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Association & Industry News
The 2022 Concrete Industry Management (CIM) Program fundraising auction will be held next week, Wednesday, January 19, in Las Vegas, NV, and you can support the program while buying great items whether you are at the event or at home! Once again, there are items for everyone – many of which are ready mix specific (Mack/McNeilus mixer truck, Con-Tech high performance mixer, loads of cement from almost every manufacturer nationwide, fly ash, aggregates, plant and truck equipment and more).
NRMCA and the ready mixed concrete industry at large note with sadness the recent death of Bruce Grohne. Mr. Grohne died on January 4 at the age of 79. He owned and operated Grohne Ready Mix for 35 years and served as executive director of the Illinois Ready Mixed Concrete Association for many years following until his retirement. He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Valerie, and children Kristine (Patrick) Riley of Glen Ellyn and Steven (Kristen) Grohne of Decatur, many grandchildren and a sister, Marta Grothe. Click here for Mr. Grohne's obituary notice. 
Government Affairs
As the Biden Administration gears up to implement the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the $1 trillion infrastructure package enacted last year, NRMCA and our allies in Washington are prepared to weigh in to ensure that the infrastructure bill is fully funded and is implemented in a manner consistent with the bipartisan way it was formulated and passed. While the higher funding levels of the surface reauthorization will be effective once Congress acts on appropriations, there are many programs that will require additional personnel at the Department of Transportation and will take years to implement.
SEO
Last Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court held a special session to hear arguments on whether a host of employer mandates related to COVID-19 should remain in place. One of the mandates is the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS). The ETS orders employers with 100 or more employees to require their employees to either get vaccinated against COVID-19 or be subject to weekly testing. The ETS, which had been stayed by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals last November and then subsequently allowed to go into effect by the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in December, now awaits its fate before the Supreme Court. Absent the rule being vacated by the Supreme Court, the ETS will be allowed to be fully implemented and enforced by OSHA. The compliance deadlines are this past Monday, January 10, 2022, and February 9, 2022. NRMCA continues to advocate on and monitor the ETS while updating the membership on its changing status. Click here for more information on how the rule will impact ready mixed concrete operations, how to comply and to access NRMCA’s template written ETS policy. Click here to review the ETS language, FAQs, fact sheets and other OSHA materials. For more information, contact Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@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. It is a per-plant contest open to facilities operated by NRMCA member companies in good standing in 2021. 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 Friday, April 1. Click here for more information and to download the entry form. You may also contact Gary Mullings at gmullings@nrmca.org. 
Calendar
Please note that e-mail and direct links to each event listed below can be accessed from NRMCA's Web site. January 31 - February 2, San Antonio, TX *Sold Out January 31 - February 4, Linthicum Heights, MD February 8 - 11, Phoenix February 14 - 18, Online Course February 15 - 17, Online Course March 15 - 18, San Antonio, TX March 22 - 24, Smyrna, TN March 22 - 25, Boston April 4 - 8, Online Course April 19 - 21, Smyrna, TN April 19 - 21, Online Course September 29 - October 3, Aurora, CO 
Engineering
[UPDATED] The Winter 2021-22 newsletter of the National Concrete Consortium has the following items:
NRMCA is offering its information packed, one-day course, Handling Concrete Specifications, Low Strength Problems and Mixture Submittals, intended for concrete producers, contractors, engineers and testing labs online from February 15 and 17. The course will feature a new group discussion session on February 17. This course will discuss the latest changes to the code and specification requirements (ACI 318, 301, ASTM C94) governing ready mixed concrete. This course will address many topics, including:
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