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Engineering
The NRMCA Regional Concrete Technologist Training and Certification program (Short Course) is scheduled for January 31 – February 4, 2022, at the Hilton Garden Inn near BWI airport. Interested persons are encouraged to register now because the number of available slots is limited. The hotel room block is being finalized and this information will be updated on the NRMCA website. Registrants will be informed when hotel reservations can be made. The Technical Short Course provides a fundamental understanding of concrete, aggregates and concrete making materials; requirements in industry codes and standards, and proportioning concrete mixtures. Attendees have the opportunity to obtain industry-recognized NRMCA certifications: NRMCA Level 2 and 3 Concrete Technologist certification. The course is intended for quality, sales and other personnel with a technical role with ready mixed concrete companies and suppliers to the industry. New hires in these roles can also benefit from attending. A significant amount of technical content is covered that requires the attendees to have a basic concrete technology background and at least a high-school level of math. Registrants will be provided with pre-course study content about three weeks before the course to prepare. Information on the NRMCA Short Course and a link to register is available here. Contact Jessica Waldenbach if you need assistance with registering. SEO
Yesterday, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) agreed to extend the comment period, by 45 days, on its Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) requiring employers with 100 or more employees to require their employees to either get vaccinated against COVID-19 or be subject to weekly testing. The comment period, which OSHA plans to utilize for making the ETS permanent, was scheduled to end on December 6. The new deadline is now January 19, 2022. Since the release of OSHA’s ETS on November 4, numerous lawsuits have been filed challenging its legality; they have been consolidated into one case before the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. As well, due to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals’ injunction on November 12, the rule is currently paused. The fluid nature of the court case and the upcoming ETS deadlines have created a lot of confusion about what actions businesses should take. At this juncture, businesses are still faced with whether they should prepare for the ETS to be upheld, ignore it until the courts issue a final ruling or simply slow walk implementation while monitoring progress. Regardless of the case outcome in the 6th Circuit Court, it is highly likely that whichever side loses, it will appeal to the Supreme Court for a final decision. This scenario is predicted to develop and culminate with a final decision in roughly mid-December. However, court rulings and updates to the implementation dates are anticipated before then. NRMCA continues to advocate on and monitor the ETS. For more information on how the ETS could impact the ready mixed concrete industry please click here and here to review the specifics of the ETS and comment deadline extension. For more information, contact Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org. Earlier this month, the Department of Labor (DOL) finalized a rule requiring federal contractors and subcontractors to increase their hourly wage for their workers to at least $15. The requirement will become effective January 30, 2022. The rule was finalized at the direction of President Biden through his Executive Order 14026 which he signed back in April. According to DOL, the rule:
While the rule applies to federal contractors and subcontractors, it does provide a carveout for materials suppliers such as ready mixed concrete producers. The rule states that, “Executive Order 14026 does not apply to subcontracts for the manufacturing or furnishing of materials, supplies, articles, or equipment, and this clause is not required to be inserted in such subcontracts.” This is a welcome provision to the rule, as the ready mixed concrete industry has advocated for such language which is consistent across other federal contracts instances. Click here for more information on the final rule. You may also contact Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org. NRMCA’s Think First monthly safety initiatives feature different industry-specific safety items relevant to seasons, current topics and/or industry concerns. The initiatives are meant to be shared, used as a training tool, printed, posted and/or distributed; all of which are encouraged. This month’s issue is titled Ho, Ho, Ho – Holiday Season Safety, pictured here: Click here to view this month’s and all previous issues. For more information, contact Gary Mullings at gmullings@nrmca.org or Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org.
Registration is still open for the December 13 - 15 offering of NRMCA’s newest course, Think Like an Owner. It will be offered virtually each day from noon to 4 p.m. Eastern time. This course is intended to empower the participants to understand the drivers of financial performance and improve their management with an eye to profitability of their business center. Fully updated to reflect the realities of 2021, the course is taught by Bob Capasso, CEO of Concrete Financial Insights; it is based on insights gleaned from NRMCA's Performance Benchmarking Survey and seeks to promote financial excellence in a growing market. Participants will learn how to read financial statements, measure performance, examine elements of profit and loss, and think in terms of economic profit. This course is a must-attend for industry participants, from plant managers to company presidents, who want to run their operations profitably. Click here for the course overview and here to access the registration link. For more information, contact Andrew Tyrrell at atyrrell@nrmca.org. 
NRMCA's Political Action Committee, CONCRETEPAC, is your voice on Capitol Hill - defending your business against harmful laws and regulations that can affect your bottom line. CONCRETEPAC enables the ready mixed concrete industry to approach vital public policy matters by helping to elect like-minded Members of Congress. CONCRETEPAC supports candidates for federal office who are pro-business, pro-ready mixed concrete and who understand the importance of our industry to America's economy. The Federal Elections Commission requires trade associations to receive prior authorization from a member company before communicating with its eligible employees any information related to a political action committee such as CONCRETEPAC. Click here to grant CONCRETEPAC prior authorization and get engaged with NRMCA’s political program. If you have any questions, please contact Taylor Drzewicki at tdrzewicki@nrmca.org. 
Buildings
NRMCA has launched a new course titled Greater Heights and Innovative Aesthetics: A New Generation of Tilt-Up Buildings for Hanley Wood University. Once considered a method suitable only for large warehouses, today tilt-up construction is employed on virtually every building type, from distribution centers to schools, churches, libraries, retail centers and office buildings; it has become the method of choice for many developers, designers and contractors because of its numerous benefits. This course presents the latest advances in tilt-up concrete technology that provide economical, energy efficient and durable building solutions for a variety of project types and focuses on several case studies. View the course here. For more information, contact Lionel Lemay at LLemay@nrmca.org or 847-922-7995. Adding to VCNA’s current list of environmental product declarations (EPD) for ready mixed concrete and cement, St. Marys Cement was recently verified for its cement grinding facility in Detroit and a cement plant in Port-Daniel, Quebec. St. Marys continues to meet market demands of environmental transparency and disclosure as a business necessity. St. Marys utilized the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) tool to develop the EPDs. With support from Athena Sustainable Materials Institute and independently verified by Industrial Ecology Consultants, the EPD reports the impacts of Ordinary Portland Cement, High Early Cement, Portland Limestone Cement (i.e., ENVIROCEM™) and Masonry Cement. St. Marys EPDs can be found on NRMCA's EPD webpage. To date, the North American ready mixed concrete industry, including material suppliers, have invested into >85 verified EPDs with >38,000 products/mixes and is the leading material industry that reports environmental impacts. The trend in reporting company and product environmental, social and governance practices is growing; and, with environmental impact criteria being discovered in green building construction documents and specifications, procurement decisions are leaning beyond price and performance. When raw material suppliers demonstrate a lower embodied carbon, their customers can provide them increasing business opportunities. As a leading EPD Program Operator for the concrete industry, which is an integral program for 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, please contact James Bogdan at jbogdan@nrmca.org or 412-420-4138. One of the biggest roadblocks to implementing enhanced resilience in the built environment is the lack of an accepted measurement system that would determine when resilience goals are being met. The concept of functional recovery is intended to address the gap by providing a way to evaluate resilience in an objective manner. In an article in Engineered Systems magazine, NRMCA Senior Vice President, Structures and Codes, Scott Campbell discusses the use of functional recovery in resilient design. The column is part of an ongoing series where Dr. Campbell lays out various aspects of security and resilience for a technical, but not specialist, audience and advances the concept of resilience as envisioned by NRMCA. Build With Strength is a coalition led by NRMCA that promotes concrete building systems through communications, project promotion, education and advocacy. To learn more, contact Scott Campbell at scampbell@nrmca.org or 502-552-5034.
Pavement
NRMCA is seeking nominations for its annual Promoter of the Year – Buildings, Promoter of the Year – Pavements, State Affiliate Promoter of the Year and John Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award for Promotion. The NRMCA Promoter of the Year Awards for Buildings and Pavements recognize the contributions and promotional efforts of individuals from the ready mixed concrete industry. You can help one of these industry champions get deserved acknowledgement by nominating him or her for this prestigious award. Nominees must be employees of an NRMCA Producer member and must have worked in the industry for at least five years. The State Affiliate Promoter of the Year Award recognizes outstanding concrete promotion contributions by an employee of one of NRMCA’s state affiliate partner organizations. Nominees must be current employees of a state affiliate who have worked in the industry for at least five years. Any active participant in the ready mixed concrete industry (including suppliers and contractors) can help a promotion champion gain acknowledgement by nominating them for this prestigious award. Please submit a nomination of no more than two pages, detailing the nominee’s promotional efforts over the last five years with particular emphasis on contributions during the past 12-18 months in some or all of the following performance categories:
The John Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award for Promotion is awarded to a concrete professional distinguished by a career that demonstrated outstanding leadership, dedication and achievement in support of concrete promotion and industry advancement. Nominees for this award must be former employees of NRMCA member companies who are now retired or deceased. You can help one of these industry champions get deserved acknowledgement by nominating them for this prestigious award. The 2021 award recipients were: Nominations are due by January 18, 2022. Click here for more information or to submit a nomination. You may also contact Senior Vice President, Local Paving, Phil Kresge at pkresge@nrmca.org for more information. NRMCA's Ready Mixed Concrete Delivery Professional Driver of the Year Award, now in its 26th year and sponsored by the Truck Mixer Manufacturers Bureau (TMMB), acknowledges the significant contribution of ready mixed concrete truck drivers to the growth and success of individual companies and the ready mixed concrete industry. As a salute to these key members of the concrete production and delivery team, the award recognizes the driver’s career achievement, safety, professionalism, competence and customer service skills in a manner that will enhance the industry and public image of the career of Ready Mixed Concrete Delivery Professional. The winner will be honored at an awards presentation ceremony at NRMCA’s Annual Convention in San Antonio, TX, in March 2022. Nominations must be e-mailed to DOY@nrmca.org by Friday, December 31. Government Affairs
Help stop the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s COVID-19 emergency temporary standard (ETS) and Congress’ efforts to increase workplace safety penalties by 10 times their current rates! These policies will kill businesses, infringe on the rights of workers and destroy the economy. OSHA has issued an ETS that forces employers to impose vaccination and testing mandates on their employees by January 4; it also includes recordkeeping, paid time off and masking requirements. While the standard currently only applies to employers with 100 or more employees, OSHA is considering expanding the requirement to smaller employers. We urge you to take action now. Click here to send your Members of Congress a pre-written letter opposing the rule and asking them to cosponsor legislation to review and reverse OSHA's ETS. For more information, contact Andrew Tyrrell at atyrrell@nrmca.org. 
2022 January 31 - February 2, San Antonio, TX January 31 - February 4, Linthicum Heights, MD February 8 - 11, Phoenix February 15 - 17, Dallas February 15 - 17, Online Course February 22 - 24, Smyrna, TN March 22 - 24, Smyrna, TN April 5 - 7, Dallas April 19 - 21, Smyrna, TN September 29 - October 3, Aurora, CO Learning & Development
San Antonio, TX, will host the 2022 Dispatcher Certification class beginning Monday, January 31 through Wednesday, February 2. Schedulers and dispatchers focus on how to make the order system flow seamlessly and productively in your company. Key skills covered are: • ASTM-C94 and other technical knowledge that assure the order’s materials are correct; Check here for detailed information and the online registration link. For registration help, e-mail Jessica Walgenbach at jwalgenbach@nrmca.org. The February 8 - 12 Plant Manager Certification class in Phoenix has limited seats available. If you are looking for a class in the west, now is the time to register. Due to COVID restrictions, class size will be limited. The four-day course is industry-specific and concentrates on immediately applicable skill development related to the challenges faced by plant managers all across the county. The intense learning curriculum includes the latest on product knowledge and technical standards, safety culture and OSHA-based regulations, operational and maintenance skills, current environmental issues and regulations from EPA as well as labor law issues and the challenges of front line supervision. Please note the Army Corps of Engineers requires batchmen to pass NRMCA Plant Manager Certification BEFORE work commences. Additionally, the class is required for those working on their STEPS Operations and Production Certification. Check here for detailed information and the online registration link. For registration help, e-mail Jessica Walgenbach at jwalgenbach@nrmca.org. NRMCA is offering its information packed one-day course, Handling Concrete Specifications, Low Strength Problems and Mixture Submittals, intended for concrete producers, contractors, engineers and testing labs online February 15 - 17, 2022. The course will feature a new group discussion session on February 17. The course will discuss the latest changes to the code and specification requirements (ACI 318, 301, ASTM C94) governing ready mixed concrete and address many topics, including the following:
Course instructors are Luke Snell, P.E., FACI, FASCE and Karthik Obla, Ph.D., P.E., NRMCA vice president, technical Services. Producers, contractors, engineers and testing labs will find the discussions on investigating low strength problems and specifications very helpful to address issues that impact partnering, project cost and schedule. Upon successful completion of the course, attendees will earn eight professional development hours, a certificate of completion and credits toward NRMCA’s STEPS program. Click here for more information. The staff contact is Karthik Obla at kobla@nrmca.org. Calendar
Please note that e-mail and direct links to each event listed below can be accessed from NRMCA's Web site. December 6 - 9, 2021 Online Course December 7 - 10, Orlando, FL *Sold Out December 13 - 15, Online Course December 15, Free Virtual Conference
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