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Association & Industry News
On behalf of the entire NRMCA team, we’d like welcome and recognize our new and rejoining Producer and Associate members for the month of April. We appreciate your continued support to our members and the ready mix industry and look forward to serving you throughout the year. Producer members: Associate members: For more information on how to get more from your NRMCA membership, contact Senior Director, Membership Engagement, Amanda Muller at 703-706-4838 or amuller@nrmca.org. Discover the perfect platform to showcase your products and services and maximize your reach by connecting with potential customers at NRMCA’s ConcreteWorks 2024. Exhibitor information is now conveniently available online. Navigate through the Exhibit tab at the top of the webpage to access all exhibitor information. To secure your space, complete the Exhibitor Booth Application and return it to NRMCA along with the required payment. The estimated ready mixed concrete produced in January is 21.6 million cubic yards, 14.3% lower than in January 2023. The estimated production in the U.S. for 2023 is 393 million cubic yards, approximately 2.1% lower than that in 2022. Ready mixed concrete production is estimated from cement shipments reported by the U.S. Geological Survey. More detail is available here for NRMCA members under Production Statistics. 
SEO
Early last week, the Department of Labor (DOL) published a final rule updating overtime pay regulations. The new standard has tiered increases and effective dates for both the minimum salary threshold and highly compensated employees (HCE). The minimum salary threshold, under which workers are eligible for overtime pay is currently set at $35,568. This threshold will increase to $43,888 on July 1 and then to $58,656 on January 1, 2025; representing more than a 60% increase over the current threshold. The current HCE threshold of $107,432, above which workers are not eligible for overtime pay, will be raised to $132,964 on July 1 and then to $151,164 on January 1, 2025; a 41% increase. The final rule also provides for automatic updates every three years for the minimum salary and the HCE thresholds.
Build With Strength and the Colorado Ready Mixed Concrete Association (CRMCA) recently sponsored a symposium titled Executing Low Carbon Concrete in Greenwood Village where more than 100 of the state's structural engineers, architects, contractors and specifiers took part in a full day of discussion centering on decarbonizing ready mixed concrete while achieving reduced embodied carbon through currently available technologies of low carbon concrete strategies, reports NRMCA Senior Director, Building Innovations Patrick Matsche. He credited the ACI-Rocky Mountain, Structural Engineers Association of Colorado (SEA-CO) and American Society of Concrete Contractors (ASCC) for supporting the event. 
Buildings
 On April 20, NRMCA Senior Director, Building Innovations, Frank Mruk was elected vice president of the Northeast Region Construction Specifications Institute Board during its annual conference (seen here) which took place in Rochester, NY. The theme of this conference was Play it Forward Connecting Neighborhoods through Transformative Design and Reuse. The Northeast Region CSI is a collection of 15 Chapters of Specifiers located in New England, New York and New Jersey. Its mission as a region is to build strong chapters through communication and collaboration. CSI members are experts in building construction and the materials used therein and are dedicated to improving the communication of construction information. Founded in 1948, CSI is a national not-for-profit association of more than 6,000 members dedicated to improving the communication of construction information throughout continuous development and transformation of standards and formats, education and certification of professionals to improve project delivery processes. CSI members work to communicate the designers’ vision, the material producers’ solutions and the constructors’ techniques to create facilities that meet facility owners’ objectives. The Build With Strength program is a leader in supporting architects and specifiers in the specification of high-performance facilities. For more information, contact Frank Mruk at fmruk@nrmca.org.
Last week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) finalized a proposal, released over a year ago, that disallows non-compete agreements for nearly all workers. FTC states the rule will “promote competition by banning non-competes nationwide, protecting the fundamental freedom of workers to change jobs, increasing innovation, and fostering new business formation.” The new rule prohibits any new non-compete agreements for all workers, including senior executives. However, any current non-competes for senior executives would remain in effect, while current agreements for “workers other than senior executives are not enforceable after the effective date.” The rule also props up the Bureau of Competition within the FTC through which workers can issue complaints if there are any suspected violations of the new rule. The FTC also states that the new rule does not preempt trade secret laws or non-disclosure agreements. The final rule will become effective 120 days after its published in the Federal Register. Click here to review the new non-compete rules. For more information, contact Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org. 
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launched a new website dedicated to housing information on the agency’s environmental justice (EJ) efforts. The website is in response to an April 2023 Executive Order signed by President Biden to establish “an EJ Clearinghouse to be a public, internet-based, whole-of-government clearinghouse composed of culturally and linguistically appropriate and accessible materials related to environmental justice.” The site comprises publications and guides related to EJ issues, projects, funding opportunities, mapping tools, experts and more. More information, funding, regulations and tools will be added to the website as they become available. Click here to visit the EJ Clearinghouse. For more information, 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 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, shown here, is titled Concrete Mixer Truck Lockout/Tagout. Click here to view this month’s and all previous Think First issues. For more information, contact Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org. 
Calendar
Please note that e-mail and direct registration links to each event listed below can be accessed from NRMCA's website. May 8 - 10, Milwaukee May 8, 2024, Online Course May 15, State College, PA May 15, Online Course September 9 - 13, Baltimore September 10 - 12, Sacramento, CA October 10 - 14, Denver October 10 - 14, Denver October 15 - 18, Denver December 3 - 5, Orlando, FL December 10 - 13, Charleston, SC *Sold Out December 10 - 12, Denver 
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