environments from the MBMA relationship. So that filters back through of, okay, so that's the rule. How do we build to it? That's the relationship that we have. 

The other is and  this is a little bit more of a fun, I'll put on my committee chair for the architects for MBMA. I said, okay, so we're great with engineers, we're great with contractors, erectors, we have an attorney on retainer and we have insurance people helping us understand the language of a how metal building system can be more viable. What we're missing is an architect. So last year was our first, this year in Boston, June 5th to 7th will be the second MBMA-MBCEA industry participation in the architects conference, 15,000 architects and specifiers in one spot. It fits my sales guy mantra of I want to be where my prospects meet, eat, sleep. I'm just shy of a stalker. But to be there, going as an industry to show them that a metal building system is a viable choice and a strong choice for their next need for a building. 

So going into the future, more of that. Side comment, we just celebrated our fourth annual design competition for architect students. So tying in, this is where the MBCEA works step by step, because if we're going to make buildings more, because the architects are specifying them, are we keeping the contractors and erectors involved to make sure that they know how to put up these metal buildings? So the future involves and  Sasha Demyan's heard me say this, everyone in our day has always said, "I want a larger slice of the pie. I want more of the market. I want the size of the pie." I don't care. I just want a bigger pie. If you want a bigger pie, everyone gets a bigger slice. So that's sort of where we're headed of making sure that we check our opportunities, we leverage our skills and our education and  we've got great people, great solid people of the MBCEA that'll help us get it done. 
 
Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, absolutely. I love that. Just get a bigger pie. Love it. Let's make the pie bigger. I think that's great. That's the AIA conference, right? Love it. Okay. So if anyone out there listening is going to that conference, make sure to come say hi to Robert Tiffin and Sasha Demyan and anyone else that's there from the MBCEA. That's really exciting. So hopefully you'll get lots of architects coming and chatting with you. 

Well, thank you both so much. Everyone out there listening can go to roofersoffeeshop.com and metalcoffeeshop.com to the MBCEA and MBMA directories to learn more, get registered for the conference if there's still time. I think there is and  don't miss out because it's going to be a really special event, May 7th to the 9th, 2025 in Charlotte, North Carolina. This is so exciting. Sasha Demyan, Robert Tiffin, thank you for chatting with me. 
 
Sasha Demyan: Absolutely. Thanks for the opportunity. 
 
Robert Tiffin: My pleasure. Thank you, Megan. Have a great rest of your day. 
 
Megan Ellsworth: You as well. Everyone out there, thank you for listening and make sure you are subscribed and ring the bell so you get notified every time we post a new episode. And we'll see you next time on Roofing Road Trips. 
 
Outro: Ready to raise the metal roof? Subscribe to MetalCast now and stay tuned for all things metal roofing. Go to metalcoffeeshop.com to learn more. Rock on and we'll catch you on the next episode.