 |
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
Association & Industry News
NRMCA’s M2M benefit program has added Associate member Fritz-Pak Corporation to its growing list of providers. The company was created in 1998 from the purchase of the admixture division at Fritz Industries. Based on more than 40 years of experience, Fritz-Pak designs concrete admixtures to help concrete producers save money and improve the quality of their concrete. Their innovative products can reduce the cost of lost loads by solving common problems encountered on the job. Fritz-Pak high-performance powdered admixtures are packaged in patented water-soluble bags, convenient for adding admixtures whenever and wherever you need them. NRMCA members will receive a 10% discount on all online orders when using the code FritzM2M. Explore all NRMCA dedicated services through the updated M2M webpage. Neither membership in NRMCA nor participation in the M2M Benefits Program can in any way be construed as an endorsement, explicit or implicit, of any company, product or service by the Association. NRMCA accepts no responsibility in any dispute between supplier and customer. The M2M Benefits Program is intended solely as an informational service. Participating companies are responsible for insuring all M2M Benefit information is correct and up-to-date. For more information, contact Jacques Jenkins at jjenkins@nrmca.org or Heather Houck at hhouck@nrmca.org. 
Buildings
The General Services Administration (GSA) is seeking additional information from manufacturers on the current availability of construction materials and products (concrete, steel, asphalt, glass, aluminum, insulation, roofing materials, gypsum board and structural engineered wood) that have substantially lower levels of embodied carbon as compared to industry averages or other estimates of similar materials. It also wants manufacturers across the country to provide product-specific, Type III environmental product declarations for construction materials and products. Respondents to GSA’s previous concrete and asphalt Request for Information (RFI) released in February do not need to respond again. GSA plans to use RFI responses to help inform Buy Clean-related activities, including the $2.15B appropriated to GSA in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 for use of low-carbon Materials. Complete the form here and submit by Thursday, November 3. For more information, contact Lionel Lemay at llemay@nrmca.org or Andrew Tyrrell, atyrrell@nrmca.org.
Please consider participating in Concrete Innovations Session 8 on Wednesday, November 9, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Eastern time when attendees will learn about natural pozzolans along with other strategies to lower the carbon footprint of concrete. Presentations include: • Natural Pozzolan - What is Old is New Again. This presentation will cover a brief history of natural pozzolans, technical data, and current and future availability presented by Joseph Thomas, executive director, Natural Pozzolan Association. Concrete Innovations Learning Sessions are designed to bring practitioners, researchers and policy makers together to exchange the latest innovations for sustainable concrete design, construction and manufacturing. Click here for free registration. For more information, contact Lionel Lemay at llemay@nrmca.org. 
SEO
Last week, NRMCA Safety, Environmental and Operations (SEO) staff met with representatives from the EPA Smart Sectors Program. The program, created under the Trump Administration and then carried into the Biden Administration, “engages at the national and regional levels with industry trade associations, individual companies, and other stakeholders to pursue opportunities for improved environmental performance.” NRMCA and EPA staff discussed upcoming initiatives on fly ash regulation, environmental justice and lower embodied carbon materials. The early stages of setting up a concrete plant tour for EPA representatives was also discussed along with future broad and targeted roundtable meetings for EPA and industry representatives to engage on common issues. Click here for more information on the EPA Smart Sectors Program. The NRMCA staff contact for EPA is Kevin Walgenbach. Last week, the Department of Labor (DOL) simultaneously proposed rescinding the Trump-era independent contractor rule while proposing a new rule that aims to “return to a totality-of-the-circumstances” analysis instead of the current, looser, Trump-era definition differentiating independent contractors versus direct employees which relied more on an employer’s direct control over a worker and the worker’s individual ability to control their own work. Currently, the Trump-era rule remains in effect. The comment period for the proposal will remain open for 45 days. NRMCA will submit comments in opposition to the proposal while engaging with like-minded stakeholders and continuing to advocate for beneficial industry outcomes. Click here to review the DOL press release on the proposal and here to review the proposed rule. For more information, contact Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org.
The Safety, Environmental & Operations Committee (SEO) named Dale Kotzea, retired safety director of Producer member GCC, Aberdeen (SD), the 2023 Joseph E. Carpenter Award recipient. The award is named in honor of Joseph E. Carpenter of Rinker Materials, West Palm Beach, FL, who was instrumental in the formation and early operation of the NRMCA Committee on Maintenance. The award was instituted in 1988 and is presented annually to persons who have demonstrated outstanding lifetime contributions to the ready mixed concrete industry in the fields of operations, environmental and safety. Mr. Kotzea (seen here) was recognized for a life of service aimed toward improving the safety and well being of others whether in the military, public sector and private sector. He is a longtime SEO Committee member and also served as SEO Safety Task Group vice chairman and chairman. Mr. Kotzea has been one of the primary instructors for the NRMCA Safety Course, a judge for numerous NRMCA recognition programs, including Driver of the Year, NRMCA Safety Award and the Environmental Excellence Awards. Over the last 15 years, Mr. Kotzea has spearheaded many innovative ideas focusing on changing behaviors to mitigate the risk a concrete delivery professional encounters on the road. “There was a time when Dale was the only safety representative for a working class of 800+ employees, 700 CMVs on the road, and over 50 locations: such a large undertaking! Did Dale shy away from this large task or use excuses… No, Dale actively traveled and was the face of GCC Safety out in the field, in meetings, and as a representative. Dale’s passion for the safety and wellbeing of others is at his core, no matter how big the task or how small the incident, he sees an opportunity to learn and improve safety culture," said GCC Ready Mix Safety Director Bobby Dole. Before joining GCC, Mr. Kotzea served concurrently for more than 25 years in the South Dakota Highway Patrol and South Dakota Army National Guard. The award will be presented to Mr. Kotzea during NRMCA’s 2023 Annual Convention in Las Vegas, NV. For more information, contact Gary Mullings at gmullings@nrmca.org.
Build With Strength along with the Structural Engineering Institute, Massachusetts Concrete & Aggregate Producers Association, Carbon Leadership Forum, Boston Society for Architecture and the American Society of Concrete Contractors hosted its first-ever Low Carbon Roundtable (seen here) in Framingham, MA. The roundtable gathered engineers, architects, concrete contractors, ready mix suppliers, developers and other professionals to better understand the challenges that each industry faces while providing new and innovative solutions to combat the concrete industry’s carbon footprint. Throughout the roundtable, panelists held numerous productive, topic-specific discussions, reports NRMCA Director, Sustainability Initiatives, Katie Poss who attended the event along with her colleague Derek Torres, project manager, concrete promotion. Build With Strength 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. Click here for more information on Build With Strength's education programs or contact Derek Torres at dtorres@nrmca.org. 
Business Advancement
The last two classes in the Certified Concrete Sales Professional (CCSP) series are now open for registration. Register now to take their fees as a 2022 expense. The schedule is as follows: • Module 3: RMC Business Knowledge, February 14-16 - Dallas: An overview of critical business concepts used in the RMC business, focusing on RMC job cost analysis. Assure your reps know the factors to price a job profitably without solely relying on a plug-and-chug software program. Each class stands alone so it does NOT have to be taken consecutively or collectively with the other CCSP classes. Please note that these classes are required courses in the STEPS® Sales and Promotion certification program where those in the field earn the industry's most prestigious capstone certification, the CCPf. For more information, contact NRMCA's Jessica Walgenbach. 
Calendar
Please note that e-mail and direct registration links to each event listed below can be accessed from NRMCA's website. November 1 - 3, Bowling Green, KY November 7 - 11, Baltimore-Washington Area November 8 - 10, Louisville, KY *Sold Out November 15 - 17, Phoenix *Sold Out November 29 - December 1, Orlando, FL *Sold Out December 6 - 8, Dallas December 13 - 16, Kansas City, MO *Sold Out December 14, Nashville, TN 2023 January 10 -13, Nashville, TN January 24 - 27, Charlotte, NC February 14 - 16, Dallas February 21 - 23, Nashville, TN March 10 - 13, Las Vegas, NV March 14 - 18, Las Vegas, NV March 21 - 23, Nashville, TN March 28 - 30, Dallas |
||||||||||||||||
|
