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Association & Industry News
The Maryland Ready Mix Concrete Association is welcoming attendees to two U.S. Green Building Council events relating to net zero energy schools. It is seeking local concrete industry representatives to attend these events. Three of four of the net zero schools being highlighted are built with Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF). Complimentary tickets for both events below are available. The first event is a hard hat tour of Baltimore City Net Zero School on Tuesday, September 11. The second is a net zero schools summit on on Thursday, October 17, in Silver Spring, MD. For more information, contact Mindy@MarylandConcrete.com. 
Buildings
This Build With Strength activity report summarizes activity in state and local legislation for July 2019. Locations of interest are municipalities throughout New Jersey and Massachusetts along with the cities of Philadelphia and Los Angeles. Click here to access the advocacy report. For more information, contact John Loyer at jloyer@nrmca.org. 
SEO
NRMCA has announced the winners of the 2019 NRMCA Environmental Excellence Awards. Now in its 24th year the program offers NRMCA producer members national recognition for outstanding contributions to protecting the environment and maintaining sound environmental management practices in their operations. The program salutes companies that have not only met, but surpassed governmental compliance requirements and demonstrated a commitment to environmental excellence through plant and staff investment. Entries were reviewed by a panel of judges based on electronic images with a written narrative covering 10 evaluation criteria, including site aesthetics, environmental documentation, training, water management, air quality management, returned concrete plan, community relations, concrete delivery and plant sustainability practices. This year’s program provides awards in three categories based on geographical region in which the plant is located (Eastern, Central and Western U.S.). Eligible plants include NRMCA Producer members. The Environmental Excellence Awards program is co-sponsored by Concrete Products magazine. “The NRMCA Environmental Excellence Awards Program were completely revised two years ago. Rules changes have made it easier for plants to enter, making the competition even tougher. These plants have demonstrated that they are the ‘best of the best’ when it comes to being good stewards of the environment,” said Gary Mullings, NRMCA executive vice president of operations and compliance. “This is an excellent example of the ready mixed concrete industry’s attention to environmental excellence,” added NRMCA President Michael Philipps. “These winning entries clearly demonstrate the incorporation of environmental management systems into their plants’ operations.” The honored plants are as follows: Eastern Region Category - LevelPreferred Materials, Inc. Lakeland Plant, Lakeland, FL, First Place; Maschmeyer Concrete Company Orlando/Silver Star Plant, Orlando, FL, Second Place and R.W. Sidley, Inc. North Canton Plant, North Canton, OH, Third 3rd Place Central Region Category - Campbell Concrete & Materials Hardy Plant, Houston, First Place; Campbell Concrete & Materials Hockley Plant, Hockley, TX, Second Place and Cemstone Products Company Arlington Plant, Arlington, MN, Third Place Western Region Category - Central Concrete Supply Martinez Plant, Martinez, CA, First Place; CalPortland Kenmore Plant, Kenmore, WA, Second Place and Evans Construction Jackson Plant, Jackson, WY, Third Place For more information, contact Gary Mullings at gmullings@nrmca.org.
Business Advancement
NRMCA members can now downoad the 2019 Mixer Driver Recruitment and Retention Survey. This year, the report shows the mixer driver pool increased for the first time in two years, up 2,000 drivers, to an estimated 77,000. Despite that, producers also reported approximately 9,900 unfulfilled jobs. Not only did 60% turn away orders because they did not have drivers to deliver product, but 95% reported driver vacancies, up 27% fromthe previous survey. Both factors dramatically increased over last year’s survey. Since 2014, it is estimated the industry hired approximately 115,500 mixer drivers; approximately 102,400 were left in a five-year average mixer driver pool of 74,400. In the survey’s five-year history, respondents overwhelmingly noted their biggest hiring challenge was finding drivers with ready mixed concrete experience. Facing such a shortage, 43% reported they hired 18-21 year old drivers and 51% hired newly licensed commercial drivers. Approximately 8% of new hires last year were new CDL drivers. On the other end of the spectrum, 56% reported they rehired former employees, equating to 9% of the new-hire mixer driver pool. Better pay, inconsistent daily schedules and lack of a steady 12-month income/work remain the top three reasons drivers quit. Click here to download this year’s comprehensive Mixer Driver Recruitment and Retention Survey Report. For more information, contact Eileen Dickson at edickson@nrmca.org. Fact: people quit because they have serious issues with their immediate supervisor. In an environment where our industry cannot lose one more mixer driver, it is critical that plant, operations, dispatch, fleet and driver managers, and supervisors understand the scope and tasks they are expected to execute. To stress the importance even more, according to the U.S. Department of Labor the most common business lawsuit filed is by employees against their employers - and the employees cite their direct supervisors as the cause. Therefore, class content includes industry-specific, hands-on exercises to develop solid procedures to increase efficiency and profitability by using better business processes and communication methods with front line employees. This class is held just once a year. Dates are January 14-16 in Des Moines, IA. Click here for more information, registration options and staff contact. 2020 January 14 – 16, Des Moines, IA January 21 – 24, Cincinnati, OH January 28 – 30, Orlando, FL January 28 – 30, Dallas February 25 – 28, Miami March 7 – 9, Las Vegas March 10 – 14, Las Vegas March 17 – 19, Dallas September 27 – 29, Aurora, CO Calendar
*Please note that e-mail and direct links to each event listed below can be accessed from NRMCA's Web site. October 3 – 7, Kissimmee, FL October 22 – 24, Irving, TX October 22 – 25, Dallas November 11 – 15, Baltimore November 19 – 21, Orlando, FL November 20, Little Rock, AR December 10 – 13, Orlando, FL December 17 – 19, Dallas 
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