NRMCA’s Developing Industry Leaders (DIL) program is now accepting nominations through Monday, June 15, for a limited number of middle managers to challenge themselves by thinking about an issue our industry faces. The goal of the DIL project is to broaden participants’ understanding of the ready mixed concrete industry at a more strategic, long-term level while giving them the opportunity to also work on a team with a diverse group of peers from across the country. This peer-centric program, with its accompanying industry mentorship, allows participants to not only make lifelong, career friends but to also gain insight into a specific national challenge.

 

This program differs from other association programs in that individuals are placed on a team. Each DIL team chooses a separate topic to research and address over the Fall and Winter months. The group first meets at ConcreteWorks, where it is expected to attend various committee meetings so it can gain insight from senior managers from many perspectives. The DILs then return home to continue their work via conference calls, e-mails and Webinars with their team. The DILs reconvene in March at NRMCA's Annual Convention where individual teams formally present their findings during NRMCA’s semi-annual membership meeting. After that, the DILs are invited to become active on a committee of their choice so they can bring expertise with fresh, new insight to the working body.

 

There is no fee for the DIL program, nevertheless, DILs are expected to attend ConcreteWorks in September and the Annual Convention in March.

 

Red Vector is a leading provider of online education and training for a wide range of industries and has offered over 400,000 courses over the last 12 months. NRMCA has now partnered with Red Vector to present several concrete-related courses across a variety a training platforms. The first offering will be Designing and Specifying Pervious Concrete on Tuesday, June 16 from noon to 2 p.m. Eastern time. This two-hour Webinar provides an overview on implementing pervious concrete pavements as a solution to reducing stormwater runoff from building sites and other paved areas. 

Participants will learn about pervious concrete pavement systems, engineering properties and construction techniques. The first hour discusses hydrologic and structural design of pervious concrete pavements. The second hour addresses the specifics that every specifier should consider when drafting pervious concrete specifications, with a focus on American Concrete Institute (ACI) Committee 522 Guide to Specification for Pervious Concrete. This Webinar will help attendees understand the principles behind pervious concrete design.

Click here to register. For more information, contact NRMCA Vice President, Pavement Structures, Brian Killingsworth at bkillingsworth@nrmca.org.

The International Conference of Shopping Centers' ReCon show is the largest gathering of brick and mortar retail construction and development in the world. The conference is taking place this week at the Las Vegas Convention Center with NRMCA staff members Jon Hansen, Amy Miller and Phil Kresge representing the concrete industry via an exhibit (shown below) featuring concrete parking lot paving, concrete parking lot overlay rehabilitation and disaster resistance concrete structures.

"On the first day of the show, we already surpassed the number of visitors and leads we had during the entire show last year," said Vice President, National Resources, Jon Hansen. "We are even getting some return visitors to the booth who stopped last year during our first time exhibiting at ReCon, telling us they remembered our message and were now back to talk about a specific project."

With the fiscal year more than half over, NRMCA's Design Assistance Program (DAP) continues its momentum in penetrating the concrete industry. To date, NRMCA has recorded almost 140 DAP submittals, a substantial increase over FY 2014 totals and an increase in the potential and known yards that the industry has influenced for concrete pavements. Presentations by the NRMCA’s staff to members and other association groups as well as the free Webinars about the program have created the buzz for the pavement recommendations, noted NRMCA Director of Pavement Structures Amanda Hult.

If you would like information on how to receive recommended concrete pavement designs or jointing plans, contact Amanda Hult at ahult@nrmca.org. Click here to register for the next free DAP Webinar to be held on Thursday, June 18, at noon Eastern time.

The preliminary estimate of ready mixed concrete produced in March 2015 is 23 million cubic yards, 3.5% higher than that in March 2014. The production through March is estimated at 60 million cubic yards, 5.7% higher than that during the same period in 2014.

In short, that 26-year-old college graduate living in your basement doesn't have any money to buy houses. And that's obviously not a good thing for the ready mixed concrete industry. A May 14 article posted on Yahoo.com discusses this issue, stating that the financial picture for millennials is improving, but the housing market is getting impatient. The article cites a research report from a few months back indicated that joblessness, stagnant income and student loan debt had not only set millennials back, but kept enough of them away from buying homes to account for 3 million homes' worth of property demand. According to the Census Bureau, 30.3% of millennials ages 18 to 34 still live at home with their parents.

The June 2 - 5 NRMCA Plant Manager Certification class in San Antonio, TX, is sold out. NRMCA has a waiting list for cancellations only. The next class will be held December 8-11 in Orlando, FL.

Please reserve a seat today by registering online. Please contact NRMCA's Eileen Dickson at edickson@nrmca.org or 240-486-1164 for further questions.

Do you have questions about the Hours of Service 30-minute break? Did you know the ready mixed concrete industry now has an exemption from the 30-minute break? Answers, explanations and guidance on these questions and more, are now part of NRMCA’s Compliance Guide for the Federal Drivers' Hours of Service (HOS) regulations. More than 10 years ago, the U.S. Department of Transportation issued revisions to its Hours of Service (HOS) rules which had been in effect and virtually unchanged since 1939. However, shortly after they were adopted, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia voted to throw out the new federal drivers' HOS rules. The rules have been subject to numerous court actions ever since. Do you know how will these rules affect the ready mixed concrete industry? Is your company in compliance? NRMCA's newly updated guide covers the new a mandatory 30-minute break, the July 2013 and December 2014 34-hour restart changes, egregious violations for both company and drivers, and much, much more.

NRMCA's revised 2015 Drivers' Hours of Service Regulations Compliance Guide has all the answers to help you and your company be prepared for complying with Hours of Service regulations.

New low-carbon cements, carbon sequestering concretes, new LCA methodologies to lower concrete’s environmental footprint and international resiliency initiatives were just a few of the innovative ideas presented at the 2015 International Concrete Sustainability Conference held last week in Miami. Hosted by NRMCA and the Iberoamerican Federation of Ready Mixed Concrete (FIHP), the conference featured two general sessions and 18 technical sessions. Over 65 speakers from around the world presented the latest advances, technical knowledge, continuing research, tools and solutions for sustainable concrete design, manufacturing and construction.

There were three other special events during the conference. First, conference attendees took a tour of the Florida International University (FIU) College of Engineering and Computing to visit the Titan America Structures and Construction Testing Laboratory and the International Hurricane Research Center Wall of Wind (WOW). The Women in Concrete Alliance Forum featured speakers and panel discussions on the role of women in the concrete industry and how gender diversity will help meet the challenges of concrete industry sustainability. The third special event was the annual Walk for Sustainability to support the RMC Research & Education Foundation.

Last week, NRMCA Vice President of Sustainability Tien Peng delivered two workshops at the 29th Annual Governor’s Hurricane Conference. Approximately 80 emergency management, public works, building code and insurance professionals attended "Pathways to Resilience "and "Life Cycle Assessments, A Primer for Public Works" workshops at the Rosen Shingle Creek Conference Center in Orlando. The Governor’s Hurricane Conference is the largest forum in the nation that offers training to expand the capacity to effectively respond to a hurricane. Specifically structured to present information in a dynamic interactive atmosphere, the NRMCA workshop provided extensive opportunities for Florida state officials and those across the country to understand the role of concrete in community disaster resilience and its environmental impacts.

Tien Peng was invited to the conference by Betti Johnson, a planner with Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council. NRMCA encourages its members to participate in local professional groups, such as emergency management local chapters, and offer topics and speakers for education programs.

Media articles on Congress, transportation infrastructure, regulation, taxes and other subjects, each of which relate to the ready mixed concrete industry, are updated each week by NRMCA's Government Affairs staff. To access the most recent compilation of articles for May 11 - 15, 2015, please click here.

Last Friday, House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Bill Shuster along with Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan introduced a two-month extension of current highway funding authorization. The extension, which runs until July 31, does not require offsets and gives lawmakers extra time to find a permanent funding source for passage of a longer extension or a fully-funded, multi-year bill later this year. The House voted yesterday 387 - 35 to pass HR 2353, the Highway and Transportation Funding Act of 2015, and it now heads to the Senate for passage before Congress adjourns for the Memorial Day recess.

According to a statement issued by Shuster and Ryan "It was our preference to move an extension through the end of the year, but we will need more time to reach a bipartisan agreement on offsets." Senate Finance Chairman Orin Hatch commented shortly after the announcement, stating he would support the House proposal. The extension should be a relatively easy lift for Congress since no offsets are needed nor are there any General Fund transfers; it is are simply extending the authorization until July 31 when the Highway Trust Fund runs out of money.

NRMCA has urged members of Congress to pass a long-term extension instead of a temporary patch in order to get the industry through the primary construction season. Last week, NRMCA joined members of the Highways Materials Group (HMG) during Infrastructure Week in sending a letter to House and Senate leadership urging them to act on a long-term bill. In addition to NRMCA, group members include the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association, the National Asphalt Pavement Association, the American Concrete Pavement Association, the Portland Cement Association, Association of Equipment Manufacturers, Associated Equipment Distributors and the Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute.

Also included in Infrastructure Week, NRMCA issued a grassroots action alert asking association members to send letters to their Members of Congress urging them to fix the Highway Trust Fund and enact a fully funded, multi-year highway bill. Almost 300 letters were sent. Thank you for your participation.

On Tuesday, May 12, the House voted 261-155 to pass HR 1732 the Regulatory Integrity Protection Act. The bill stops the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule from going into effect and allows the agencies, states and local stakeholders the opportunity to work together on a new rule. The bill also mandates that a comprehensive economic analysis be conducted to fully study the rule's economic impact.

In the Senate, a hearing was held on Tuesday, May 19, on S. 1140, the Federal Water Quality Protection Act, which is a similar version of the recently passed House bill. The full Senate Environmental Public Works Committee is expected to vote on the bill in the next few weeks. The WOTUS rule was proposed last year and has been one of the most highly contentious rules from the Obama Administration in recent years. NRMCA is concerned about how expansion of federal jurisdiction over marginal waters would place an undue burden on ready mixed concrete operations, aggregate operations and new construction starts.

NRMCA will host its third in a series of "DC Days" on Wednesday, June 17 and/or Thursday, June 18.  Please join your industry peers on Capitol Hill to advocate for swift passage of a long-term, fully funded highway bill this year, a permanent ready mixed concrete Hours of Service 30-minute break rule exemption and resilient construction tax credit issues impacting the ready mixed concrete industry. Details follow:

Who: Members of NRMCA’s Government Affairs Committee and Board of Directors and any association members are invited to participate. 

What: The third of the committee's quarterly "DC Days" will be an opportunity to meet with your congressional members and their staffs to talk about issues of importance to our industry. This quarter's DC day will focus specifically on educating key members of the new 114th Congress about FMCSA's Hours of Service regulations and how Congress can fix them; passage of a long-term, fully funded transportation bill and resilient construction. 

When: Wednesday, June 17 and/or Thursday, June 18 (you may select one or both days for Hill visits)

Where: Washington, DC 

Why: Congress will pass this week a short-term extension of transportation funding through July 31. The June DC Days will be a good time to meet with members to discuss passage of a long-term, fully funded transportation bill and making sure that NRMCA’s priorities are included. Face-to-face advocacy is the best way to help lawmakers understand our industry and the impact of their decisions on businesses in their state. You are your best advocate for your business. Taking the time to educate decision makers can help ensure that fixes to issues result in positive outcomes for the entire ready mixed concrete industry.

NRMCA, with the support of the RMC Research & Education Foundation, has launched a project to not only gain a better understanding about mixer driver recruitment and retention challenges, but to also develop materials to support efforts to build and maintain Producer members' driving staff. This survey window closes Sunday, May 31.

Please help TODAY by completing this online survey.

The NRMCA May Internet Spotlight, which will be good through Tuesday, June 2, is the ever popular Concrete In Practice (CIP) sets – CIP100 (20 collated sets) and CIP Single Sets. Concrete In Practice is a series of 43 one-page information sheets on important technical topics, written in a non-technical "What, Why and How?" format. Give them to contractors and they'll know that you deliver quality and value and make them a part of your promotion and education program. The CIPs are written in English (43 topics), and in Spanish (41 topics).

Use Discount Code: ISMAY15 and Order your CIPs online today and receive 20% off the member price.

• CIP100 - English (20 collated sets) Regular member price for is $230, Internet Special $184, plus shipping - order here.
• CIP100 - Spanish (20 collated sets) Regular member price for is $230, Internet Special $184, plus shipping - order here 
• CIP Single Set - English Regular member price for is $30, Internet Special $24, plus shipping - order here 
• CIP Single Set - Spanish Regular member price for is $30, Internet Special $24, plus shipping - order here

May 28, Free Webinar

How to Become a Green-Star Auditor

Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

 

June 2 - 4, Nashville, TN

Concrete Durability Course

Email: Karen Bean, 240-485-1168

 

June 2 - 5, San Antonio, TX *sold out

Plant Manager Certification Course

Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

 

June 16, Webinar

Designing and Specifying Pervious Concrete

Email: Brian Killingsworth, 830-438-2690

 

July 6, Free Webinar

Streets & Roads Promotion & Advocacy Overview

Email: Jacques Jenkins, 240-485-1165

 

July 13, Free Webinar

Streets & Roads Team Building & Situation Analysis

Email: Jacques Jenkins, 240-485-1165

 

July 20, Free Webinar

Streets & Roads Promotion for DOTs, Counties & Municipalities

Email: Jacques Jenkins, 240-485-1165

 

July 31, Free Webinar

Winning Initial Streets & Roads Projects in Counties & Municipalities

Email: Jacques Jenkins, 240-485-1165

 

August 14, Free Webinar

Streets & Roads Elected Official Advocacy

Email: Jacques Jenkins, 240-485-1165

 

September 20 - 22, San Antonio, TX

ConcreteWorks & Board of Directors' Meeting

Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

 

October 13 - 16, Silver Spring, MD

CCSP Module I: Concrete 101

Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

 

November 2 - 6, Silver Spring, MD

Annual Concrete Technologist Training and Certification Course "Short Course"

Email: Karen Bean, 240-485-1168

 

November 4, Webinar

STEPS A Long Term Career Tool for the RMC Industry

Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

 

November 17 - 19, Silver Spring, MD

Effective RMC Supervisor Course

Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

 

December 1 - 3, Orlando, FL

Environmental Course

Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

 

December 1 - 3, Silver Spring, MD

CCSP Module II: Customer Business Knowledge

Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

 

December 8 - 11, Orlando, FL

Plant Manager Certification Course

Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

 

 

February 23 - 25, Silver Spring, MD

CCSP Module III: General Business Knowledge

Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

March 15 - 17, Silver Spring, MD

CCSP Module IV: Professional Sales Skills

Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

 

May 15 - 18, Washington, DC

International Concrete Sustainability & Self-Compacting Concrete Conference

Email: Lionel Lemay, 847-918-7101