Graduates of the Concrete Industry Management Program at Middle Tennesee State University in Murfreesboro continue to have the upper hand when it comes to gainful employment options. On October 23, The Daily News Journal of Murfreesboro wrote a short feature story on how recent CIM students have fared after receiving their bachelor degrees, including about 100 students who were recently part of a networking event on the MTSU campus.

Really? Who knew? Well everyone who's ever been in the ready mix business, for starters. But the cement/concrete issue recently was addressed in a letter to the editor posted October 19 in The Post and Courier newspaper (based in Charleston, SC).

Lastly this week, we travel across the Atlantic where a ready mix company called Mick George Concrete has gotten creative in its effort to recruit new drivers for its fast-growing concrete division. Or as an October 26 article posted by the Cambridge News puts it, "...finding drivers for concrete lorries remains problematic for the Huntingdon company, so it has come up with a financial incentive programme to help owner-drivers." Read more.

Massachusetts Concrete & Aggregate Producers Association Executive Director Craig Dauphinais and NRMCA Senior Director, Local Paving, Doug O’Neill, recently teamed up to educate a regional design firm with 23 offices in 13 states along the East Coast. Along with presenting an abbreviated version of NRMCA’s ACI 330 - The Gold Standard for Concrete Parking Lot Design, the promoters highlighted the successful use of concrete in downtown city streets, round-a-bouts, intersections and parking lots in the Northeast and topped it off with a brief overview of pervious concrete.

Over the summer Dauphinais traveled with O'Neill to Rochester and Buffalo, NY, to gather information on the concrete pavements placed over the last 15+ years in those cold weather cities. He is now utilizing those pictures and project information to make the case for concrete to be used in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The managing director of the design team indicated the need to get in front of state transportation officials and then offered his assistance to bring the message to them. Dauphinais is working on setting up meetings to move this process forward in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, O'Neill said.

Under the Design Assistance Program (DAP), NRMCA provides free concrete parking lot design recommendations intended for designers and specifiers not familiar with concrete parking lots. NRMCA also offers a related program of particular interest to concrete contractors to help win projects and ensure concrete parking lot customer satisfaction. The Jointing Plan Assistance Program (JPAP) provides recommendations to help contractors win projects and deliver a high quality product.

Improper jointing, which can happen on projects placed even by experienced contractors, frequently results in customer dissatisfaction. Unhappy customers are less likely to provide repeat business and may speak up about their frustration among peers and acquaintances, which puts a damper on future concrete opportunities. DAP and JPAP recommendations significantly increase the likelihood of successful concrete bids, well-designed projects and satisfied customers. These programs are free for NRMCA members and their contractor customers as well as specifiers.

As part of its new Low to Mid-Rise (LMR) Plan, NRMCA is preparing to launch a building-focused Design Assistance Program (DAP) to assist developers and others who understand the value of building with concrete but have not found a way to do so cost-effectively. In our effort to identify target projects, NRMCA needs its members and allies to identify project stakeholders that would make good candidates for design assistance.

Our members are on the front lines in concrete’s battle for market share in all sectors, but nowhere is this more evident than in the low to mid-rise category of buildings. To be successful, we need to leverage the relationships our members have with their customers and others in their communities. There is simply no substitute for local level awareness of project pipelines. Once a project has been designed and is ready for bidding it is virtually impossible to convince the owner to consider alternative design and construction options. We need to find projects in pre-design, or very early in the design sequence, where the project team is most likely to be open to considering alternatives.

Do you or your team know of a project in your area that is currently in the site acquisition, feasibility study or initial stages of design? Do you have a relationship with a developer in your market who has yet to take full advantage of the benefits of building with concrete? Are you familiar with a local architecture and engineering team that has been struggling to cost-effectively design concrete building systems? If you answered yes to any of these questions, contact NRMCA and let us show you how we can partner with you to provide the support necessary to make sure that next new project in your community is concrete! All project and stakeholder information provided will be treated as confidential by NRMCA staff.

Please contact Gregg Lewis at glewis@nrmca.org for more information.

73 member companies participated in NRMCA’s 3rd Quarter Producer Confidence Index (PCI) conducted during the first two weeks in October. While the overall PCI dropped due to an increase in the number of participants over the 2nd quarter, the PCI Current Expectations Index remained steady at 66.5, reflecting mild optimism concerning current market conditions. The PCI Future Expectations Index, looking over the next six months also remained steady at 74.3, suggesting a slightly higher degree of confidence moving into the first half of 2016. The survey uses 2006, the best year for ready mixed concrete production and financial performance on record, as a baseline to assume a 100 point positive PCI. NRMCA’s PCI survey is conducted each quarter to gauge economic attitudes in the ready mixed concrete industry.

The CP Road Map E-News is the newsletter of the Long-Term Plan for Concrete Pavement Research and Technology (CP Road Map), a national research plan developed and jointly implemented by the concrete pavement stakeholder community. Articles in the October 2015 issue include Tie Bar Placement from Nebraska, Skid Resistance from Pennsylvania, Ultra-Thin Whitetopping on Illinois Roadways and Parking Lots, and Fiber Reinforced Concrete for Concrete Pavement Slab Replacement.

NRMCA's Operations, Environmental & Safety Committee (OES) has named Rickie Grooms, principal for Grooms Equipment/Petroleum Tec and a sales representative for Continental Mixers, Burlington, NC, the 2016 Joseph E. Carpenter Award recipient. This award is named in honor of Joseph E. Carpenter of Rinker Materials, West Palm Beach, FL, who was instrumental in the formation and early operation of the NRMCA Committee on Maintenance. The award was instituted in 1988 and is presented annually to person(s) who have demonstrated outstanding lifetime contributions to the ready mixed concrete industry in the fields of operations, environmental and safety.

Mr. Grooms was named the 2016 award recipient for his longtime commitment to the OES Committee and the ready mixed concrete industry. He is a past OES Committee Operations Task Group chairman and has worked for 20 years in the concrete industry. Mr. Grooms is a former tracked vehicle mechanic with the U.S. Army/Army National Guard; has previously held the position of equipment manager for S & W Ready Mix Concrete and has worked as sales manager and vice president of sales for Continental Mixers. Most recently, in addition to his continued alliance with Continental Mixers, Mr. Grooms is the owner and operator of two of his own companies, Grooms Equipment and Petroleum Tec.

As an equipment manufacturer, Mr. Grooms has continued to support NRMCA and the OES Committee by attending meetings and offering his financial support. He has always volunteered his time for many different NRMCA projects, including providing time and equipment for every annual NRMCA’s National Mixer Driver Championship. Mr. Grooms was also involved with developing the Fleet Manager Certification Course.

For more information, contact Gary Mullings at gmullings@nrmca.org.

Last week, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) created a task force aimed at developing recommendations for the FAA on how to register Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), also known as drones. The FAA cites the necessity for creating a registration process to allow for the safe development of the UAS industry, in light of UAS increasingly intruding into first responder areas, airports and near government buildings. Specifically, the task force will examine "...which UAS, based on their weight or performance capabilities, warrant a continued exercise of discretion with respect to requiring registration because of the negligible risk they pose to the national airspace system (NAS)."

The FAA task force will likely be comprised of "...25 to 30 diverse representatives from the UAS and manned aviation industries, the federal government, and other stakeholders."

Comments and suggestions for FAA and the task force are due by Friday, November 6. Click here to view the Federal Register notice or provide comments. Click here for more information on current UAS regulations and guidance. You may also contact Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org.

NRMCA has certified (verified) its 2,000th Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) under its internationally recognized product certification program. Established in 2012, NRMCA’s EPD Program aims to help concrete producers meet new requirements in green building rating systems such as LEED v4 and other standards and initiatives, including the International Green Construction Code (IgCC) and the Architecture 2030 Challenge for Products. EPDs are third-party verified (certified) reports published by product manufacturers that provide quality assured and comparable information regarding environmental performance of their products.

Developing and certifying EPDs requires a product manufacturer to go through a rigorous process of conducting a life cycle assessment (LCA) of plant operations and product inputs followed by an extensive review by independent LCA professionals. NRMCA’s EPD Program follows the Product Category Rule for Concrete developed by the Carbon Leadership Forum and relevant international standards. Architects and engineers are requesting EPDs for building products as a way to reduce the environmental impacts of the building projects they design. With EPDs, they can objectively compare the environmental impacts of the products they specify against an industry benchmark, or average. NRMCA was one of the first industry groups to publish an industry wide EPD along with industry benchmarks.

"The concrete industry leads all building product categories with over 2,000 products with certified EPDs," said Lionel Lemay, who manages NRMCA’s EPD Program. "Combined with the industry wide EPD and benchmarks, concrete producers can now meet the environmental impact reduction goals set in green building programs such as LEED and Architecture 2030."

The major driver is LEED v4 that now has credits for LCA (3 points) and EPDs (2 points). However, even projects not necessarily pursuing LEED certification are beginning to specify EPDs with similar objectives – quantify and lower environmental impacts of projects. Some examples include the new Atlanta Falcons football stadium and the massive California High Speed Rail project.

NRMCA’s education partner RedVector has just released a new course titled "Understanding Concrete’s Environmental Advantage" that explains the benefits of building with concrete to maximize environmental performance of structures and project sites. It utilizes case studies and state-of-the-art research to demonstrate high performance with concrete systems that conserve energy and resources, and maximize occupant comfort. Attendees will be exposed to the life cycle approach to green building and the link between disaster resilience and the sustainability.

RedVector is the leading provider of online education and training for a wide range of industries, including architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, chemical processing, power generation and facilities management.

Click here for more information and to register or contact Tien Peng at tpeng@nrmca.org or 206-913-8535.

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 October 19 - 23, 2015, please click here.

Last week, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee (T&I) marked up a six-year highway and transit bill (HR 3763) totaling $330 billion. The Surface Transportation and Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2015 (STRR-Act) authorizes highway and transit programs for six years, but a finance title from the House Ways and Means Committee has not yet been introduced. NRMCA successfully included two amendments to the highway bill via the en bloc amendment process. One amendment, introduced by Reps. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) and Dan Lipinski (D-IL), would make permanent the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) hours of service 30-minute break rule for ready mixed concrete truck drivers. The second amendment, introduced by Reps. Rodney Davis (R-IL) and Dan Lipinski (D-IL), would increase the Drivers’ Record of Duty Status (logbooks) from the current 12-hour threshold in which a driver must begin logging to 14 hours. Both amendments passed unanimously by voice vote.

House T&I Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA) has stated he would like to see the bill move to the House floor for a vote this week, but does not want to do so without a finance title. Many lawmakers have concerns about potential pay-fors and would not be comfortable voting on the bill lacking a finance mechanism. Chairman Shuster said he would be open to using the Senate pay-fors from the DRIVE Act; however, the DRIVE Act only provides funding for three years and the STRR-Act authorizes highway and transit programs for six. With the current authorization of highway and transit programs expiring on October 29, the House yesterday passed another short-term extension of policy (HR 3819). The extension runs until November 20 and gives members and staff approximately three weeks to work out the differences in conference. However, passing the short-term extension in the Senate will be difficult since Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Ranking Member Barbara Boxer (D-CA) opposes the legislation, including a multi-year extension of the deadline for positive train control technology (PTC). Boxer believes she can work out a deal on PTC to resolve the problem sooner rather than later; however, this bottlenecks swift passage of a highway bill extension. Regardless, members of both chambers believe they will be able to work out these differences, pass the extension and move quickly to conference a long-term bill for final passage by year’s end.

The NRMCA is now accepting entries for its 2016 Kids Art Contest, sponsored by the Truck Mixer Manufacturers Bureau. The theme for the contest is "Ready Mixed Concrete Truck Driving Safety".  The contest is open to children up to grade 12 who have a relationship to an NRMCA Member.

• All entrants must be related to or sponsored by an NRMCA member.

• Contestants are limited to one entry each.

• Artwork should be 100% produced by the entrant and be original.

• Entries may be in a medium of the artist's choice (oil, water color, pastels, pencil, pen and ink, charcoal, crayon, etc.). Entries can be a drawing, collage, painting or other two-dimensional work.

• Entries must incorporate a ready mixed concrete truck in some manner, but should not be limited solely to a picture of a ready mixed concrete truck.

• Entries must be on 11" x 14" flat paper. We encourage artwork to be on good quality bond or drawing paper, or illustration board. Entries should not be framed or matted.

• For contact purposes, please include artist’s name, address, phone number, age and grade, and the name of the NRMCA Member and that relationship to the artist on the back of their artwork.

• Entries must be post marked no later than December 31, 2015.

Entries will be divided into the following grade categories: pre-K - K; 1-3, 4-6 and 7-12. First, second and third place winners will be selected from each grade category. Prizes will be awarded in each grade category ($100 first; $50 second and $25 third place). Entries will be judged only against others in their grade category and based on originality, effort, creativity, composition and interpretation of the theme "Ready Mixed Concrete Truck Driving Safety".  

Winners in each category will be announced at NRMCA’s Annual Convention, March 13-15, 2016 in San Diego. First place entries will be auctioned off at the CONCRETEPAC Auction. Images of the winning entries will be used later in the year to create a 2017 NRMCA calendar; winners and each sponsoring member will receive a free copy of the calendar. Selected entries will also be displayed at NRMCA’s Annual Convention. NRMCA reserves the right to copy and modify any entry for reproduction. Entries will not be returned and may be used for future promotional opportunities.

Entries must be post marked no later than December 31, 2015 and should be mailed or delivered to:

Jill Landry

NRMCA 

900 Spring Street

Silver Spring, MD 20910 

As the ready mix industry continues to see light at the end of the tunnel, now is the best time for sales reps to really concentrate on mastering how their customers' businesses work. No rock should be left unturned for possible quick orders or to tactically plan for 2016. To help, NRMCA will offer a hands-on, updated workshop, CCSP Module II,Understanding Your Concrete Contractor's Business, December 1-3 in Silver Spring, MD, at the RMC Research & Education Foundation Center.

Topics tie directly into what a sales rep should know that impacts business, including learning about contactors’ estimating methods, bidding, design, procurement, project planning and scheduling. Those that pass the optional exam receive credit toward CCSP Module II certification (please note that this is a required class for STEPS recognition).

 

NRMCA’s most popular Webinar for sales managers will take place on Tuesday, December 15, from noon to 1:30 p.m. Eastern time. Learn how to ascertain if your sales reps are performing at the top of their  game... and if not, how you can help them. Learn how to identify the specific barriers that could be holding them back and how to create a personal coaching and motivation strategy to improve performance.

November 2 - 6, Silver Spring, MD *Sold Out

Annual Concrete Technologist Training and Certification Course "Short Course"

Email: Karen Bean, 240-485-1168

 

November 6, Free Webinar

Parking Lots-Are You Getting Your Share?

Email: Jacques Jenkins, 240-485-1165

 

November 10, Free Webinar

Increase Your Profits with Roller Compacted Concrete

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

 

November 13, Free Webinar

Parking Lots-Are You Getting Your Share?

Email: Jacques Jenkins, 240-485-1165

 

November, 17, Webinar

ACI 330 R-08 – The Gold Standard of Concrete Parking Lot Design

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

 

November 17 - 19, Silver Spring, MD

Effective RMC Supervisor Course

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

 

November 17 - 19, Charlotte, NC  *Sold Out

NRMCA Safety 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  *Sold Out

Plant Manager Certification Course

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

 

December 15, Milwaukee

Improving Concrete Quality

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

 

December 15, Webinar

Sales Management: Sales Performance Assessments and Reviews

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

 

 

January 13 - 15, Orlando, FL

Dispatcher Training Forum

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

 

January 26 - 29, Omaha, NE

Plant Manager Certification Course

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

 

February 8 - 12, Des Moines, IA

Regional Concrete Technologist Training and Certification Course "Short Course"

Email: Karen Bean, 240-485-1168

 

February 23 - 25, Silver Spring, MD

CCSP Module III: General Business Knowledge

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

 

March 13 - 15, San Diego

NRMCA's Annual Convention

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

March 22 - 24, Silver Spring, MD

CCSP Module IV: Professional Sales Skills

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

 

April 5 - 8, Birmingham, AL

Plant Manager Certification Course

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