When MCA acquired the Ersco Brookfield store location this past May we got an extra bonus in the fine group of people who were working at that store. This newsletter highlights the newly appointed store manager in Brookfield, Rob Gilson.

Rob started at that location in July 1994 when it was the old Wisconsin Wire and Steel company. And he stayed on when Ersco bought the business in 2000. Working as an outside sales person for both previous owners, Rob was well aware of MCA as he would run into them – or their products – on job sites in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois. “The only thing I knew about MCA was that they were fair and honest competition,” states Gilson who feels good about working for a former competitor.

Rob is glad to see that MCA continues to leverage the skills and talents of the Brookfield-based crew, but he’s also happy with more than a few of the changes they’ve made. “As MCA, we now have many products we did not carry in the past. Things like drain tile, Form-A-Drain, wood stakes, and nails to name a few,” says Gilson. “We are not only a supplier for general contractors, but for residential contractors as well. Our hard work can pay off for the customers…we can give them so much more.”

Rob is no stranger to hard work. He put himself though college by working as a sales supervisor at a Kohl’s department store. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee with a Bachelor’s degree in business, Rob started his career as a merchandiser and then a sales person for a liquor distributor.

But it’s not all work, work, work for Rob. In his spare time, he likes to hunt, go ATV-ing in the north woods, play golf, or tackle the “honey-do” list of home improvement projects. Rob has been married to his wife, Jenny, for seven years. Together they have a three year old daughter, Megan and another child due in June of 2004. He also has a step-son, Shane, who is fifteen. Include the chocolate Lab, Riley, and you’ve got the all-American, hardworking family.

Rob appreciates his customers and his staff and wants both groups to know that improved customer service is one of his goals as Store Manager. If you have any suggestions for him, give him a call. He’d love to hear from you.

That’s where MCA and the Combiform product come to the rescue. It makes your work easier, more accurate, and more cost effective.

Combiform is a combination of screed rail and a form and is used mostly in commercial applications where extremely flat floors are required. The inverted V-shaped product acts as a form for slab breaks as well as a control joint for those breaks – eliminating the need and the bother – of wood forms or screed pipes. The product comes with pre-drilled holes to accommodate steel dowels, too! Because the form product stays in the concrete after the pour there is no need to checkerboard or waffle your pour and spread it across a couple of days. It can all be done at one time.

The product is fabricated in seven heights (1’’ to 5.75 ‘’) from 19 gauge sheet metal. You can use your laser level to set these heights perfectly for your application. The integrated plastic strips form a rail that can accommodate a 900 lb screed, making that operation quick and accurate. After the pour the plastic strips can be left in or taken out if you prefer to caulk the joint.

Another good thing about Combiform is that you only have to saw cut one way—perpendicular. The other joint is already ”cut.” This product is perfect for slab pours on grade, on metal deck or for those 1’’ pours on precast decks.

Call your MCA Sales Professional for more info on Combiform.