NRMCA e-news
National Ready Mixed Concrete Association
NEWS LINKS
CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2014 show organizers said this month's attendance in Las Vegas "soared" past the last edition of the show as it achieved the second-highest attendance in history. The show also set new records for exhibit space, number of exhibitors and education tickets sold.
Source: CONEXPO-CON/AGG press release. Read more.
When the time came to discuss its roads, specifically concrete vs. asphalt, the Winona County Board engaged in spirited debate. What did it decide? Well, there was more than a little back and forth on the subject, but board members eventually made a decision.
Source: March 12 article by the Winona (MN) Post. Read more.
NRMCA Producer member Silvi Concrete, headquartered in Fairless Hills, PA, is doing what many in the concrete business claimed couldn’t be done: Deliver premium concrete pavement parking lots at an initial installation cost comparable to asphalt. That's the beginning of a recent trade press article that details how this ready mix producer "is turning heads" in the industry for its successful parking lot track record.
PROMOTIONS
Two key NRMCA promotion indicators are pointing toward a much more responsive market in FY 2014 compared to last year. Seventy-nine Design Assistance Program (DAP) projects submitted so far during this fiscal year (beginning October 1, 2013) compared to a total for all of FY13 of 68 projects. This program has been slow to develop, but now has strong momentum thanks to a fast turn-around on project submittals and a success rate for known-project outcomes of 65%. Another indicator of promotion effectiveness, Known Yards Influenced (KYI), is showing an even larger increase over last year. KYI is a measure of the volume of projects that have been placed where one or more NRMCA staff played a significant role in winning the project. In FY 2013 a total of 211,836 KYI yards were recorded compared to 358,606 yards through less than six months of the current fiscal year.
DAP and KYI tracking are part of an enhanced "real-time" promotion measurement platform that NRMCA has developed over the past 18 months.
To learn how to take advantage of NRMCA’s DAP program, contact Amanda Hult at ahult@nrmca.org or 720-648-0323.
NRMCA Senior Director, National Resources, Doug O’Neill reports on how Producer member CalPortland succeeded in convincing a NAPA Auto Parts store owner in its Northwest Region of concrete's versatility and construction cost savings. The story begins 10 years ago when the store owner built one NAPA outlet with Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF).
 The owner of several of the auto parts chain's stores in the Portland, OR, area wanted to use ICF to build his newest store, O'Neill said. The general contractor he selected had never built with ICF, but remarked, "this material was easy to build with and we completed the structure and insulation all in one step, accelerating the schedule. With the energy savings and sound suppression, I wonder why we don’t do more of these".The resulting 11,300 square foot building was completed in just three weeks using ICF construction and a four-man crew. After a recommendation from the civil engineer and a meeting with CalPortland staff, the owner then decided to use pervious concrete for the entire parking lot (shown at right), which totaled 750 cubic yards. By using pervious, the owner was able to eliminate all catch basins and other stormwater management schemes for a significant savings, noted O'Neill. "This is a great story of how concrete can be a solution and how communication among a civil engineer, ready mix producer and an owner can help establish concrete as the material of choice," he said.
For more information, contact Doug O’Neill at doneill@nrmca.org. Last week, NRMCA Vice President, National Resources, spoke at the annual convention for the Arkansas Ready Mixed Concrete Association on utilizing the Design Assistance Program (DAP). The convention was held in Hot Springs, AR, and was attended by a crowd of ready mix producers representing the majority of concrete produced in the area. Miller introduced DAP and explained why this tool could be an instrumental part of a company’s success in getting more concrete pavement constructed. She also explained how DAP is an opportunity for producers to offer value to their customers. One NRMCA Producer member in attendance identified a huge opportunity that is already being helped by the addition of DAP.
For more information, contact Amy Miller at amiller@nrmca.org. NRMCA Senior Director, National Resource, Phil Kresge recently gave two presentations at the Chantilly, VA, offices of William Gordon Associates and CH2M Hill. The presentations were facilitated by Hessam Nabavi, director of industry services for the northern region of the Virginia Ready-Mixed Concrete Association (VRMCA). In light of the new stormwater regulations issued by the VA Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), both offices had requested information on pervious concrete. Kresge presented NRMCA’s one-hour Concrete Solutions to Stormwater Runoff presentation. Nabavi provided regional support materials, including a list of completed pervious concrete projects in Northern Virginia. Additionally, Kresge took the opportunity to promote NRMCA’s Design Assistance Program (DAP) and Specifier Series Webinars.
At the CH2M Hill meeting, Kresge and Nabavi were joined by Ann-Germaine Danz, the newly hired VRMCA director of industry services for Eastern VA and Lehigh Cement’s Mark Granahan, secretary/treasurer of the Northern Virginia Concrete Advisory Council.
For more information, contact Phil Kresge at pkresge@nrmca.org.
Steven Tripp from Chaney Enterprises, Gambrills, MD, was presented with the NRMCA Promoter of the Year Award earlier this month during the association’s annual convention in Las Vegas. His efforts in recent years include a comprehensive continuing education program and promotion outreach in support of conventional and pervious concrete as well as RCC and overlays for concrete parking lots and roads. Tripp was instrumental in a Maryland DOT fast-overlay demonstration project that resulted in several projects being converted to concrete and an approved rapid-cure concrete mix for potholes. He also led the charge in Maryland for adoption of LCCA legislation that passed the House of Delegates 128 to 9 and is well positioned for final enactment this year.
Through his efforts on behalf of his company and the industry at large, Steve has shown himself to be a true champion of ready mixed concrete. With imagination and enthusiasm, he has shared with his peers a fresh and exciting perspective on promotion, resulting in customers and specifiers that recognize enormous new possibilities for concrete construction.
For more information on NRMCA's Promoter of the Year award program, contact Glenn Ochsenreiter at glenn@nrmca.org. 
ASSOCIATION & INDUSTRY NEWS
The preliminary estimate of ready mixed concrete produced in January 2014 is 17.9 million cubic yards, 1.9% higher than in January 2013. The estimated production in 2013 is 301.3 million cubic yards, 4% higher than that in 2012.
Ready mixed concrete production is estimated from cement shipments reported by the U.S. Geological Survey. Detailed information on ready mixed production, including production in states for 2013, is posted on the NRMCA Web site for access by NRMCA members.
The Spring 2014 edition of NRMCA's quarterly magazine, Concrete InFocus, is now available online. This latest issue includes a number of timely and informative articles available only online, among them Enviroscene: Concrete Mixer Trucks and the Environment: Get the Connection? NRMCA member and longtime industry environmental expert Douglas Ruhlin discusses whether the environmental impact of concrete mixer trucks is inevitable or can be reduced. Look for more highlights of online articles in upcoming editions of E-NEWS.
ENGINEERING
The Transportation Research Board (TRB) will conduct a Webinar on Thursday, May 1, from 2 to 4 p.m. Eastern time that will introduce the concepts of internal curing of concrete and provide information on its implementation in transportation structures and pavements. Internal curing is an emerging technology used to increase the service life of concrete and reduce cracking and chloride ingress. Participants must register before the Webinar and there is a fee for non-TRB Sponsor or non-TRB Sustaining Affiliate employees. A certificate for two Professional Development Hours (PDHs) will be provided to attendees who register and attend the Webinar as an individual.
Click here to learn more and to register.
OPERATIONS, ENVIRONMENTAL, SAFETY & HR
The NRMCA Safety Contest & Benchmarking Survey has for years been a safety performance and incentive/award program aimed at fostering safe practices at ready mixed concrete plants across the nation. The contest and survey is a per-plant contest open to all facilities operated by NRMCA member companies in good standing in 2013. Companies with more than one division are encouraged to distribute entry blanks to individuals responsible for keeping safety records at each plant location.
Entries must be received by NRMCA's Karen Bean via e-mail no later than Tuesday, April 15. Click here for more information, to download the form and staff contacts. This NRMCA Fleet Benchmarking Survey is completed by industry fleet managers and/or financial managers early each year, based on data gathered from the previous calendar year’s performance. The survey is used to establish industry benchmarking norms and procedures. Information gathered from it is published each autumn in a full report in NRMCA's quarterly Concrete InFocus magazine. A shorter Executive Summary of the survey is also made available to all.
The deadline for submitting completed entries by e-mail to NRMCA's Gary Mullings is Tuesday, April 1. Click here for more information and to download the survey entry form. NRMCA’s Commitment to Environmental Excellence Awards competition offers producers national recognition for outstanding contributions to protecting the environment and maintaining sound management practice in their operations. The program salutes companies that have not only met, but surpassed governmental compliance measures and demonstrated a commitment to environmental excellence through plant and staff investment. NRMCA member companies producing ready mixed concrete from a fixed plant location in the U.S., its territories or Canada are eligible to enter. Awards will be determined upon individual plant merits; companies may choose to enter plants from any or all of the five production volume categories.
Entries and photos must be received by e-mail to NRMCA's Gary Mullings by Thursday, July 31. Click here for more information and to download the entry form. The industry’s premier driver training program is now online and totally self-directed so a supervisor or company trainer is not needed. Instead, NRMCA's Concrete Delivery Professional Certification (CDP) program is lead by a voice-over instructor whose words are seen in subtitles that support drivers with reading or hearing difficulties. Its design allows mixer drivers access through NRMCA’s Web site at any time, using any internet connection. Each lesson is just 20 minutes long so a learning module can fit between loads or can be spontaneously accessed on slow or bad weather days at the plant. Lessons also have a stop/start feature, making CDP participation adaptable to a driver’s ever-changing work schedule. For more support, CDP-Online directly coordinates with an optional textbook.
Exams are online as well, so the requirement for a third-party proctor has been eliminated, saving your company time and money. Finally, the price has not increased since its initial launch 10 years ago, yet the material and delivery system are state of the art. With producers’ need to have cost-effective skill reinforcement for their remaining driving pool, CDP-Online gives your frontline representatives the advantage of being the most efficient, skilled and productive driving force representing your business.
For information, contact NRMCA’s Shawnita Dickens at 301-587-1400, ext. 1154 or by e-mail, sdickens@nrmca.org.
SUSTAINABILITY
Green Concrete and New Concrete Technology will be featured at the 2014 International Concrete Sustainability Conference, scheduled for May 12-15 just outside Boston in Cambridge, MA. Twenty five of the of the 57 technical presentations will focus on innovations in concrete, cementitious materials, recycled aggregates and other advanced technologies during the 3-day conference. This year’s conference is being held in cooperation with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Concrete Sustainability Hub Showcase scheduled for May 15. The conference is co-sponsored by NRMCA, RMC Research & Education Foundation and the Portland Cement Association.
Examples of Green Concrete topics include:
• Subhan Ali, Stanford University, United States, Life Cycle Design of Polypropylene Fiber-reinforced Cement-based Composites
• Godwin Amekuedi, Argos USA, United States, A Sustainable Approach for Returned Concrete
• Tim Cost, Holcim (US) Inc., United States, Extending the Use of Fly Ash and Slag Cement in Concrete with Portland-Limestone Cement
• Giorgio Ferrari, Mapei S.p.A., Italy, New Sustainable Technology to Recover Returned Concrete
• Styliani Papatzani, University of Bath - BRE Centre for Innovative Construction Materials, United Kingdom, The Effect of the Addition of Nanoparticles of Silica on the Strength and Microstructure of Blended Portland Cement Pastes
• Wolfgang Werner, Thornton Tomasetti, United States, Buildings Instead of Landfills: Recycled Plastic Waste in Concrete Structures
• Natt Makul, Phranakhon Rajabhat University, Thailand, Utilization of Unprocessed High-volume Coal Fly Ash Combined with Biomass Rice Husk Ash in Cost Effective Self-Consolidating Concrete
In total, over 60 world renowned speakers from 10 different countries will present during the conference. The MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub Showcase will feature key researchers who will present research on concrete science, buildings and pavements using poster sessions, plenary presentations and interactive workshops. The event is an opportunity for stakeholders, including researchers, design professionals, and industry professionals, to see first-hand the progress being made at MIT.
Click here to download the complete speaker schedule and for registration links. For more information, Lionel Lemay at LLemay@nrmca.org or 847-918-7101.
GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS
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 March 3 - 14 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 the roundup, contact NRMCA’s Elizabeth Fox at efox@nrmca.org.
Late last month, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI-04) issued a 979-page "discussion draft" of comprehensive tax reform. While chances of advancing the plan in this Congress are very slim, the document remains incredibly significant. It is a realistic, revenue-neutral plan, not a pie in the sky promise of tax reform. An article in Forbes magazine noted that "it is the ultimate reality check on tax reform. It is far more complicated and painful than marketers of tax reform have told the public to expect," and "it is unlikely that any realistic tax reform would be any shorter or sweeter than the Camp draft." Additionally, this document is an actual starting point for the next Ways and Means chairman to begin working from in 2015.
It is a real world document that Ways and Means and Joint Tax staff have spent years working on. They have incorporated their expertise with that of hundreds of experts who understand the daily realities of modern tax practice and have come up with politically and administratively realistic, detailed suggestions on how to improve the code.
If there are proposed changes in the tax reform proposal that will affect your business, please contact Elizabeth Fox at efox@nrmca.org or 240-485-1156.
Last week, Rep. Jimmy Duncan (R-TN) and Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) introduced H.R.4237, legislation to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide that the volume cap for private activity bonds (PAB) not apply to bonds for facilities for furnishing of water and sewage facilities. Rep. Duncan is currently chairman of the Public Private Partnership panel of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. He has been a cosponsor of the water PAB legislation since 2005. Lifting the cap on PAB’s for water infrastructure is estimated to leverage $50 billion in private capital investment, create 1.4 million jobs, and add $101.5 billion in tax revenue to federal, state and local governments. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that $682 billion in infrastructure improvements are needed during the next 20 years in order to meet safe drinking water and sanitation standards.
In the Senate, PAB champions Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Michael Crapo (R-ID) circulated a "Dear Colleague" letter to seek support for a Senate PAB bill prior to bill introduction. They plan to reintroduce S.939 from last Congress in the coming weeks. NRMCA will work with the Sustainable Water Infrastructure Coalition to help advance this important piece of legislation.
Click here to read Representative Duncan's news release. For more information contact Elizabeth Fox at efox@nrmca.org or 240-485-1156. CALENDAR
*Please note that e-mail and direct links to each event listed below can be accessed from NRMCA's Web site.
March 25, Virginia Ready Mixed Concrete Association - Leesburg, VA
Pervious Concrete Contractor Certification Program
Email: Hessam Nabavi, hessam@vrmca.com
March 25, Webinar
Concrete Overlays for Streets and Local Roads and Parking Lots
Email: Amanda Hult, 303-953-2382
March 25–28, Oklahoma City Sold Out
Plant Manager Certification Course
Contact Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152 to be added to the wait list.
March 27, Nashville, TN
Tennessee Concrete Association Pervious Concrete Contractor Certification Program
Email: Darla Sparkman, dsparkman@tnconcrete.org
April 1, Webinar
Streets & Roads Elected Official Advocacy
Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154
April 3, Webinar
Overlays for Streets & Local Roads
Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154
April 7, Webinar
Designing & Specifying Pervious Concrete (Part 2 is April 14)
Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154
April 8, Webinar
Roller Compacted Concrete for Streets & Local Roads
Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154
April 10, Webinar
SLR Concrete Construction & Repair Basics
Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154
April 15, Free Webinar
New Radical Material and Resources Reporting Criteria in LEEDv4
Email: Tien Peng, 206-913-8535
April 16, Webinar
Streets & Roads Promotion & Advocacy Overview
Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154
April 16, Webinar
Building the Customer Relationship... in the Post-Recession Economy
Email: Eileen Dickson, 240-485-1164
May 6, Webinar
Soils 101
Email: Amanda Hult, 303-953-2382
May 8, Webinar
Streets & Roads Team Building & Situation Analysis
Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154
May 12–15, Boston
International Concrete Sustainability Conference
E-mail: Lionel Lemay, 847-918-7101
May 21, Webinar
Personal Leadership and Coaching
Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154
May 29, Webinar
Streets & Roads Promotion for DOTs, Counties & Municipalities
Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154
June 3-5, Silver Spring, MD
Concrete Durability Course
Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152
June 5, Webinar
Overlays for Streets & Local Roads
Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154
June 10, Webinar
Roller Compacted Concrete for Streets & Local Roads
Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154
June 13, Webinar
Winning Initial Streets & Roads Projects in Counties & Municipalities
Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154
June 17, Webinar
Concrete Pavement Jointing Plans
Email: Amanda Hult, 303-953-2382
June 19, Webinar
Utilizing MIT Research Results
Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154
June 26, Webinar
SLR Concrete Construction & Repair Basics
Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154
July 8, Webinar
Understanding Asphalt
Email: Brian Killingsworth, 830-438-2690
July 15, Webinar
Streets & Roads Elected Official Advocacy
Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154
July 30, Webinar
Streets & Roads Promotion & Advocacy Overview
Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154
August 12-15, Silver Spring, MD
Plant Manager Certification Course
Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152
August 14, Webinar
Streets & Roads Team Building & Situation Analysis
Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154
August 19, Webinar
Controlling Moisture in Concrete Slabs
Email: Amanda Hult, 303-953-2382
August 20, Webinar
Recruiting & Hiring Top Performing Ready Mix Sales Reps
Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154
August 21, Webinar
Streets & Roads Promotion for DOTs, Counties & Municipalities
Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154
September 10, Webinar
Re-Entrepreneuring: 7 Strategies for Rebuilding Your Business in the New Economy
Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154
September 12, Webinar
Winning Initial Streets & Roads Projects in Counties & Municipalities
Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154
October 14, Webinar
Streets & Roads Elected Official Advocacy
Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154
November 19, Webinar
Sales Performance Assessments and Review for Ready Mix Sales Managers
Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154
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