SMACNA Greater Chicago: Celebrating 10 Years of Excellence

This year marks the 10th anniversary of SMACNA Greater Chicago! To commemorate becoming one of the premier sheet metal organizations in the country, we’d like to share a brief historical snapshot of how we got here.

SMACNA’s roots can be traced to Elgin, Illinois, back in 1943. The National organization was founded for the purpose of joining together sheet metal contractors with common problems, solutions and goals. Today, SMACNA has grown to represent more than 3,500 signatory contractors throughout 100 international chapters — including SMACNA Greater Chicago.

Our SMACNA Greater Chicago chapter is the result of a 2014 merger between SMACNA Chicago and Northeastern Illinois Sheet Metal Contractors Association. At the time, current Executive Vice President Tony Adolfs was overseeing both entities as Executive Director, managing two sets of members, events, negotiations and more. Combining the rich histories of the two chapters made sense not only from an organizational standpoint, but also aligned with both board’s goals of enhancing the business environment for all Chicagoland sheet metal contractors and their union counterparts.

“The merger certainly made the combined association stronger than what either of the associations was alone, and has given us a stronger presence at the national SMACNA level,” said Ken Wiesbrook, president of Wiesbrook Sheet Metal. “As a result, our membership is more vibrant and engaged.”

“When I started working for NISMACNA in 2006, it took eight years of relationship developing with both boards before everyone felt comfortable enough to consider consolidating. Since then, we’ve worked to continue a longstanding, successful partnership between labor and management and have expanded both our membership base and our educational offerings to become a more robust organization.” - Tony Adolfs | Executive Vice President, SMACNA Greater Chicago

In 2015, Tony was recognized for his efforts with the Petersen-Dunn Chapter Executive of the Year award - but he’s quick to give credit to the team that has always surrounded him.

“The legacy of SMACNA Greater Chicago is made possible by all the members and leaders who came before me. I’m proud of everything our boards have done to make sure our chapter thrives now and into the future.”