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SEO
With a month to go to complete the survey, we are at 17% of last year’s total participants. So far, the Midwest and smaller producers (under 300,000 cubic yards) dominate respondents. While the numbers are too small to be valid – as in the past four years – 50% of producers are still walking away from business because they did not have a driver to deliver the order. Nevertheless, respondents did not rehire former drivers, 18-21 year olds or newly licensed drivers. Time will tell if these findings remain true. PLEASE have your appropriate person gather your driver employment data and fill out the anonymous survey. No one has to calculate formulas, just give us the employment numbers and we run the calculations. Click here to begin the survey. For more information, contact Eileen Dickson at edickson@nrmca.org. 
Buildings
“What I’ve found is that we have to focus on building structures that are going to withstand the elements long-term,” said Representative Hohenstein, a vocal proponent for the coalition. “The problem is when construction is so fast, is so rushed, and you don’t have skilled labor and you’re not using materials that can last a hundred years. They’ll last maybe five or 10 and place people’s health and safety at risk.” Amid the disturbing uptick of wood-framed building fires, organized labor leaders of Philadelphia have championed the call for stronger building codes and positive, preventative change. “Concrete and NFPA13 sprinkler systems are about as safe as you can get, period,” said Miller, who is also a member of the Build With Strength coalition. “Especially when we look at new construction – it is very important when you tear something down that you build it back up with concrete. It’s good for everyone: it’s good for the people living there and it’s good for the city of Philadelphia.” “Fire safety, strength of materials, and quality of the contractors – that’s what makes the difference,” added Wildsmith. “I mean people live in these buildings, they have families, they have kids. They’re living on the third floor of a stick-built, it’s crazy to me.” Additional organized labor groups counted among Build With Strength Philadelphia’s coalition members include the Philadelphia Building Trades Council, International Longshoremen’s Association Local 1291, Philadelphia Jewish Labor Committee, Philadelphia Metal Trades Council, Iron Workers Local Union 405, Cement Masons Local Union 592, Bricklayers & Allied Crafts Local Union 1, Teamsters Local 830, Heat & Frost Insulators & Allied Workers Local Union 14 and Sheet Metal Workers Local Union 19. Click here to a news release on this event. For more information on Build With Strength initiatives, contact Kathleen Carr-Smith at kcarrsmith@nrmca.org.
Pavement
There were over 80 engineers and architects, many MDOT personnel and two ready mix producers in attendance. In addition to the NRMCA speakers, there were speakers from ICF industry partners Dan Kubican, PE, of Brown + Kubican and Randy White, of NUDURA and ICFMA. The keynote speaker was Mike Chaney, Mississippi insurance commissioner, who was introduced by the NRMCA Senior Vice President, State and Local Government Affairs John Loyer. For more information, contact Ken Justice at kjustice@nrmca.org.
“My parking lot has the ‘wow’ factor now," Romeis said. "My visitors do not have to dodge potholes or damaged asphalt. Plus even better, my business looks clean and professional – it echoes the pride I have in my company.” NRMCA Vice President, Local Paving, Don Clem provided a Design Assistance Project report for the project. Watch for a new case study for this project on www.paveahead.com. For more information, contact Don Clem at dclem@nrmca.org. Government Affairs
As a follow-up to an earlier meeting in which President Trump and Democratic congressional leaders agreed to invest $2 trillion in America’s infrastructure, the President and Democratic leadership met Wednesday, May 22, to discuss funding proposals. President Trump sent a letter to Democratic leadership advising that before taking up infrastructure, Congress needed to pass the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement and asking that the Democrats specify their infrastructure priorities and the level of funding they want to dedicate to each priority. The meeting was intended to be a discussion of how to pay for the infrastructure package. In recent days, reports have indicated that the President is not considering raising the federal gas tax to pay for infrastructure. Instead, the meeting lasted just a few minutes, with the President informing the Democratic leaders that he would not work with them on infrastructure while the Democrats in Congress continued their investigations of him. These developments come on the heels of an internal Democratic caucus meeting in which Speaker Pelosi addressed efforts to begin impeachment proceedings, reportedly saying that she believed the President was engaged in a cover-up. After his brief interaction with Democratic leadership, the President proceeded to a press conference in the Rose Garden. Read Politico’s coverage here. Congressional leaders continue to pledge to work toward an infrastructure investment, and NRMCA and our allied associations continue to lobby members of both parties on Capitol Hill for an infrastructure package and a sustainable funding stream for the Highway Trust Fund. The current surface transportation authorization will expire in 2020. For more information, contact Andrew Tyrrell at atyrrell@nrmca.org. 
Calendar
*Please note that e-mail and direct links to each event listed below can be accessed from NRMCA's Web site. July 10 – 11, Dallas October 5 - 7, Kissimmee, FL November 11 – 15, Baltimore November 19 – 21, Orlando, FL December 10 – 13, Orlando, FL 2020 January 14 – 16, Des Moines, IA March 7 - 9, Las Vegas, NV March 10 - 14, Las Vegas, NV September 27 - 29, Aurora, CO 
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On May 23, 2019, 
NRMCA was well represented at the annual Mississippi Day of Concrete recently held in Jackson and hosted by State Affiliate Promoter of the Year Joel Waters, executive director of the Mississippi Concrete Association (shown here). Vice President, Building Innovations, Michael Wymant spoke about insulated concrete forms (ICF) construction, innovation in concrete buildings and resilient construction while and Executive Vice President, Strategy, Greg Lewis spoke about ICF’s for schools. Ken Justice, senior director of local paving, spoke in two separate sessions about concrete parking lot design and concrete overlays for roads and parking lots, respectively.
Building on momentum from the completion of the Thorncreek Golf Course concrete overlay project last year, SLV Quality Concrete (Leonard Velasquez, owner) wasted no time in completing an additional concrete overlay project this spring in Thornton, CO. SLV Quality Concrete built a 32,000 square foot concrete overlay (shown here) for OneSource Magazine, a local magazine distributor. Concrete was supplied by NRMCA Producer member company Martin Marietta. OneSource Vice President Systems & Ops Tami Romeis contacted SLV Quality Concrete after observing a banner (sponsored by GCC of America) at the Thorncreek overlay project construction site.