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Association & Industry News
NRMCA is looking for good men and women to serve on the Board of Directors. While serving on the Board requires both commitment and energy, it is a rewarding opportunity to give back to the industry. NRMCA represents a broad range of ready mixed concrete companies across the United States and our success is a direct result of the skills and expertise of our professional staff working in conjunction with our Board of Directors. Director nominees must be committed to promoting NRMCA programs and working in the best interest of its membership and the industry at large. The Board provides strategic direction, fiduciary oversight and governance of the organization’s operations. Nominees are vetted by the Nominating Committee, which consists of the current chairman of the Board, the immediate past chairman of the Board, and past chairmen of the Board for the previous seven years who are still in an active capacity in the industry. The selected slate of nominees is then presented to and elected by the general membership and will serve a three-year term that begins immediately following the annual convention in 2021. The deadline for submissions is Friday, July 24. Please click on links below for more information or contact NRMCA's Heather Houck at hhouck@nrmca.org.
Please also consider submitting entries to NRMCA's 90th Anniversary photo contest; entries are being accepted through July 17. 
For the ready mixed concrete industry and virtually all industries, liability protections are needed for businesses to reopen so Americans can return to work. Last week, NRMCA, PCA and other members of the North America Concrete Alliance sent a letter to Congress urging that companies that have complied with federal and state safety practices should not face liability. While Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has asserted that any additional COVID-19 packages must include COVID-19 liability protection, the House-passed Heroes Act is silent on this issue. Based on NRMCA’s conversations with Hill offices, there are serious efforts underway in the Senate to construct a time-limited liability shield that would allow companies to operate without fear of frivolous lawsuits. However, any such provisions would be required to pass muster with the Democrat-led House and could be a deal-breaker for many Democrats. NRMCA will continue to advocate for COVID-19 liability protections to shield companies that have complied with state and federal guidelines and industry best practices from expensive and unnecessary lawsuits. For more information, contact Andrew Tyrrell at atyrrell@nrmca.org. While news reports have generously covered the recent national polling showing presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden leading President Donald Trump in the November general election, Republicans point to two developments suggesting that the President and Republican candidates may enjoy more underlying support than the polls show. First, Republicans won two special elections in the past weeks. The first took place in California, replacing Rep. Katie Hill (D-CA) where Republicans reclaimed a seat that was lost in the 2018 general election. The second special election took place in Wisconsin, replacing Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI) who retired earlier this year. Democrats mounted aggressive campaigns in both races. Second, the town of Staunton, VA, a liberal stronghold, elected a slate of Republicans in local elections. Analysis suggests that the strong Republican performance in Virginia could be credited to backlash against anti-gun measures adopted by the legislature earlier this year as well as to protest the Democratic governor’s lockdown of the state. It is far too early to tell whether either of these developments are indicative of a larger trend for 2020, but pro-Republican sentiment could be boosted in Democratic areas by an aggressive ground game. At the same time, Jason Furman, a former economic advisor for President Obama, indicated that a rebounding economy this fall could yield the best economic data in the history of the country. As the country reopens without exacerbating the pandemic, growing confidence will fuel an economic revival, which can only bode well for the reelection prospects of Republican candidates and President Trump.
Engineering
The ACI Concrete Convention’s virtual technical presentations will be hosted from June 1 - 3; they were originally scheduled for the ACI Concrete Convention. NRMCA’s Karthik Obla will be presenting on Who is Watching Out for the Cylinders? during the session Low Strength - Practice and Perils on Monday June 1, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The presentations are free to ACI members, ACI University all-access digital subscribers and attendees who registered for the now-canceled ACI convention in Rosemont, IL. Visit ACIConvention.com/Virtual to register for the virtual technical presentations. The next NRMCA Concrete Durability Course will be offered as an online course from June 15 - 22; it will be presented in two 2-hour sessions per day over a one-week period, with the exam on June 22. Course handouts and quizzes will be administered online. Sessions will be recorded for persons who have conflict with scheduled live sessions. The course is taught by Michael Thomas of the University of New Brunswick; Kevin Folliard, University of Texas at Austin and NRMCA Engineering Staff. The course provides a fundamental understanding of the nature of cement and concrete as they relate to durability of concrete. Topics will cover cracking, alkali aggregate reactions, sulfate attack, corrosion of reinforcing steel, freeze-thaw durability and other aspects. A group exercise will be facilitated to familiarize attendees with the ConcreteWorks software used for mass concrete and service life prediction. The course also discusses the durability provisions in the Building Code - ACI 318-19 and how specifications can be structured to address durability. Comprehensive reference material is provided as course notes that is an excellent resource to concrete producers and associated technical personnel. Those with the NRMCA Level 3 Certification obtain the NRMCA Concrete Technologist Level 4 Certification when passing the exam offered with the course. It is not essential to have attended the NRMCA Technical Short Course to attend the Durability Course. The course provides required learning units toward the technical track of the NRMCA STEPS certification program. Persons interested in attending this course are encouraged to register as soon as possible. Click here to learn more and to register. For more information, contact Colin Lobo at clobo@nrmca.org. SEO
Does your facility need to report to the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) Program? Have you run the calculations to determine if your facility does? Do you know what the requirements are and/or how to report if necessary? Now’s the time to obtain answers to all of these questions. Remember, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) TRI Program “tracks the management of more than 650 toxic chemicals that may pose a threat to human health and the environment.“ Specifically, “U.S. facilities in certain industry sectors must report annually how much of each chemical is released to the environment and/or managed through recycling, energy recovery and treatment.” This information is then submitted annually to EPA and compiled in the TRI. Facilities that handle toxic chemicals, including ready mixed concrete plants, are required to calculate the quantities that were handled: if any quantity is over an allowable threshold that chemical and the amount need to be reported under the program. The reporting deadline is Wednesday, July 1. Click here for more on the program, listed chemicals, potential for reporting and when/how to report from EPA’s TRI Program website. You may also contact Gary Mullings at gmullings@nrmca.org or Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org. 
Buildings
The Build With Strength (BWS) webinar series continues today, Wednesday May 27, at 2 p.m. Eastern time with A New Generation of Tilt-Up Buildings presented by NRMCA's Lionel Lemay and Mitch Bloomquist, executive director of the Tilt-up Concrete Association. Register here for this presentation, which examines the latest advances in tilt-up concrete technology to provide economical, energy efficient and durable building solutions. The next presentation in the series is scheduled for Wednesday, June 3, also at 2 p.m. Eastern time: Achieving Resilience with ICF Construction will be presented by Lemay and Paul Camozzi, director of commercial business development for Amvic Building Systems. Registration is also available for additional BWS webinars focusing on design and construction of high-performance concrete buildings. They provide American Institute of Architects (AIA) Elective Learning Units and/or Professional Development Hours (PDH) for continuing education requirements.
Build With Strength is a coalition led by NRMCA that promotes standards advocacy to leverage policies promoting safety and resiliency and help place more concrete. For more information on BWS webinar series, contact Lionel Lemay at llemay@nrmca.org.  Porter Brothers Construction is currently working on ground up construction of a new 4-story Hampton Inn Hotel in Queen Creek, AZ, which utilizes Insulated Concrete Forms. The ICF installation of the project averaged nine days per floor with a 6-person crew, according to Rod Fetters of ICF Specialists, who is the installing subcontractor. This is the first hotel to be built in the town of Queen Creek, which is southeast of Phoenix. For more information, contact Chris Dagosta at cdagosta@nrmca.org or 602-930-3793.
 This week’s ConcreteTracker Project is one of several police/fire stations recently completed by Rochester, NH-based Groen Construction. This 12,000 sq ft, $2.5 million project in Warner, NH, (shown here) was awarded the 2020 Light Commercial project of the year by ICF Builder Magazine and the 2019 Excellence in Concrete Construction award for Low-Rise Concrete Building from the Northern New England Concrete Association. The ICF installation took a total of 27 days to complete which allowed town personnel to move in earlier than anticipated. “Working with the town of Warner, we were able to help design and build an incredibly safe and energy efficient building that fits into the town’s character and that the townspeople are proud to have invested in,” said Sarah Currid, business development manager for Groen. For more details about the project visit www.ConcreteTracker.org and search Project Type-Fire/Police Station, Construction Type-ICF, State-NH, then click Submit. Click on the pin to explore this outstanding example of ready mixed concrete at work. If you have a project you would like to include on the map, click ABOUT US and click on the “Case Study Upload” link. For more information or for help uploading a project, contact Doug O’Neill at 716-801-6546 or doneill@nrmca.org. 
Government Affairs
On behalf of the Highway Materials Group, NRMCA has drafted and sent a letter to Capitol Hill that details concerns about retroactive forgiveness eligibility requirements for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. While the PPP has enabled many NRMCA members to retain their employees and keep their doors open during this crisis, retroactive forgiveness eligibility requirements have become a great cause of concern for NRMCA members. These concerns deal with certifications of necessity and tax deductibility of expenses. NRMCA raised the issue with multiple Members of Congress and congressional offices, following up with a letter to the Hill outlining our concerns and requesting that Congress provide certainty for small businesses that received and utilized PPP loans in the spirit in which they were intended. While the Small Business Administration issued guidance addressing loans under $2 million and the Heroes Act addresses the tax deductibility of expenses, NRMCA calls on Congress to ensure that these are resolved in future legislation. In addition, NRMCA joined with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Associated General Contractors and other organizations in sending a letter asking Congress to address these and other issues with PPP loans. See related E-NEWS item directly below. For more information, contact Andrew Tyrrell at atyrrell@nrmca.org. Late last week, the Small Business Administration (SBA) released additional guidance on loan forgiveness for loans made under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) as well as more information on the SBA’s process for reviewing PPP loan applications and loan forgiveness applications. These guidance documents do not change the window for using the PPP loan funds or the 75/25% split between payroll and other expenses. The Journal of Accountancy published an article detailing the implications of the guidance. NRMCA urges members to consult their tax professionals and attorneys to ensure they are complying with, and utilizing fully, the resources available through these loan programs. View NRMCA’s COVID-19 Resources page for these and other resources. 
Calendar
*Please note that e-mail and direct links to each event listed below can be accessed from NRMCA's Web site. May 27, Build With Strength Webinar May 28, Concrete Pavement Webinar Series June 2, Free Promotion Webinars June 3, Build With Strength Webinar June 4, Concrete Pavement Webinar Series June 10, Build With Strength Webinar June 11, Concrete Pavement Webinar Series June 15 – 22, Online Course June 16 – 18, Nashville, TN – Sponsored by Tennessee Concrete Association June 17, Build With Strength Webinar June 18, Concrete Pavement Webinar Series June 24, Build With Strength Webinar June 25, Smyrna, Tennessee – Sponsored by TCA June 26, Smyrna, Tennessee – Sponsored by TCA July 14 – 16, Nashville, TN – Sponsored by TCA September 25 – 29, Denver October 8, Nashville, TN October 20 – 22, Mendota Heights, MN November 10 - 12, New Orleans November 17 – 19, Glendora, CA December 15, Charlotte, NC December 15 – 18, Phoenix 
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