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Association & Industry News
NRMCA Chief Communications Officer Gregg Lewis is leaving the Association effective tommorw, May 1. Mr. Lewis has shared his time and talent with the ready mixed concrete industry for 10 years. He left his mark on the Association and the industry, promoting the value of ready mixed concrete through programs such as NRMCA’s Build With Strength and Pave Ahead that will not soon be forgotten. The broader building community is certainly more aware of the benefits available through ready mixed concrete due to his work! Mr. Lewis is taking a well-deserved hiatus before pursuing his next professional opportunity. The staff and leadership of NRMCA thank him for his efforts on behalf of the industry and wish him success in all his future endeavors. The Concrete Advancement Foundation (CAF) thanks the diverse group of key stakeholders who participated in last week’s MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub (CSHub) Executive Roundtable on Resilience. Leaders in fire protection, insurance, engineering and design, building, resilience advocacy and academia came together with concrete industry leaders from CAF, NRMCA, PCA and individual companies for a powerful day of collaboration, highlighting barriers and solutions to advancing resilient construction practices and discussing potential solutions.
The Portland Cement Association has announced the agenda for this year’s IEEE-IAS/PCA Cement Conference scheduled for May 4 - 8 in Birmingham, AL. Agenda items include Industry experts sharing the latest in technical trainings, the Portland Cement Association (PCA) Spring Economic forecast, a panel addressing how the Trump Administration is affecting the industry both at home and abroad, MIT scientists with the latest research on the development of Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS) infrastructure and more.
Buildings
 Build With Strength recently collaborated with Tremco to host an ICF School Summit in Baltimore, reports NRMCA Manager, Building Innovations, Derek Torres. The event drew architects, engineers, contractors and school officials to a series of panel discussions regarding the future and impact of low carbon concrete, Insulated Concrete Forms and performance-based specifications in the construction industry followed by two tours of ICF-built schools in Baltimore. The first day ended with a live demonstration (seen here) to show how quickly ICF’s can be built, even by someone with little to no experience. Torres educated attendees on Build With Strength services and also discuss the benefits of low carbon concrete and ICFs. NRMCA thanks Tremco's Marcy Tyler, Andy Horgan and the rest of company staff for organizing the summit. Their efforts haven’t gone unnoticed. Build With Strength is a coalition led by NRMCA that offers webinars and courses to architects, engineers, and building and fire code officials as part of its education efforts to promote safety and resiliency and help place more concrete. For more information, click here or contact Derek Torres at dtorres@nrmca.org. 
 Last week, NRMCA Senior Director, Building Innovations, Frank Mruk was invited by the New York chapter of the American Institute of Architects to attend the 2025 AIANY Design Awards ceremony held at Cipriani Wall Street in Lower Manhattan. Mruk was a juror in the AIA Long Island design awards event held earlier this year. AIANY President Benjamin Gilmartin presented awards to:
SEO
Last week, the NRMCA Safety, Environmental and Operations (SEO) Committee met to conduct its DeBoer Meeting outside of Dallas. The committee held safety, environmental and operations task group meetings and a full committee meeting held at the newly opened National Medal of Honor Museum (seen here with committee members) in nearby Arlington. The impressive structure that houses the museum, built in part with concrete from NRMCA Producer member Martin Marietta Materials, highlights the courage and sacrifice exhibited by the nearly 4,000 Medal of Honor recipients.
NRMCA is providing testimony on proposed code changes to the International Building Code (IBC) and International Residential Code (IRC) in the first round of the International Code Council (ICC) Committee Group B Action Hearings that began Sunday, April 27, and conclude May 6 in Orlando, FL. NRMCA's Darryl Dixon, Julian Mills-Beale and Shamim Rashid-Sumar are participating in the hearings along with industry partners from the Alliance for Concrete Codes and Standards (ACCS) and Masonry Alliance for Codes and Standards (MACS). They are providing technical information on issues impacting the ready mixed concrete industry, including but not limited to updating cement terminology, referencing new standards such as NRMCA 100 and ICC 605, combustibility testing requirements for noncombustible materials, reinforcement of concrete with GFRP and prescriptive limits for embodied carbon. Interested parties may view the hearings here. Build With Strength promotes standards advocacy to leverage policies promoting safety and resiliency and help place more concrete. For more information on codes and standards advocacy efforts, contact Shamim Rashid-Sumar at ssumar@nrmca.org. 
NRMCA Senior Director, Building Innovations, Brandon Wray recently visited various key accounts throughout Southern California, emphasizing the Build With Strength program's position as a trusted subject matter expert. Part of these efforts included stops at a Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) and Mission Possible Partnership regional Earth Day that focused on the decarbonization of heavy industry throughout California. The event featured speakers (some seen here) from NRMCA Producer member CalPortland along with the Port of Los Angeles, a key NRMCA account which the Association continues to support as it pursues industry leading sustainability initiatives. Following this event, Wray hosted a Lunch and Learn with a prominent designer and consultant, Langan, in its Irvine, CA, office. The presentation focused on how to reduce, quantify and specify concrete carbon with a particular focus on leveraging performance-based specifications. The presentation was well timed as conversations with the group led directly to a Q&A involving ongoing projects where sustainable considerations are an area of focus, but the design and build teams are unsure how to proceed with procuring and leveraging low carbon concrete, Wray said. For information regarding promotion in California, contact Brandon Wray at bwray@nrmca.org.
Kansas City, MO, was the site of this year’s Architectural Engineering Institute Conference held in partnership with Kansas State University and the University of Wyoming. Reimagining the buildings of the future to be more adaptable, healthy and sustainable was the overarching theme, attracting practitioners and students from throughout the country.
Pavement
NRMCA's Pave Ahead and Build With Strength programs along with the Northwest Cement Council (NCC) and NRMCA member CalPortland hosted a Contractor and Finisher Day on April 22 in Salem, OR, reports Senior Director, Local Paving, Greg Halsted.
Coordinated through the Oregon Concrete and Aggregate Producers Association (OCAPA) and held at the Wilsonville Concrete Products (WCP) plant, the event attracted 38 contractors, finishers, materials suppliers, designers and Oregon DOT personnel; the goal was to help concrete finisher crews and contractors become more comfortable working with concrete mix designs featuring blended cements through a hands-on workshop. Attendees were able to watch concrete sections being placed and finished, understand what to look for, address common misconceptions, answer real concerns and establish best practices for working with blended cements. 
Calendar
*Please click here to access your 2025 NRMCA Course Calendar where you can learn more and register for one or more educational offerings. You may also click here for a list of conferences and events which contains relevant links to each of the events and NRMCA staff members listed below. May 5 - 6, Fort Lauderdale, FL May 5 - 6, Fort Lauderdale, FL May 5 - 7, Fort Lauderdale, FL 
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