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DOWNERS GROVE, IL. — The Plumbing Contractors Association (PCA) Midwest will honor three outstanding individuals who have shown a great deal of personal commitment, ingenuity and passion to improve the plumbing industry during its PCA Winter Social on January 29, 2016 at the Brookfield Zoo’s Seven Seas Underwater Dolphin Viewing Area.
The 2016 inductees are former President of Ewing Doherty Mechanical Industries Douglas J. Ewing (posthumously); Chicago-based and internationally renowned Plumbing Fire Protection Engineer Richard Kviz; and Illinois Plumbing, Heating & Cooling Contractors Association (PHCC) Executive Director Beverly A. Potts.
The PCA created the Chicago Area Plumbing Industry Hall of Fame in 2002. Since its inception, over thirty distinguished men and women representing PCA plumbing contractors, United Association (UA) of Journeyman Plumbers Local 130, and the manufacturer/supplier segment of the industry have been bestowed with this tribute.
This year’s Hall of Fame Committee, who were tasked with the selection process, included Robert F. Melko (Owner of Bishop Plumbing & Heating, Inc.); Jim Allen (President of Sloan Valve Company); David Ariano (Owner of Ravinia Plumbing & Heating Company, Inc.); Paul F. Buddy (Owner of Cannonball Mechanical Corporation); Dick Kuhn (Co-Owner of Kuhn Plumbing & Heating); Patrick McCarthy (UA Local 130 Business Agent); and S.J. Peters (PCA and Plumbing Council Executive Director).
PCA Hall of Fame Honoree Douglas J. Ewing was a familiar figure to his peers in the Chicago plumbing industry prior to his death in 2004. As President of Ewing Doherty Mechanical Industries, Inc., Ewing also served as a former PCA President and was the co-chairman of the UA Local 10 Health & Welfare Fund as well as serving on numerous union trust funds including UA Locals 501, 319, 507, 514 and 544. He also served his country in the U.S. Army Reserve rising to the rank of Brigadier General.
PCA Hall of Fame Honoree Richard Kviz is a Chicago native who spent 42 years with three prominent Chicago engineering firms as a senior plumbing fire protection engineer. Some of his most notable and impressive engineering accomplishments include Chicago’s John Hancock Center, the Chicago Tribune Printing Plant (considered to be engineered with the city’s most complex fire protection systems), and O’Hare Airport’s International Terminal Number 5. He also engineered international projects including the Arabian International Bank Center in Cairo, Egypt, the New World Center in Hong Kong, and numerous Hyatt Hotels around the world.
PCA Hall of Fame Honoree Beverly A. Potts is a third generation licensed journeyman plumber and former plumbing and heating contractor in Central Illinois. Since 1997, Potts has served as the Executive Director of the Illinois Plumbing, Heating & Cooling Contractors (PHCC) Association. She has been instrumental in successfully lobbying and advocating on behalf of plumbing legislation in Springfield for improvement and protection of the Illinois Plumbing Licensing Law and the Illinois Plumbing Code.
In addition to her Illinois PHCC work, Potts participates with and is a member of the Illinois Plumbing Inspectors Association; the Illinois Plumbing Education Association; the Illinois Plumbing Code Advisory Council; the Illinois Mechanical & Specialty Contractors Association; the Illinois Lead Poisoning Elimination Advisory Council; and the Radiant Professionals Alliance, and many other allied organizations. She is also a highly regarded, well-respected and frequent speaker and instructor for the PCA and the Plumbing Council Midwest.
The PCA is proud to recognize all of the 2016 Hall of Fame inductees and is grateful for their outstanding service and contributions to the plumbing industry as a whole.
As one of the oldest trade associations in the United States, the PCA, which is affiliated with the national and state Plumbing, Heating & Cooling Association (PHCC), Union Affiliated Contractors (UAC) of the PHCC, and the Mechanical Contractors Association of America (MCAA) represents over 300 union signatory (UA Plumbers Local 130) plumbing contractor firms operating in 17 counties in Northern Illinois in labor relations and legislation.
In addition, the PCA assists its members with education, safety training and plumbing code and license law enforcement and supports a nationally recognized apprenticeship system that provides for the effective training of union plumbing apprentices through a 5-year program leading to journeyman status. The PCA also promotes and encourages the highest standards and ethical practices in providing quality plumbing and piping installation and service and encourages positive relations and sophisticated business practices among plumbing contractors.
For more information about the PCA Midwest, visit www.plumbingcouncil.org/pca. S.J. Peters serves as the PCA and Plumbing Council Executive Director and can be reached at 312/563-9526, by cell phone at 630/280-9307, or by email at [email protected].