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Association & Industry News
The early bird registration deadline for NRMCA’s ConcreteWorks 2021 has been extended until 5 p.m. Eastern time on Friday, August 27. Register online by the deadline and you will still save more than $100 on your registration fee. NRMCA has contracted a block of rooms at the Gaylord Plams Resort & Convention Center at a discounted rate of $189/night plus applicable taxes and a $30/night resort fee. The resort fee will cover several in-room amenities. Hotel reservations can be made by calling the Gaylord Palms directly at 877-491-0442 and asking for the NRMCA or National Ready Mixed Concrete Association rate, but we encourage you to make your hotel reservations online. The hotel reservation cut-off date is Tuesday, September 7, or when the block sells out, whichever occurs first. For more information, please contact Senior Director of Meetings Jessica Walgenbach at jwalgenbach@nrmca.org. Click here to access registration, hotel reservation information, the exhibitor prospectus and more. 
SEO
NRMCA has announced the winners of the 2021 NRMCA Environmental Excellence Awards. Now in its 26th year, the program offers NRMCA Producer members national recognition for outstanding contributions in 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 geographic regions in which the plant is located (Eastern, Central and Western). Eligible plants include NRMCA Producer members. The Environmental Excellence Awards program is co-sponsored by Concrete Products magazine. “The NRMCA Environmental Excellence Awards Program was completely revised four years ago. Rules changes have made it easier for plants to enter, making the competition even tougher, especially in 2021 when we saw a record number of entries. 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, 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 (runner-ups are listed alphabetically): Eastern Region Central Region Western Region Plants receiving awards will be honored at this year’s ConcreteWorks in Orlando, FL. Honored facilities will also be featured in an article in an upcoming edition of Concrete Products magazine and be listed on the NRMCA website. For more information, contact Gary Mullings at gmullings@nrmca.org. 
Buildings
Brandon Wray has joined NRMCA as director, building innovations, covering California. Based in the Sacramento area, Mr. Wray’s primary goal is to promote concrete as the primary structural system and building material for low- to mid-rise buildings. He will accomplish this by building awareness of advanced concrete technologies while connecting the design community to NRMCA’s in-house design assistance programs. Prior to joining NRMCA, Brandon worked for seven years at NRMCA Producer members U.S. Concrete, Inc. and Central Concrete Supply where he assisted in developing, evaluating and launching various concrete technologies throughout North America. His most recent endeavor was with a globally-respected precast concrete designer and manufacturer where he worked with the project management team in supporting a $1.6B housing project in California. Mr. Wray's entry into the concrete industry stems from his degree in civil engineering from San Jose State University. Brandon Wray can be reached at bwray@nrmca.org or 408-806-0453.
In collaboration with the Product Category Rule (PCR) Committee, NSF International (NSF) has revised the Concrete PCR to include new life cycle inventory data sources. Recently, the Portland Cement Association published new industry average environmental product declarations (EPD) for a variety of cement products. The Cement EPDs, verified by ASTM International, can be found for Portland Cement and Portland-Limestone Cement (PLC). Each EPD demonstrated a significant reduction in carbon impact associated with producing cement in the United States (as reported in a previous E-NEWS item). The Concrete PCR utilizes a specific set of life cycle inventory data sources. Each time those data sets are updated, the Concrete PCR may need updating. With this new cement data, it was necessary to update the Concrete PCR and help ready mix producers improve their carbon footprint in concrete. The Concrete PCR also considered the upcoming slag cement industry average EPD. The revised Concrete PCR, which keeps its February 2024 expiration date, can be found on the NSF PCR webpage. Integral to the Build With Strength campaign, NRMCA promotes Strength Through Transparency for member and industry competitiveness in the green building marketplace and the trends toward product and company transparency. For support, training, sustainability strategy planning or program development, contact James Bogdan at jbogdan@nrmca.org or 412-420-4138. Government Affairs
On Monday, the House of Representatives returned from its traditional August district work period to consider procedural votes on a budget resolution and an infrastructure package as well as to pass legislation relating to voting rights. The two-day session was highlighted by a dramatic standoff between 10 moderate Democrats and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) over the sequence of the votes on a budget resolution that would pave the way for a $3.5 trillion reconciliation package and an infrastructure bill. Despite broad bipartisan support for the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in the Senate (including unanimous Democratic support), Speaker Pelosi has for months pledged to withhold consideration of the infrastructure bill until a $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package was passed. Nine moderate Democrats, lead by Problem Solvers Caucus co-chair Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), sent a letter to Speaker Pelosi threatening to withhold support for a procedural vote paving the way for reconciliation unless he and his colleagues were first given a stand-alone vote on infrastructure. On Monday, the nine Democrats were joined by a 10th, Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-FL), who wrote an essay outlining her stance that was published in the Orlando Sentinel. After prolonged negotiations between the moderates and Speaker Pelosi, the moderates secured a promise from the speaker and a modification of the rule controlling consideration of the budget resolution, voting rights legislation and infrastructure bill committing to consider the infrastructure bill by September 27, just days before last year’s extension of the FAST Act is set to expire. NRMCA and its coalition partners are meeting with Members of Congress and their staffs to urge them to support the infrastructure bill. For more information, contact Andrew Tyrrell at atyrrell@nrmca.org. The NRMCA Government Affairs Committee will hold its fall meeting on Tuesday, September 7. This meeting, typically held in conjunction with NRMCA’s ConcreteWorks, will provide an update on the government affairs and advocacy efforts of NRMCA’s Government Affairs team as well as provide a look ahead to the end of the year and into 2022. Click here to RSVP. 
Learning & Development
Concrete 101 (CCSP I) is being offered October 19-22 in Dallas. This annual introduction to concrete fundamentals is for those who need a broad overview of technical and operations essentials. The curriculum is appropriate for sales reps, dispatchers, administrative/home office and mid-level staff as well as those in executive functions whose jobs do not relate to concrete per se, but who should have knowledge of the industry. This class is NOT appropriate for technical ready mixed concrete personnel. For those working toward their NRMCA STEPS® CCPf certification in the Sales and Marketing Track, this is a required class. For others working toward CCPf certification in other STEPS tracks, the class is the qualifying prerequisite or an elective. Click here for more information, including registration options and staff contact information. Calendar
Please note that e-mail and direct links to each event listed below can be accessed from NRMCA's Web site. September 10-17, Online Course September 15, Free Virtual Conference September 29 - October 3, Kissimmee, FL October 13, Free Virtual Conference October 18 - 20, Orlando, FL October 19 - 22, Dallas November 9 - 11, Dallas November 17, Free Virtual Conference November 30 - December 2, Orlando, FL December 7 - 10, Orlando, FL December 7 - 9, Dallas December 15, Free Virtual Conference 
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