Last week, Tien Peng, NRMCA’s senior director of sustainability, codes and standards, presented a "Resilient Solutions Start with Community" workshop at the Kentucky Association of Mitigation Managers (KAMM) 2013 Annual Conference in Carrollton, KY. The "Back to Basics" themed program also featured sessions on FEMA’s efforts to enhance community resilience, and resilient concrete buildings and neighborhoods by local architect Jill Lewis Smith. Approximately 13 hazard mitigation professionals attended the session which utilized research conducted by the Center for Innovation and Engineering, Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering at West Point.

KAMM was formed to promote natural hazard mitigation and management in Kentucky. Its members represent local floodplain coordinators, planning and zoning officials, engineers, surveyors, GIS specialists, hydrologists, public safety and emergency managers.

Peng also met with 15 code, emergency management and planning officials as a followup to the Disaster Resilient Construction Workshops held earlier this year. The meeting held in Louisville, KY, promoted local advocacy for resilient activities and featured new NRMCA resources, including the Workshop Report, Federal legislation, new FEMA documents and the LEED Resilient Construction Pilot Credit currently under development.

Peng was invited to speak at the KAMM event by Greg Smith of the Kentucky Concrete Pavement Association. Greg works closely with the Kentucky Ready-Mixed Concrete Association (KRMCA) and suggested the proposed topic. NRMCA encourages its members to participate in their local professional efforts, and offer topics and speakers for education programs. For those who feel comfortable presenting, NRMCA also has a number of prescribed presentations ranging from specifying sustainable concrete to LCA of concrete structures. For the most complex topics, NRMCA can also provide technical staff to present at local events.