NRMCA Bolsters Build With Strength with Staff Additions; Association Also Names Head of Finance, Administration

NRMCA’s Build With Strength campaign to educate the building and design communities on the benefits of ready mixed concrete has been significantly strengthened with the addition of three industry professionals with decades of experience across multiple sections of the construction industry. Executive Vice President of Structures and Sustainability Lionel Lemay recently announced that Doug O’Neill, Frank Gordon and Donn Thompson have been hired to complement existing staff that are charged with promoting concrete as the building material of choice for building structures. Each of the three will hold the title senior director, building innovations.

O'Neill rejoins NRMCA, having previously served for 10 years as part of the Paving promotion team before taking a position with an NRMCA Producer member as its marketing & business development manager. He has 27 years of concrete industry sales and marketing experience, including vice president/executive director of the New York Construction Materials Association focusing on sustainability issues, Insulated Concrete Form (ICF) construction and parking area promotion. He also spent eight years in the cement industry and served on the Board of Directors for both the American Concrete Pavement Association’s New York State Chapter and the Western New York Chapter of the American Concrete Institute. O’Neill is a LEEP AP and is based in Lockport, NY, just north of Buffalo and will be responsible for the Northeast Region.

Gordon is based in Knoxville, TN, and will be responsible for the Mid-Atlantic Region. An architect by education, he has been an active member of the construction industry for over 31 years. He worked for the Tennessee Valley Authority (DOE), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (DOE) and several small- to large-sized architecture, engineering and construction firms, focusing on retail/commercial, medical/research, industrial and high-end residential projects. In 2005, Gordon established his own design-build company, working and consulting on a variety of projects ranging from custom luxury homes to small retail build-outs and large commercial office developments. Also, in 2005 he began working with ICFs and used that gained knowledge on several commercial, educational and custom residential projects. Since that time, Gordon has continued to develop, manage, consult on and design numerous ICF projects throughout the Southeast. In 2007, he consulted on the nation’s first Net-Zero school in Bowling Green, KY, and in 2014, he was selected as a finalist at the ICF Builder magazine’s Annual ICF Design Competition (Las Vegas, NV) in the Large Residence category for a custom home he designed in Knoxville, TN.

Thompson is based in Kenosha, WI, and will cover the Midwest Region for NRMCA. He has been active in the concrete industry for more than 22 years with extensive promotion, sales and direct field experience with a variety of concrete systems. Prior to joining NRMCA, Thompson was responsible for technical promotion of ICFs and other concrete home building systems for the Portland Cement Association. During seven years in the ICF industry, he educated designers and conducted extensive on-site contractor training on ICF construction for one of the largest insulated concrete form manufacturers in the U.S. While focused on ICF commercial sales, he successfully introduced ICFs into large scale multi-family, hospitality and theatre construction nationwide. Thompson also has sales and promotion experience within the precast concrete industry, helping to dramatically increase sales for a Midwest startup producer. He is a licensed architect, a member of the American Institute of Architects and a U.S. Green Building Council LEED Accredited Professional. Thompson holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in architecture from the University of Illinois, Chicago.

“Doug, Frank and Donn are proven relationship builders who are passionate about communicating concrete's ability to provide sustainable solutions,” said NRMCA President Michael Philipps. “We are fortunate that they’ve agreed to come on board at NRMCA to help continue the success stories already compiled under the Build With Strength campaign.”

In addition to the Build With Strength staff additions, Philipps also recently announced the hiring of Debra Adlis as executive vice president of finance. Ms. Adlis has more than 20 years of experience serving as a chief financial officer for non-profit organizations, including the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts, the National Hospice Organization, the National Foundation for Credit Counseling and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. In addition to finance, her experience includes human resources, IT, administration, legal and risk management as well as Federal grants and contracts. In her current capacity, Ms. Adlis will also serve as chief financial officer for the Portland Cement Association.

“We are also very pleased that Debra has joined us,” Philipps added. “She is more than qualified to help us navigate NRMCA’s evolving relationship with PCA.”

For more information, contact Gregg Lewis at glewis@nrmca.org.