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Association & Industry News
Build With Strength and Pave Ahead, along with NRMCA, have added new webinars to its free webinar series for architects and engineers. These additional webinars will feature new topics along with repeats of its most popular titles. Build With Strength will continue to focus on the design and construction of concrete buildings and Pave Ahead has added a series of webinars on pervious concrete. Instructors include NRMCA experts along with guest instructors. Each webinar will offer AIA-CES Learning Units and Professional Development Hours. The webinars start at 2 p.m. Eastern time and are expected to be about an hour in duration. • April 23 - Concrete Pavement Jointing and Details • April 29 - The Business Case for Building Multifamily Buildings with Concrete • April 30 - Materials and Construction Specifications for Concrete Pavement Projects • May 6 - Life Cycle Assessment of Concrete Buildings • May 7 - Concrete Street and Parking Lot Maintenance and Repair • May 13 - The Balanced Design Approach to Fire Safety: How Concrete Building Systems Can Help Reduce Risk • May 14 - Concrete Overlays of Existing Asphalt Surfaced Streets and Parking Lots • May 20 - The Environmental Impacts of Building Materials: A Primer for Comparing Concrete, Steel, Wood and Asphalt • May 21 - Concrete Trail Design • *New May 27 - A New Generation of Tilt-up Buildings • *New May 28 - Designing Pervious Concrete • *New June 3 - Achieving Resilience with ICF Construction • *New June 4 - Specifying Pervious Concrete • *Popular June 10 - Concrete Innovations • *New June 11 - Installing Pervious Concrete • *New June 17 - Economical Design of Insulating Concrete Forms • *New June 18 - Maintenance Guidelines for Pervious Concrete • *Popular June 24 - Specifying Sustainable Concrete Click here for more information and registration links for Buildings webinars and here for Pavements webinars. You may also contact Lionel Lemay at LLemay@nrmca.org for buildings and Brian Killingsworth at bkillingsworth@nrmca.org for pavements. 
Buildings
The American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) writes Standard 90.1 governing building design for energy use. The committee has released the latest version of the thermal bridging appendix for a second public review. This appendix would change the way the ready mixed concrete industry designs anything that penetrates into the building envelope, including balconies and floor/roof to wall connections. Build With Strength (BWS) and NRMCA oppose adoption of this appendix as it is excessively difficult to apply to real-world buildings and may require details that cannot be built. Anyone may submit a public comment and the appendix is open for comments through Monday, May 4. BWS and NRMCA are actively involved in opposing this measure through participation on the governing committee and close coordination with our industry allies. For more information contact Scott Campbell at scampbell@nrmca.org. The estimated ready mixed concrete produced in December 2019 is 24.6 million cubic yards, 8% higher than that in December 2018. The estimated production in the U.S. for 2019 is 371 million cubic yards, 3.7% higher than that in 2018. Ready mixed concrete production is estimated from cement shipments reported by the U.S. Geological Survey. More detail, including production by state for 2019, is available for NRMCA members here. NRMCA encourages today’s rising stars to apply for a unique opportunity that supports their growth in the ready mixed concrete industry. NRMCA’s Developing Industry’s Leaders (DIL) program is a distinctive, career-long plan of action where tomorrow’s leaders interact, both professionally and socially, with established executives, thereby gaining a national perspective about the ready mixed concrete industry. Candidates must be employed by an NRMCA Producer or Associate member, Bureau member or state affiliate association. The application period closes Friday, June 12. Once appointed to the annual DIL cohort, participants will work over the summer via webinars to prepare for their attendance at NRMCA’s ConcreteWorks and National Mixer Driver Championship in Denver from September 25 - 29. Over the fall and winter months, small teams individually address an industry challenge under the guidance of senior NRMCA staff and a DIL alumni mentor via conference call. At the March 2021 NRMCA Convention, teams present their findings to their sponsoring committee. They also publish their work in the industry’s premier journal, Concrete InFocus. Later in Spring 2021, the cohort will gather for a third time for a multi-day leadership workshop just for them. DIL exclusive events are the foundation of long-term career support. The most distinguished gathering is the Chairman of the Board’s Leadership Summit, a two-day DIL alumni networking and leadership conference. With no age exclusion, middle managers interact with captains-of-the-industry DIL alumni. Additionally, DIL alumni host receptions at the Annual Convention and ConcreteWorks. Finally, they have the opportunity to attend the high-profile, annual Spring North American Concrete Alliance Fly-in in Washington, DC. Please note that the DIL program is NOT a short-term perk. After the two-year formal program ends, DIL alumni are expected to make long-term commitments to move their team’s initiative(s) forward by joining, and attending, the appropriate NRMCA committee’s meetings twice a year as well as participate in annual DIL alumni events. They are also asked to mentor new DIL. Finally, they may attend NRMCA’s semi-annual Board meetings to observe senior level executives deliberate and make both short- and long-term strategic decisions that impact the industry. If your company has a rising star who is ready to work on a national level and will be given the time to participate in the required activities over the length of his/her career, please submit his/her application no later than Friday, June12. Click here and scan to the bottom of the web page to learn more and download the application form. For more information, contact Eileen Dickson at edickson@nrmca.org. PCA, ACPA, NRMCA, and the CP Tech Center invite you to attend their upcoming webinar sessions focused on the paving and infrastructure markets. These free, one-hour webinars will cover topics that include the benefits, applications, design, construction, testing and performance of various cement-based solutions.The links below will provide further information on the specific webinars happening each week.
For more information, please e-mail pcamarketdevelopment@cement.org.
Government Affairs
The Senate voted on Tuesday to approve additional funding for the Small Business Administration (SBA) loan programs included in the CARES Act. The package includes a $320 billion increase to the Paycheck Protection Program and a $60 billion increase to the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, both of which ran out of funding last week. The House is expected to approve the package this week. Passage comes after a week of negotiations between Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. The Senate passed the bill by voice vote on Tuesday and the House is expected to pass the legislation without objection this week, probably on Thursday. Since the House is not in session, the legislation must pass by unanimous consent. The House is considering remote voting procedures, such as teleconferencing or proxy options. If the House adopts remote voting procedures, unanimous consent may not be required in the future, allowing future legislation to pass under a suspension of the rules with two-thirds majority vote. There is no indication as to whether or how quickly the remote voting will be adopted. If you expect to need an SBA loan, but have not yet applied or one, we urge you to speak with your lender as soon as possible. The additional funds may be exhausted quickly. NRMCA has joined a broad effort to support additional funding for the SBA loan programs, joining NSSGA and PCA, as well as dozens of other trade associations, in sending a letter to Congress. For more information, contact Andrew Tyrrell at atyrrell@nrmca.org. In a big win for NRMCA and our allied associations, the construction industry has become the largest recipient of Small Business Administration (SBA) loans authorized by the CARES Act. The SBA loan programs began accepting applications on April 3. Leading up to this date, NRMCA Government Affairs staff repeatedly urged its members to begin having conversations with their lenders and prepare to apply quickly for loans. NRMCA hosted two webinars and staff sent multiple updates to provide members the necessary resources to secure SBA funding. The Paycheck Protection Program loans are intended to allow companies to keep employees on payroll through the COVID-19 pandemic and can provide businesses with up to $10 million in funding. Amounts spent on payroll, rent and mortgage obligations can be forgiven at the end of the loan, provided companies do not reduce payroll. Thanks to the effective and preemptive communication from NRMCA, many NRMCA members have reported receiving funds from SBA in a timely manner and the construction industry has received more loans than any other sector in the country. Special thanks to NRMCA Government Affairs Chairman Nathan McKean for helping to educate NRMCA members and provide insight into the application process. For more information, contact Andrew Tyrrell at atyrrell@nrmca.org. NRMCA last week urged state affiliates to support advocacy efforts asking Congress to include additional non-profit organizations, including 501(c)6 membership organizations, in future funding of Small Business Administration loan programs. Under the CARES Act, only 501(c)3s and 501(c)19s (veterans’ organizations) were eligible for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans while organizations that engage in lobbying are not eligible for Economic Injury Disaster Loans. Consequently, state affiliates, local and state chambers of commerce, and national trade associations like NRMCA, NSSGA and PCA are ineligible for PPP loans. State associations, local and state chambers of commerce, and national associations serve America’s small business community. The vast majority of NRMCA’s members and our state affiliates members are small, family-owned businesses. Making 501(c)6 organizations eligible for future SBA funding would help ensure that many of the organizations that support our members are able to continue to function and provide the information, education, technical assistance and expertise that members rely on to run their businesses.
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 Fleet Benchmarking Survey is used to establish industry benchmarking norms and procedures. Information gathered from the annual Fleet Benchmarking Survey is published in a full report in Concrete InFocus magazine each autumn. A shorter Executive Summary of the survey is also made available to all. The deadline for submitting completed entries to fleetbenchmark@nrmca.org is now Friday, May 1. Click here for more information and to download the entry form. 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 Safety Contest & Benchmarking Survey is a per-plant contest open to all 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 will now be accepted at safeycontest@nrmca.org through Friday, May 1. Click here for more information, staff contact and to download the entry form. Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Smart Sectors Program released “Sector Snapshots” for eight different industries, including cement and concrete. The snapshots are “a web-based tool that shows historical environmental and economic performance on a sector basis. Users can interact with data that include a range of up to 30 different combinations of environmental and economic parameters to view trends over time.” Commenting on the release, NRMCA’s Gary Mullings said “EPA’s Smart Sectors Program highlights the ability of the Executive Branch to work with industry and to showcase the benefits industry brings to our communities. The Smart Sectors’ snapshot is a great tool for educating these same communities about how industry plays a part to better our built environment.” Click here for the Snapshots' press release; here to review the cement and concrete sector snapshot and here for more more information on the Smart Sectors Program itself. You may also contact Gary Mullings at gmullings@nrmca.org or Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org. Earlier this week, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) released the effective date of the final rule of the long-awaited rewrite of the Obama Administration’s definition of “Waters of the United States,” also known as WOTUS. The rewrite is considered a huge win for the ready mixed concrete industry; the new rule, titled the Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR), outlines in clear terms what EPA’s jurisdiction is over what waterways within the U.S. The NWPR becomes effective June 22. The impact to the industry is positive because it largely maintains an industry status quo of disallowing releases of process water and non-permitted stormwater into a WOTUS. The NWPR also limits the previous administration’s regulatory expansion and uses clear language allowing for water accumulations the industry may have at concrete plants to NOT be covered by the new rule. NRMCA has been continually advocating for this clarity and outcome since the finalization of the contentious Obama Administration’s WOTUS rule in 2015. Click here for more information; here for NWPR factsheets and here to to review the final rule. You may also contact Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org. 
June 2, Free Promotion Webinars June 3, Build With Strength Webinar June 4, Concrete Pavement Webinar Series June 10, Build With Strength Webinar June 11, Concrete Pavement Webinar Series June 16 – 18, Nashville, TN – Sponsored by Tennessee Concrete Association June 17, Build With Strength Webinar June 18, Concrete Pavement Webinar Series June 24, Build With Strength Webinar July 14 – 16, Nashville, TN – Sponsored by TCA Calendar
*Please note that e-mail and direct links to each event listed below can be accessed from NRMCA's Web site. April 23, Concrete Pavement Webinar Series April 28, Free Promotion Webinars April 28 – May 1, New Orleans *Postponed April 29, Build With Strength Webinar April 30, Concrete Pavement Webinar Series May 5, Free Promotion Webinars May 6, Build With Strength Webinar May 7, Concrete Pavement Webinar Series May 12, Concrete Paving Promotion Webinar Series May 13, Build With Strength Webinar May 13 – 15, Glendora, CA *Postponed May 14, Concrete Pavement Webinar Series May 19, Concrete Paving Promotion Webinar Series May 20, Build With Strength Webinar May 21, Concrete Pavement Webinar Series May 26, Concrete Paving Promotion Webinar Series May 27, Build With Strength Webinar May 28, Concrete Pavement Webinar Series 
Pavement
Interest in the NRMCA Concrete Pavement Education Series continues to grow as the third installment, Soils 101: What to Know for a Successful Paving Project, drew a record number of registrants, causing the webinar to reach full capacity at 500 attendees! Local Paving Division Head Brian Killingsworth, P.E. and Senior Director Luke McHugh, P.E. co-hosted the presentation. “The response to this program has been phenomenal,” said Senior Vice President, Local Paving, Phil Kresge. “We are averaging about 80% participation of total registrants. But more importantly, we are running nearly 92% interest from attendees during the programs.” The audience has predominantly been a mix of engineers from both the public and private sectors, along with contractors, ready mixed concrete producers and other industry representatives. The weekly programs are held each Thursday at 2 p.m. Eastern time and are free to attend. The fourth webinar in the series, Concrete Pavement Jointing and Details, presented by Paving Team members Don Clem, P.E. and Amanda Hult, P.E., will take place Thursday, April 23 (click here to register). Upcoming webinar topics include Materials and Construction Specifications for Concrete Pavement Projects, on April 30; Concrete Street and Parking Lot Maintenance and Repair, May 7 and Concrete Overlays of Existing Asphalt Surfaced Streets and Parking Lots, May 14. The webinars provide American Institute of Architects (AIA) Continuing Education Learning Units as well as Professional Development Hours (PDH) credits. Click here for a listing of all Pave Ahead webinars or contact any member of the NRMCA Pave Ahead team. 
September 25 – 29, Denver October 8, Nashville, TN October 20 – 22, Mendota Heights, MN November 17 – 19, Glendora, CA December 15, Charlotte, NC December 15 – 18, Phoenix *If you wish to be added to the wait list for sold out courses, please send your request to meetings@nrmca.org. 
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