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Association & Industry News
Out of concern for the safety and well-being of our personnel and a commitment to curb the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus) through social distancing, the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association will be temporarily closing its physical office effective immediately, until such a time that we are confident the dangers of COVID-19 no longer exist. We have taken the additional step of suspending all in-person classes, events and meetings as well as all staff travel scheduled through the end of April. We will communicate new dates for postponed activities once they have been set. This timeline will be reassessed on a regular basis and adjusted as prudent. During this time, please be assured that our remote work locations will not restrict your access to NRMCA personnel, programs and services, although there could be minor delays in processing publication orders and certifications. Contact information for our personnel can be found here. Many of our employees will have their office numbers temporarily forwarded directly to their cell phones and messages left on HQ phones will be checked regularly and returned promptly, as will e-mail messages. We are in uncharted waters and NRMCA is committed to do all that it can to protect our employees, our members and society as a whole. We appreciate your support and understanding during these extraordinary times. This year, NRMCA received 50 entries to our seventh NRMCA Kids Art Contest, sponsored by the Truck Mixer Manufacturers Bureau. Entries were judged only against others in their grade category on originality, effort, creativity, composition and interpretation of this year's theme of Safety. We are pleased to announce the following winners: Pre-K – K: Grade 1-3: Grade 4-6: Grade 7-12: For more information, contact Taylor Drzewicki at tdrzewicki@nrmca.org. 
Buildings
Build With Strength, along with NRMCA, is launching a webinar series on the design and construction of concrete buildings. The first webinar, scheduled for April 1, is titled Concrete Innovations; there will be a webinar each week on various topics from resilience to fire safety to life cycle assessment. Instructors include NRMCA experts along with guest instructors. Each webinar will offer 1 HSW LU, 1 PDH or 0.1 CEU through the AIA continuing education system. (*Please note that all times below are Eastern.)
Click here for more information or contact Lionel Lemay at LLemay@nrmca.org.
Government Affairs
In response to the spread of COVID-19, the Office of the Sergeant At Arms has limited access to the Capitol Complex. The Capitol Visitor Center is closed to all tours, including member and staff led tours, and the Capitol and House and Senate Office Buildings are open to only Members, staff and official business visitors. Member offices expecting official business visitors are required to meet them at the door and escort them to the office for the meeting. The House is in a scheduled recess this week and members have been advised that previously scheduled votes on March 23 would not take place. The House is considering how it might conduct floor votes without all members being present in the chamber simultaneously. Majority Leader McConnell on Monday rejected the notion that the Senate would work or vote remotely and canceled recess until the Senate passes relief legislation. NRMCA Government Affairs is adapting its advocacy procedures and efforts to ensure that our representation of the industry’s priorities is not compromised. In person meetings are converted to conference calls and we are relying on e-mail communication with staff. Interestingly, without the internal bustle, staff are quick to respond and communication overall has not suffered materially. NRMCA Government Affairs staff is also monitoring the status of industry fly-ins and expects them to be canceled or postponed, but no determination has been made. For more information, contact Andrew Tyrrell at atyrrell@nrmca.org. Last week, in an unusual 1 a.m. vote on Saturday, the House passed legislation that could dramatically impact small businesses and many ready mixed concrete companies. H.R. 6201 includes a provision requiring businesses with more than 50 employees and fewer than 500 employees to provide two weeks of paid sick leave at an employee’s full wages and additional 10 weeks of sick leave at two-thirds the employee’s pay rate. The bill attempts to reimburse companies for the expense incurred for this paid leave through refundable tax credits and refunds. Unfortunately, the proposed tax credits and refunds will not produce sufficient liquidity in time to deter business closures. Most small businesses do not have the liquidity or tolerance for debt necessary to front the payments and will face dire or terminal circumstances if they are required to pay these costs up front.
For more information, contact Andrew Tyrrell at atyrrell@nrmca.org. As Congress looks to consider economic stimulus measures, infrastructure is a common theme. While there are no definite plans to include infrastructure in a stimulus bill, Politico reports that Senate Energy and Public Works Committee Chairman John Barrasso (R-WY) is advocating for part of the bill that his committee passed last August to be included in a stimulus package. This comes on the heels of similar earlier remarks by Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby (R-AL). This legislation provides an extension of FAST Act funding, as well as a significant plus up in the first two years, providing certainty and expanded capacity. The bill faltered as Congress struggled to come up with a means to pay for the legislation. Those concerns may be fading as the need for stimulus grows. For more information, contact Andrew Tyrrell at atyrrell@nrmca.org.
SEO
The 2020 Fleet Benchmarking Survey is filled out by industry fleet managers and/or financial managers early each year, based on data gathered from the previous calendar year’s performance. This year’s form includes new questions on mixer drum composition, idle time and types of fuel being used. The survey is used to establish industry benchmarking norms and procedures; information gathered is published in a report in Concrete InFocus magazine each autumn. A shorter Executive Summary of the survey is also made available to all. Entries must be e-mailed to fleetbenchmark@nrmca.org by Friday, April 24. Click here to access and then download the form. For more information, contact Gary Mullings at gmullings@nrmca.org. The Safety Contest & Benchmarking Survey has for years been a safety performance and incentive/award program aimed to foster safe practices at ready mixed concrete plants across the nation. The survey is a per-plant contest open to facilities operated by NRMCA member companies in good standing in 2019. 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 e-mailed to NRMCA at safetycontest@nrmca.org by April 24, 2020. Click here to access and download the entry form. For more information, contact Gary Mullings at gmullings@nrmca.org. 
Products & Services
NRMCA will continue to provide member services by processing Publication orders each Wednesday. Please note, however, that we are temporarily suspending expedited deliveries until further notice. Publications can be ordered here and here. For more information, contact Jacques Jenkins at jjenkins@nrmca.org. Calendar
*Please note that e-mail and direct links to each event listed below can be accessed from NRMCA's Web site. March 24 – 27, Boston *Postponed March 25, Winchester, KY March 25, Washington, DC *Postponed April 15 – 17, Indianapolis *Postponed April 17, Sweetwater, TN April 28 – May 1, New Orleans *Postponed April 29, Charlotte, NC *Postponed 
September 25 – 29, Denver October 20 – 22, Mendota Heights, MN November 17 – 19, Glendora, CA December 15 – 18, Phoenix *If you wish to be added to the wait list for sold out courses, 
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