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Association & Industry News
In case you hadn’t seen, UPS announced this week that it is cutting 12,000 jobs in 2024. NRMCA wanted to remind you of the many resources that are available through the Deliver Your Future (DYF) program to recruit and hire mixer truck drivers. DYF will be targeting online audiences based on those listing their current or past employer, allowing NRMCA to incorporate UPS drivers into our targets and driving them to our job seekers page on the DYF website. NRMCA is also including the credentials to access the members section on the DYF website; please enter the credentials exactly as written below:
For more information, contact Gregg Lewis at glewis@nrmca.org. 
Engineering
The EU (European Union) - U.S. Trade and Technology Council held a stakeholder event titled Crafting The Transatlantic Green Marketplace last week in Washington, DC. NRMCA Senior Vice President, Technical Services, Karthik Obla was one of six panelists for a session titled Creating a Market for Green Cement and Concrete on Both Sides of the Atlantic that was moderated by representatives from the Environmental Coalition on Standards (ECOS) and the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS). About 20 U.S. federal and EU officials along with representatives from the private industry attended the session. There was unanimous agreement that performance-based standards and specifications will spur innovation and accelerate the move toward low-carbon cement and concrete, Obla reported. Other ideas discussed included policy changes, incentives and funding opportunities, reducing risk, standards alignment, the need for a partnering atmosphere and a more streamlined approval process for innovative materials. A summary paper should be available shortly. For more information, contact Karthik Obla at kobla@nrmca.org. The NRMCA Research Laboratory recently published a report titled A Limited Performance Evaluation of Natural Pozzolans Using the Bulk Resistivity. Some of the main findings are:
For more information, contact Karthik Obla at kobla@nrmca.org. SEO
 NRMCA’s Think First monthly safety initiatives feature different industry-specific safety items relevant to seasons, current topics or industry concerns. The initiatives are meant to be shared, used as a training tool, printed, posted or distributed; all of which are encouraged. This month’s issue (seen here) is titled Safe Mixer Truck Driving Techniques. Remember, starting February 1 employers needed to display their OSHA 300A log where all employees have access to it. The summary log needs to stay posted until April 30, 2024. Click here for more information on OSHA recordkeeping requirements; here to access OSHA 300A forms and here for more information on required electronic submissions by March 2, 2024. The NRMCA staff contact is Kevin Walgenbach. 
NRMCA notes with sadness the death of Association member Wayne Alan Stephen on January 26 from cancer. A Wellsville, NY, resident, Mr. Stephen died at his home in Winter Haven, FL. He was 63. Mr. Stephen was born in Olean, NY, and graduated from Portville Central School in 1979 and started the Wayne Companies on a $500 loan soon afterward. His companies, now a corporation sellling concrete, gravel and asphalt in New York, Pennsylvania and Florida, employs nearly 1,000 people He is survived by his wife Lisa, a former member of the NRMCA Board of Directors and Executive Committee, children Garret (Clarice) Stephen of Davenport, FL.; Angelyn (Joseph) Sempolinski of Canisteo, NY; Grant (Skyler) Stephen of Wellsville, NY; Layne Stephen also of Wellsville, three grandchildren and many relatives and friends. A Mass of Christian Burial was held February 5 in Olean with interrment followed in Wellsville. Memorials may be made to Colleen Shea Children's Foundation, 1086 Highway 315 Blvd., Wilkes-Barre, PA 18702 whose mission is to enrich children with disabilities. Click here to read the full obituary published January 31 in the Olean Times Herald. Online condolences can be expressed at www.guentherfh.com. 
Buildings
NRMCA staff attended the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) 2024 Winter Conference and AHR Expo January 18 - 24 in Chicago. Darryl Dixon, director, energy codes and standards; Julian Mills-Beale, director, codes and standards; and Tiffany Reed-Villarreal, director, sustainability codes and standards, participated in ASHRAE Project Committee meetings on energy standards for sites/buildings and for the design of high-performance green buildings. Provisions for opaque envelope assemblies, thermal bridging in the clear field, energy credits, air leakage, wall reflectance and net zero operational carbon were among the specific topics addressed in the meetings. ASHRAE Project Committees (PCs) develop new standards and guidelines and revise current ones so that they reflect technical advances in the areas they cover. NRMCA's attendance at the conference and expo ensures that energy efficient and sustainable concrete solutions receive consideration in these industry standards. Click here for more information about NRMCA’s codes and standards advocacy efforts. Darryl Dixon can be reached at ddixon@nrmca.org.
Pavement
NRMCA Senior Director, Local Paving, Amanda Hult presented Design of Concrete Parking Lots and Concrete Overlays of Asphalt Parking Lots at the Cement Council of Texas’s (CCT) Industrial & Non-traditional Pavements Workshop in San Antonio. In addition to Hult's presentation, roller-compacted concrete, Type 1L cement and jointing concrete pavements were also discussed. CCT will host additional workshops throughout Texas in 2024. Dates for future workshops will be listed here once registration is open. For more information, contact Amanda Hult at ahult@nrmca.org. NRMCA Senior Vice President, Local Paving, Phil Kresge recently presented at a Lunch & Learn at the Columbus, OH, offices of American Structurepoint, Inc. The program was hosted by Ohio Concrete Association's (OCA) Central/SE Promotion Director Lisa Weaver-Moon. Representatives from American Structurepoint’s Cincinnati office also joined the program via Microsoft Teams. Kresge’s presentation provided an overview of ACI 300-21: Commercial Concrete Parking Lots and Site Paving Design and Construction Guide and ACI 330.2-17: Guide for the Design and Construction of Concrete Site Paving for Industrial and Trucking Facilities as the industry standards for concrete parking lot design. At American Structurepoint’s request, he also discussed roller-compacted concrete pavement (RCC). Headquartered in Indiana with offices in Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, and Texas, American Structurepoint provides architecture, engineering, infrastructure planning, and economic development services to local municipalities, state and federal agencies, and the private sector. For more information, contact Phil Kresge at pkresge@nrmca.org. The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), put into law in 1986, requires industries to report on the “storage, use and releases of hazardous chemicals (and materials) to federal, state, and local governments.” This specific reporting requirement under EPCRA is commonly referred to as Community Right-to-Know (CRTK) reporting, Tier II reporting and/or Section 311/312 reporting. The reporting deadline is Friday, March 1. Click here to learn more about EPCRA, chemical/material thresholds and how to report. The NRMCA staff contact is Kevin Walgenbach. 
Calendar
Please note that e-mail and direct registration links to each event listed below can be accessed from NRMCA's website. February 13 - 15, Denver *Sold Out February 20 - 22, Nashville, TN February 20 - 23, Philadelphia *Sold Out February 20 - 21, Alexandria, VA February 27 - 29, Orlando, FL *Sold Out March 5 - 7, Nashville, TN March 18 - 21, Tampa, FL March 26 - 28, Denver *Limited Seats Left April 16 - 18, Nashville, TN April 23 - 25, Orlando, FL April 30 - May 2, Mendota Heights, MN *Sold Out October 10 - 14, Aurora 
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