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National Ready Mixed Concrete Association
NEWS LINKS
Until recently, though, its use has been sporadic throughout the U.S. and has received little attention. This could all change, however, because of more refined mix designs and better placing equipment. The market potential for RCC is considerable. If residential streets in the U.S. switched from asphalt to RCC, there would be enormous opportunities for concrete. Many concrete associations - including NRMCA, which is looking to increase its promotional support for RCC parking lots and local roads - and companies are marketing RCC. Source: A recent story in Concrete Construction magazine. Read more. Take lots of used toilets from the largest city in the U.S. Mix with city officials who are always on the lookout for recycling ideas. And then throw in hundreds of miles of pothole strewn roads. What do you get? New York City will issue $125 vouchers to landlords and homeowners who replace old toilets with dual-flush toilets, and the city is looking for a partner to collect and recycle the 800,000 toilets it expects will be replaced. If all goes according to plan, the toilets could become part of city sidewalks and streets. Source: American Concrete Institute's Concrete SmartBrief e-newsletter for March 22 which contained this story from the Mother Nature Network: read more. A South Dakota park is yet another location that is benefitting from pervious concrete, according to a March 23 broadcast from KOTA Radio in Rapid City. When the construction is finished at Founder's Park, visitors will see and walk on the concrete, created by the South Dakota School of Mines. Read more and then click on the audio link. How large is large? More than 500 concrete trucks lined up at Port Botany last weekend for the biggest elevated continuous concrete pour in New South Wales history. Roads and Ports Minister Duncan Gay said the pour was a critical stage in construction of a $55 million (Austrialian) elevated roundabout that would streamline access to and from Port Botany’s Brotherson Dock. "Managing contractors, Baulderstone, will pour more than 6,500 tonnes of concrete non-stop for 26 hours, a huge undertaking that’s been carefully planned for many months," Mr Gay said. Source: A March 24 article in the St. George & Sutherland Shire Leader. Read more. PROMOTIONS
The NRMCA promotion team is available to conduct promotion Webinars tailored for producer members' specific geographic locations. An example of this service took place last week after a cement and ready mix producer member in the West Central Region requested training on NRMCA's Concrete Paving Analyst (CPA) software. National resource directors Jon Hansen and Phil Kresge then delivered a three-hour coordinated companywide training Webinar on the topic that went beyond the basics usually provided in the "Introduction to CPA" Webinar regularly offered by NRMCA. The timing was perfect for the member company as special sales incentives were being offered to the sales team for successful concrete parking lot projects. "By setting this Webinar and training specifically for this member company, participants discussed the topic openly, just as if we were all sitting together in a large classroom even though there were 10 different geographical locations logged in with varying numbers of participants at each location," Hansen said. Sustainability was recently on the minds of the Greater Miami Valley Chapter of the American Concrete Institute when NRMCA Senior National Resource Director Doug O’Neill was asked to speak. A group of about 45 industry professionals listened to O'Neill discuss the sustainable aspects of concrete; they were in attendance thanks to the efforts of John Davidson of the Ohio Ready Mixed Concrete Association, who was instrumental in setting up the meeting. The message was clear: Concrete is one of the oldest, most versatile and environmentally-friendly building materials on the planet. "It’s our ability as an industry to communicate our sustainability message to the marketplace that seems to be holding us back," O’Neill said. He termed "the Big Six" sustainable attributes as: "If every ready mixed concrete and cement field representative could commit these six basic environmentally-beneficial advantages to memory and learn how to best communicate them to the folks that specify and use our product every day, our industry would be in a tremendous position to capitalize on what we already know, that concrete construction makes sense when building GREEN," O'Neill said. "Build it right the first time and have future generation’s needs already met." For more information or to learn about the upcoming Webinar schedule for "Effectively Communicating Sustainability" hosted by O’Neill, e-mail him at doneill@nrmca.org. As promoters across the country spread the word about pervious concrete, one key element of their message has been the importance of quality control. "We explain that quality control cannot be an afterthought," says NRMCA Senior National Resource Director Phil Kresge. "It may sound cliché, but good quality control starts at the very beginning of every job. This is why we encourage specifiers to include a pre-construction meeting in their pervious concrete specifications." To support the QC initiative, NRMCA’s Pervious Concrete Technical Committee developed a series of Pervious Concrete Construction Checklists for contractors and ready mix suppliers. These checklists have been included in the appendices of the Pervious Concrete Contractor Certification training manual. However, NRMCA is pleased to announce that the Pervious Concrete Construction Checklists are now available as a stand-alone publication. "This is a significant step toward QC implementation," says Kresge. "Until now, the only way to obtain these checklists was to purchase the certification textbook. And though we would stress the importance to our clients, the number of them who would actually follow through was minimal. Having a stand-alone version makes it easier and more cost-effective for promoters to provide specifiers with the documents they need to ensure a successful pervious concrete project." The price for the Pervious Concrete Construction Checklists is $19.00 each for NRMCA members ($25.00 each for non-members). Contact NRMCA Customer Service Manager Jacques Jenkins at jjenkins@nrmca.org to place your order, or for more information, contact Phil Kresge at pkresge@nrmca.org. NRMCA's national resource directors have one Webinar scheduled in the next few weeks, so be sure to click on the link below for more information or contact NRMCA's Jessica Walgenbach at jwalgenbach@nrmca.org.
ASSOCIATION & INDUSTRY NEWS
Longtime industry leader William Allen died Monday, March 26, after a long illness. He was 82. Known to hundreds of ready mixed concrete personnel over his more than half century of service to the industry, Mr. Allen was one of the industry’s most distinguished and accomplished figures. He owned and managed the largest ready mixed concrete, sand and gravel, block and Mr. Allen lectured to more than 26 ready mixed concrete and aggregate state associations and conducted workshops for numerous NRMCA national conventions, state association conventions and the CONEXPO-CON/AGG trade show. Throughout his career, he had valued over 600 ready mixed concrete, aggregate and concrete products companies in more than 45 states. He was the principle author of Module III-General Business Skills of the NRMCA Certified Concrete Sales Professional Program. He served as chairman of the Board of Directors of NRMCA in 1981, after serving as treasurer in 1978 and vice chairman in 1979 and 1980. He also chaired the Membership, Promotion, Long Range Planning and Joint Financial Management (BAC) committees, including the NRMCA/RMC Industry Data Survey Task Group. NRMCA created a lifetime achievement award in business administration in 2006 and named it after Mr. Allen as one way to recognize his immense contributions to the industry and the Association. Fittingly, Mr. Allen was the first recipient of the award now known as the William B. Allen Award. The trophy with the names of the award recipients permanently resides in the lobby of the NRMCA headquarters in Silver Spring, MD. Mr. Allen was a graduate of Rhodes College with a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics. He joined the U.S. Marine Corps’ Platoon Leaders Class in 1951. He served on active duty from 1953 through 1955 as battalion equipment officer for the Eighth Engineer Battalion, attached to the 2nd Marine Division, in charge of all equipment and aggregate pits while building several air strips at Cherry Point, NC and Vieques, PR. He was honorably discharged with the rank of captain in 1960. Information on survivors and funeral arrangements was not available before E-NEWS was finalized. Further details will be posted on the NRMCA Web site as soon as they are made available. James K. Wight, Frank E. Richart Jr. Collegiate Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Michigan, began his one-year term as President of the American Concrete Institute (ACI) at the conclusion of the ACI Spring 2012 Convention in Dallas. William E. Rushing, Jr., vice president, Waldemar S. Nelson & Co., began his two-year term as vice president. In addition, four members have been elected to serve on the ACI Board of Direction: Roger J. Becker, Jeffrey W. Coleman, Robert J. Frosch, and Steven H. Kosmatka. Source: ACI e-news. Click here for more background on the new officers. Please join the RMC Research & Education Foundation for a free informational Webinar on Thursday, April 5, at 11 a.m. Eastern time to receive a comprehensive update on the work of the Foundation. Topics will include updates on the work taking place at the MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub, new industry tools and resources that will be available this summer, and information on outreach activities. Please click here to register for the Webinar. Please feel free to distribute this link to other colleagues who may also be interested in participating. The link, and other materials, are also available from the Foundation’s Web site at www.rmc-foundation.org. For more information, contact Foundation Senior Director, Communications & Programs, Jennifer LeFevre at 240-485-1151 or at jlefevre@rmc-foundation.org. ENGINEERING
The ACI Spring Convention in Dallas was held during the week of March 18. Below is an update of some of activities that involved NRMCA representation. 130 – Sustainability Committee: NRMCA’s Lionel Lemay is NRMCA’s representative on ACI 130 Committee on Sustainability. The committee continues to march slowly toward an in-depth document on the sustainability of concrete. Lemay has written the chapters on materials, concrete proportioning and production and will have all negatives resolved by mid-April. The chapters reference several NRMCA programs to meet sustainability objectives, including Green-Star and Sustainable Concrete Plant Certification. Lemay is also working on chapters related to sustainability design tools, rating systems, codes and standards. The document is expected to be finalized by the end of 2012. 132 – Responsibilities in Concrete Construction: This is a newly formed technical committee from the previous board committee. The committee is soliciting members to ensure a balanced distribution of stakeholder representation. It has completed a comprehensive document that discusses the individual and joint responsibilities of stakeholders in concrete construction that is in the ACI review process. 201 – Durability: The 201.2R Guide to Durable Concrete is being revised. Revisions to the chapter on sulfate attack were made. Sulfate attack can be due to chemical attack. Physical salt attack due to sulfates was also discussed but the mechanism and mitigation methods are different and are discussed in a different chapter. Physical salt attack resembles surface scaling due to freezing and thawing. Several papers were presented at a couple of technical sessions on physical salt attack. 211 – Mixture Proportioning: The document "Standard Practice for Selecting Proportions for Normal, Heavyweight, and Mass Concrete" is being re-balloted. TAC suggestions on the new chapter on concrete mixture submittals are being addressed by the committee. This chapter includes examples of prescriptive and performance submittals. Mixture proportioning for no slump concrete will be revised substantially. A new chapter on mixture evaluation has been finalized. New task groups are working on mixture proportioning for pumping and mixture proportioning with limestone fillers. 214 – Strength Tests: This committee is looking for project compressive strength test data to update the table showing the standards of concrete control for both testing variability as well as batch to batch variability. 232 – Fly Ash and Natural Pozzolans: ACI 232.2R, Use of Fly Ash in Concrete, has now been finalized after multiple ballots and will be sent for ACI TAC review this spring. The committee is developing a report on high volume fly ash (HVFA) concrete. ACI 232.1R, Use of Natural Pozzolans in Concrete, has been finalized and should be published in the next ACI Manual of Concrete Practice. Tom Adams with ACAA mentioned that S.1751, the "Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act," has been introduced in the Senate. This is related to a similar resolution HR.2272 that has already passed the U.S. House of Representatives. The legislation will prohibit the EPA from regulating CCR as a hazardous waste and establishes minimum federal requirements for the management and disposal of coal combustion residuals that will ensure safety and the protection of human health and the environment. The federal criteria will be administered by states through enforceable permits and by EPA if a state fails to meet the federal baseline. In another development, environmental groups have sent a notice of intent of legal action against the EPA and two fly ash marketers have taken similar action. The ACI Fall 2012 convention will feature two technical sessions on Natural Pozzolans. The ACI Fall 2013 convention is likely to feature sessions on Green Binders. 301 – Specifications for Structural Concrete: ACI 301 balloted sections on concrete materials, section 4, Construction, section 5, lightweight concrete, shrinkage compensating concrete and mass concrete, among others as it works toward the next revision of the specification. The ballot on section 4 proposed several revisions to improve the specification and the committee is working through several comments from the ballot. Also in the works will be proposals for including criteria for alkali silica reactivity in the next balloting process. ACI 301 is working toward completing its revised specification by Fall 2013. Colin Lobo maintains representation on ACI 301 as do several members of the NRMCA RES Committee. 318 – Building Code for Structural Concrete: Lobo maintains representation on ACI 318. The primary activity is the development of a reorganized member-based code. The chapters on materials are essentially completed and commentary relevant to these code sections is being added. A significant change was approved by Committee 318 that will remove all the details of proportioning concrete mixtures from the Code and refer this process to ACI 301. Another significant action is the development of a new chapter on what needs to be included in construction documents. This is a new chapter in the Code that will provide a list of design, materials and construction items that need to be addressed in project specifications and drawings, among other documents. ACI 318 is attempting to complete its work to be referenced in the 2015 International Building Code. 325 – Concrete Pavements: NRMCA’s Brian Killingsworth will maintain representation on ACI 325 on Concrete Pavements. The committee currently has five documents under development or revision. The report ACI 325.9R Guide for Construction of Concrete Pavements is currently under complete revision and near final balloting. The committee also decided to work toward re-approval of ACI 325.12R-02: Guide for Design of Jointed Concrete Pavements for Streets and Local Roads after reissuing with dual units, correction of the design thickness tables, and addressing a few editorial changes. Killingsworth will lead this effort for the subcommittee. A complete revision with updated thickness tables and other technical revisions will begin after the document is reapproved. The committee is developing ACI 325.XR Report on Precast Concrete Pavements - State of the Practice which is based upon work completed by Tayabji for SHRP2. Eventually this document will become a design and construction report for precast and prestressed pavements. The committee is also developing ACI 325.YR Proportioning, Quality Control and Evaluation of Concrete Pavement Strength Relationships. The document is about 90% complete and is being prepared for balloting by the Fall 2012 convention. A revision is underway of 325.11R Accelerated Techniques for Concrete Paving. Work is in the initial stages but progress has been good. The effort will harmonize with the proportioning document. Killingsworth will ensure that considerations for streets and local roads will be included in the revised document. 327 – Roller-Compacted Concrete Pavements: Killingsworth will maintain representation on this committee. Current activities include resolving negative votes on the report ACI 327.XR Report on Roller-Compacted Concrete Pavements. The committee will also begin development of an RCC specification for materials and construction to supplement report 327.XR. The committee also sponsored the session entitled Symposium on Integrated Cement Based Pavement Solutions, Part 3: Sustainable Aspects of Soil Cement Pavements during the spring convention which was well attended. 329 – Performance Criteria for Materials for Ready Mixed Concrete The committee has completed revisions to the ITG-8 report and will submit this to TAC for approval as a document of Committee 329. The committee has established task groups for public relations on performance specifications by the development of a standard presentation that could be used to various groups. Another task group was established to develop and recommend performance-based alternatives to ACI Committees 301 on specification and 318 on the Building Code. The committee is planning a technical session in Fall 2013 on Case Studies of Performance Based Projects. A draft performance specification in the CSI MasterFormat was provided to the committee from NRMCA’s P2P efforts. 330 – Design and Construction of Concrete Parking Lots: The 330 Committee has been working on creating an additional document that addresses concrete parking lots for industrial and trucking facilities ("330 X"). Several breakout meetings discussed comments on the design chapter of this document as the other chapters have been completed. The negative comments were discussed and voted on in the 330 Committee meeting. Also, negative comments related to the updated 330.1 Specification for Unreinforced Concrete Parking Lots were also resolved. 332 – Residential: Lemay is NRMCA’s representative on the ACI 332 Committee on Residential Concrete Work. The committee finalized changes to ACI 332-13 Residential Code for Residential Concrete. The committee agreed on a change in the concrete requirements section to lower the minimum strength requirements for residential concrete since the current requirements appear to be too high for residential applications. The next step is to send the document for public comment with final approval in time for the next version of the International Residential Code. 522 – Pervious Concrete. The committee has completed the review of the specification ACI 522.1 through TAC and the specification will be posted for public comment later in summer. This will permit the revised specification to be published later this year if all comments are addressed. An effort is underway to start balloting revisions to the guide document, ACI 522R, with a goal of publishing the next version in 2014. The committee is also working on new standard details for pervious concrete pavements. Matt Offenberg steps down as committee chair after a long term of service; he was recognized during the ACI Awards session. Charles Weiss with the US Army Corps of Engineers will assume the role of chair of ACI 522. (Excerpts from Matt Offenberg’s blog - http://www.perviousblog.com/) 555 – Recycled Materials: The document "Removal and Reuse of Hardened Concrete" is undergoing revisions and will include discussions on crushed returned concrete aggregates based on research work conducted at the NRMCA Research Laboratory. 560 – Insulating Concrete Forms: NRMCA’s Lemay represents the ready mixed concrete industry before ACI 560 Committee on Insulating Concrete Forms. The committee has been plagued with slow progress with regard to developing a design and construction guide for ICFs. The first few chapters are now beginning the balloting process which could help accelerate its development. Session on Total Water Control: Karthik Obla of NRMCA presented Mixing Water Control during a session sponsored by ACI 121 Quality Assurance Systems of Concrete Committee. Obla quantified the impact of variation of water and air content on variability of strength tests. Reduced variability of compressive strength is achieved by, among other things, better control and reduced variation in water content. Various factors and methods to reduce the variability of mixing water content were addressed by Obla and the other speakers. For more information, contact Colin Lobo at clobo@nrmca.org, Lionel Lemay at llemay@nrmca.org, Karthik Obla at kobla@nrmca.org or Brian Killingsworth at bkillingsworth@nrmca.org. NRMCA is is offering its one-day course, Handling Concrete Specifications, Low Strength Problems and Mixture Submittals, intended for concrete producers, contractors, engineers and testing labs on Wednesday, May 23, in Nashua, NH. Dealing with concrete specifications, troubleshooting low strength problems and ensuring proper mixture submittals can be expensive and time consuming. This one-day course will get into code and specification requirements (ACI 318, 301, ASTM C94) governing ready mixed concrete, including the new ACI Building Code 318-08 exposure categories. It will suggest specification revisions for all-around benefits in performance and cost based on a specification guideline document. The guideline document is the result of review of numerous concrete specifications (Section 03300) belonging to large owners and has been reviewed and supported by the NRMCA Research Engineering and Standards Committee. The course will cover the analysis of strength test results to identify causes for low strength problems and provide guidance to track compliance with specification requirements. Non-destructive testing techniques like the Rebound Hammer, core testing, evaluating core test results for acceptance and assignment of responsibility will be discussed. The course also provides necessary details required for an efficient concrete mixture submittal following the ACI 318 Flowchart for Selection of Concrete Mixtures. Course instructors are Luke Snell, P.E., FACI, FASCE, Western Technologies 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 8 professional development hours, a certificate of completion and credits toward NRMCA’s STEPS program. Click here for more information, including registration options and staff contact. 
GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS
To read government affairs-related stories that relate to the ready mixed concrete industry for the week of March 19 - 23, please click here. If you would like to receive this weekly updated link in a separate e-mail, or if you have questions or comments about thhttp://nrmcavoice.com/news/government-affairs-roundupe roundup, contact NRMCA’s Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org. PRODUCTS & SERVICES
NRMCA's March Internet Spotlight, good through Tuesday, April 3, is the Highway Safety for Ready Mixed Concrete Drivers (Safety Binder). This CD-based PowerPoint presentation and instructor notes are designed to teach mixer drivers the importance of safety in highway work zones. Order online today and receive 20% off. Regular member price is $75, Internet Special $60, plus shipping. Please use Discount Code ISMARCH12 to receive the online discount. CALENDAR
*Please note that e-mail and direct links to each event listed below can be accessed from NRMCA's Web site.
April 5, Free Webinar RMC Research & Education Foundation Email: Jennifer Lefevre, 888-84-NRMCA, x1151 April 12, Springfield, MO Implementing Disaster Resilient Construction In Your Community Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152 April 12, Webinar Streets and Local Roads Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152 April 16-19, Online Course Design of Concrete Pavements Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154 April 17, Sioux Falls, SD Implementing Disaster Resilient Construction In Your Community Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152 April 19, Denver, CO Implementing Disaster Resilient Construction In Your Community Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152 April 25, Webinar Effectively Communicating Sustainability Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152 April 26, Webinar ACI 330 R-08 – The Gold Standard of Concrete Parking Lot Design Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152 May 7-10, Seattle, WA International Concrete Sustainability Conference Email: Lionel Lemay, llemay@nrmca.org May 15, Pewaukee, WI Implementing Disaster Resilient Construction In Your Community Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152 May 15 - 16, Online Course Strategy & Support for Managing Dispatch in Tough Times Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154 May 17, Louisville, KY Implementing Disaster Resilient Construction In Your Community Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152 May 17, Webinar Streets and Local Roads Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152 May 21-24, Online Course Life Cycle Assessment of Concrete Structures Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154 May 22, Webinar Re-Entrepreneuring Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154 May 23, Nashua, NH Handling Concrete Specifications, Low Strength Problems and Mixture Submittals Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152 May 30, Portsmouth, NH Implementing Disaster Resilient Construction In Your Community Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152 June 6, Webinar Effectively Communicating Sustainability Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152 June 6-8, Denver Concrete Durability Course Email: Karen Bean, 888-84-NRMCA, x1168 June 7, Webinar ACI 330 R-08 – The Gold Standard of Concrete Parking Lot Design Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152 June 25-28, Online Course Concrete's Role in Sustainable Development Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154 June 28, Webinar Streets and Local Roads Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152 July 16-19, Online Course Building Green with Concrete Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154 July 26, Webinar ACI 330 R-08 – The Gold Standard of Concrete Parking Lot Design Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152 August 6-9, Online Course Pervious Concrete—A Stormwater Solution Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154 August 9, Webinar Streets and Local Roads Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152 August 14-17, Silver Spring, MD Plant Manager Certification Course Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154 August 27-30, Online Course Design of Concrete Pavements Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154 September 20, Webinar Streets and Local Roads Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152 October 2-5, Silver Spring, MD CCSP Module I: Concrete 101 Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154 November 1, Webinar Streets and Local Roads Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152 November 5-9, Silver Spring, MD Technical Short Course Email: Karen Bean, 888-84-NRMCA, x1168 November 13-15, Silver Spring, MD Effective RMC Supervisor Certification Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154 December 4-6, Silver Spring, MD CCSP Module II: Customer Business Knowledge Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154 December 4-6, Orlando, FL Environmental Professional Certification Course for the Ready Mixed Concrete Industry Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152 December 11-14, Denver, CO Plant Manager Certification Course Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154 2013 February 19-21, Silver Spring, MD CCSP Module III: General Business Knowledge Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154 March 19-21, Silver Spring, MD CCSP Module IV: Sales Fundamentals Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154 May 12-15, Chicago, IL Fifth North American Conference on Design and Use of Self-Consolidating Concrete |
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building materials company in Memphis until 1981 and was a well respected and widely traveled industry consultant since that time.