Robert Looman
Bob Looman has been Executive Director of the MCA of Kansas City sinceNovember2006. He has been involved in the mechanical building industry for nearly three decades,including his most recent appointment at Trane Commercial Systems, where he was Vice President of Industry Relations. There he managed relationship development with the contracting and consulting community for the commercial construction industry involving heating, ventilating, air conditioning, and building management equipment systems.
Previously Bob was associated with Johnson Controls in various capacities, including General Manager of their business in St. Louis, which involved responsibility for the eastern half of Missouri, southern third of Illinois, and all of Iowa. Earlier with the firm, he was Director for Construction Sales, North America. Prior to that, he held leadership responsibilities for the company’s offices in Houston and Grand Rapids, Mich. He started his career as a Sales Engineer in Indianapolis. At MCA-KC, Bob leads an association now totaling 55 contractor members plus five associate members from the supplier and manufacturing fields.
Together with the 600-member Plumbers Local No. 8 and the 1,200-member Pipe Fitters Local No. 533, he teams with specialty contractors, union crafts, architects, engineers, building owners, facilities managers, and city officials in providing the diversity of professional talent and skilled manpower for the continued building of Kansas City.
He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Ind., in 1977. He is a member of the Mechanical Contractors Association of America, where he twice served as Chairman of the Manufacturers/ Suppliers Council. He also is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Institute for Construction Excellence (NICE) and is involved with a number of other industry/ community activities, including the Labor-Management Council of Kansas City Construction Industry Committee. Bob views Kansas City as a healthy, vibrant center with an impressive infusion of investment in the downtown community. He supports the spirit of communication and cooperation between management, labor and construction consumers that he has seen in Kansas City, because he recognizes the imperative for these to be in balance to deliver safe, high quality, timely, and cost effective construction and service solutions. He also values the collaborative relationship extending to manufacturers and suppliers who support the mechanical contractor’s value chain. He is committed toward the goal of continuing to improve upon the Association’s already strong safety reputation because he regards employee and jobsite safety as our highest priority. He furthermore stresses recognition of the professionalism among all parties in the contracting business, whether they are contractors themselves, skilled laborers, managers, estimators, or tradesmen.Bob and his wife Joni live in Lenexa.
They have two children; Beth, a first grade teacher in Ellisville, MO and Molly, a graduate student at Missouri – Columbia.
