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Association & Industry News
The Portland Cement Association (PCA) last month issued a briefing paper that addresses shortages of cement in the U.S. The 3-page paper details the scope of tight market conditions, import disruptions, logistic hindrinces and supply chain disruptions. PCA notes that this document is designed for the cement and ready mixed concrete industries as a whole and is not specific to any single cement manufacturer. PCA urgers NRMCA Producer members to speak directly to their respective cement providers regarding any specific shortage issues. For more information, contact PCA's Nick Ferrari at nferrari@cement.org. NRMCA is searching for a codes and standards expert to join a team of professionals to work with local advocates, code consultants and industry allies to propose state and local code changes that support concrete construction while also defending against code changes that would be detrimental to concrete construction. The director, codes and standards, provides technical support to NRMCA members and state affiliates regarding local building codes, legislation and regulation. He or she works with local members and state affiliate staff to promote the adoption of statewide minimum building codes that allow for stricter amendments. He or she supports NRMCA government affairs staff to assist with building code related federal legislative and regulatory issues. Click here for a for a full job description and qualifications. Questions? Contact Lionel Lemay at llemay@nrmca.org or 847-922-7995. Now is the time to add your company’s brand to the growing list of sponsors for NRMCA’s most exciting event of the year, NRMCA’s ConcreteWorks and concurrent National Mixer Driver Championship (NMDC). Sponsorship opportunities are selling fast, but there still remains great selections for both, including ConcreteWorks USB Keys, ConcreteWorks Mobile App, NMDC Breakfast/Lunch of Champions, NMDC Course Challenges; NMDC Driver Position Reception and many more. Click here to view available ConcreteWorks selections and here to view open NMDC sponsorship choices. NRMCA encourages you to circulate these opportunities within your company and help support the ready mixed concrete industry. For more information, contact Jacques Jenkins at jjenkins@nrmca.org or 703-706-4865. 
Buildings
NRMCA is offering a Summer 2022 special of 20% off the regular price of its popular Fundamental of Concrete on-demand webinar series. The course presents the nuts and bolts of concrete materials, mixtures and construction practices from the materials used to make concrete, the standards they must meet to the way it’s made, delivered, placed and finished. If you are a design professional, contractor, concrete producer or a supplier to the concrete industry, this course is a must. If you are new to concrete, this is your crash course on your way to becoming a concrete pro. If you’ve worked with concrete for a long time, this will be an excellent refresher on the latest methods, techniques and standards for concrete. The course is taught online in three parts of three hours each. Each part costs $80, 20% off the regular price. Part 1: Essentials of Quality Concrete For more information, contact Lionel Lemay at 847-922-7995 or llemay@nrmca.org. NRMCA’s M2M Benefit program continues to grow, providing better services and more value to all members. The program recently added another Associate member to the expanding list of Member2Member (M2M) providers. Insight Financial, LLC, is a full service debt collection agency that provides both commercial and consumer debt recovery as well as legal forwarding services to construction-based businesses throughout the U.S. NRMCA member companies would enjoy simplified and discounted billing at a flat rate of 20% of the amounts recovered on all primary account placements, regardless of the age of delinquency.
SEO
Last week, representatives from both NRMCA and the National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association (NSSGA) met with staff from the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to discuss the Biden Administration’s proposed expansion of Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) for federally-funded construction projects. Back in February, the Biden Administration issued an Executive Order directing all fully-funded federal construction projects of $35 million or more to utilize PLAs to manage and direct the focus of these projects’ workforces. While the directive does not cover materials suppliers such as ready mixed concrete and aggregates suppliers, it does cover contractors and subcontractors. Both organizations urged the OMB to disallow an expansion of the directive to include materials suppliers once a formal proposal is released. NRMCA and NSSGA also stated that an expansion of PLAs will ultimately result in less competition from suppliers and contractors, and significantly drive up costs. A formal proposal on the issue is expected by mid-June at which time the specifics of the PLA expansion will be known. Click here to review the PLA Executive Order. For more information, contact Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org. NRMCA has finalized its annual member survey to measure regulatory action within the industry to determine regulatory trends on specific issues and issue types. This information helps NRMCA better tailor its actions to address and combat any such issues, and to keep a finger on the pulse of when, where, how and why regulatory agencies are targeting and levying enforcement actions against the industry. Click here to access this year’s completed survey containing new and interesting data highlighting industry regulatory activity and sentiment from 2021. *Note that this link is a member-only link; if you have trouble logging on, please contact Amanda Muller at amuller@nrmca.org. For more information on the survey, contact Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org. Get ready for the National Mixer Driver Appreciation Week, taking place August 1 - 5. To help celebrate our industry’s drivers please visit the Appreciation Week Store which includes polos, t-shirts, hats, beverage tumblers, koozies, key chains and multitools. It is open through Wednesday, June 15; orders will then be shipped by July 15 and arrive by August 1, just in time for Appreciation Week. For more information, contact Gary Mullings at gmullings@nrmca.org or Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org.
NRMCA’s Think First monthly safety initiatives feature different industry-specific safety items relevant to seasons, current topics or industry concerns. The initiatives are meant to be shared, used as a training tool, printed, posted or distributed; all of which are encouraged. This month’s issue (shown here) is titled Power Line Safety – When Lines Are Low, Take It Slow. Click here to view this month’s and all previous Think First subjects. For more information, contact Gary Mullings at gmullings@nrmca.org or Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org. Does your facility need to report to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Program? Have you run the calculations to determine if your facility does? Do you know what the requirements are and/or how to report if necessary? Now’s the time to obtain answers to all of these questions. Remember, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) TRI Program “tracks the management of more than 650 toxic chemicals that may pose a threat to human health and the environment.“ Specifically, “U.S. facilities in certain industry sectors must report annually how much of each chemical is released to the environment and/or managed through recycling, energy recovery and treatment.” This information is then submitted annually to EPA and compiled in the TRI. Facilities that handle toxic chemicals, including ready mixed concrete plants, are required to calculate the quantities that were handled and, if any quantity is over an allowable threshold, that chemical and amount need to be reported under the program. Should a facility need to report, the reporting deadline is Friday, July 1. Visit EPA's TRI Program website for more on the program, listed chemicals, potential for reporting and when/how to report. NRMCA staff contacts are Gary Mullings and Kevin Walgenbach. Registration is now open for NRMCA’s financial performance education course, Think Like an Owner, to be offered in Denver from August 1 - 2. This course is intended to empower participants to understand the drivers of financial performance and improve their management with an eye to profitability of their business center. Participants will learn how to read financial statements, measure performance, examine elements of profit and loss, and think in terms of economic profit. This course is a must-attend for industry participants, from plant managers to company presidents, who want to run their operations profitably. More course information is available here and registration is available here. Staff contact is Andrew Tyrrell. The FPI Group’s newly formed IT task group, the Digital Transformation and Process Improvement Task Group, is soliciting responses to its confidential IT Survey. This survey will give NRMCA insight into the IT practices, capabilities and challenges of the ready mixed concrete industry. The results of the survey will be shared at the task group’s upcoming meeting in Chicago on July 12. Please note that no company’s individual results will be shared with any party. Click here to participate. For more information, contact Andrew Tyrrell at atyrrell@nrmca.org. 
Calendar
Please note that e-mail and direct registration links to each event listed below can be accessed from NRMCA's Web site. August 1 - 2, Centennial, CO September 29 - October 3, Aurora, CO October 18 - 20, Charlotte, NC November 8 - 10, Louisville, KY November 15 - 17, Phoenix November 29 - December 1, Orlando, FL December 13 - 16, Kansas City, MO 
Pavement
Editor's Note: This item was written by Art Thompson, executive director of The North Dakota Ready Mix & Concrete Products Association in connection with a recent Pave Ahead project coordinated with NRMCA Senior Director, Local Paving, Ken Justice.
If you’ve attended one of our association’s workshops in the past few years, you have no doubt heard about the free, concrete pavement design assistance program developed by the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association. While we have worked on several design reviews over the past few seasons, mostly parking lots, roundabouts, municipal streets and concrete overlays, we haven’t always shared how the program works. We recently had a successful project in Parshall, ND, that chose concrete over asphalt because of the collaboration of several people involved in the project.
Business Advancement
We need your help: with three weeks to go for NRMCA Producer members to complete the survey, we are just at 7% of last year’s total participants. So far, the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic and smaller producers (under 300,000 cubic yards) dominate respondents. While the numbers are too small to be valid – as with last year – 70% of producers walked away from business because they did not have drivers to deliver orders. Additionally, 71% of respondents reported those mixer drivers who quit went with short-haul carriers, not other ready mix companies. Time will tell if these findings remain true. PLEASE have your appropriate person gather your driver employment data and fill out the anonymous survey. No one has to calculate formulas, just give us the employment numbers and we run the calculations. Click here to begin the survey. For more information, contact Eileen Dickson at edickson@nrmca.org. 
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