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Association & Industry News
After being discharged from the Navy, he enrolled at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, TX, followed by Texas A&M University in College Station where he earned bachelor's and master's degrees in civil engineering. Following graduation, Mr. McNeill was an engineer with the concrete and aggregate company Gifford-Hill in Dallas. During his 32-year career, he rose through the ranks of Gifford Hill, ultimately being named president of Gifford-Hill and retired in 1997. While working at Gifford Hill, Mr. McNeill was elected NRMCA Board chairman, serving in 1991. 
Buildings
NRMCA Senior Directors, Building Innovations, Donn Thompson and Frank Mruk recently presented Decarbonizing Concrete Now-Reports from the Field at the 111th American Collegiate Schools of Architecture conference which invited scholars, practitioners and thinkers to examine how architectural research, design and pedagogy can expand the nature of cooperativism. The conference was held in St. Louis and was well attended with over 500 academic deans, professors and administrators in attendance, Thompson and Mruk report.
Last week, NRMCA participated in the Industrial Deep Decarbonization Initiative (IDDI) workshop on the harmonization of Product Category Rules (PCRs) for steel, cement and concrete. The workshop (participants seen here) was hosted by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in Vienna, Austria, on March 30 - 31. Product Category Rules are sets of rules, requirements and guidelines for developing Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for one or more product categories. The aim of the workshop was to develop a harmonized guideline document as the basis for the respective countries’ national or regional PCR. Shamim Rashid-Sumar, NRMCA senior vice president, codes and standards, attended the workshop and networked with representatives from over 20 organizations, including government, academia and global trade associations for concrete and steel to discuss commonalities between PCRs in their respective countries and advocate for critical aspects of the North American PCR for concrete. The group will continue its work in future virtual meetings. Click here for more information regarding NRMCA’s sustainability initiatives or contact Shamim Rashid-Sumar at ssumar@nrmca.org. 
SEO
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 is titled Emergency Action Plans – Have A Plan!, pictured here.
NRMCA’s Annual Safety Award acknowledges the significant contribution that safety work practices gives to the growth and success of individual companies and the ready mixed concrete industry as a whole. The award is presented to an individual or company whose actions represent the very highest in the advancement of safety in the ready mixed concrete industry. The award program is generously sponsored by the Truck Mixer Manufacturers Bureau (TMMB). Entries must be e-mailed to gmullings@nrmca.org by Friday, June 23. Click here for more information on the award and the specific requirements for the nominating process. Staff contacts are Gary Mullings and Kevin Walgenbach. NRMCA recently verified five system-level Environmental Product Declarations for NMRCA Producer members Schuster Concrete, Silvi Materials, Tec-Crete Transit Mix, Monumental Concrete and Kerrs Concrete.
Each of the above EPDs were developed in consultation with and based on a software tool by Climate Earth, except for Monumental Concrete which was developed in consultation with and based on a software tool by WAP Sustainability Consulting. Both software tools integrate LCA impacts within batch operating software to generate EPDs when desired. The software tools were reviewed and verified by Industrial Ecology Consultants. EPDs for Schuster Concrete, Silvi Materials and Monumental Concrete were verified by Ecoform. EPDs for Tec-Crete Transit Mix and Kerrs Concrete were verified by Industrial Ecology Consultants. Both are verifiers in NRMCA’s EPD program. Click here for the NRMCA EPD webpage. For more information on the EPD verification program, contact Matthew Lemay at mlemay@nrmca.org. 
NRMCA’s Commitment to Environmental Excellence Awards competition offers producers national recognition for outstanding contributions in protecting the environment and maintaining sound management practices in their operations. The program salutes companies that have not only met, but surpassed governmental compliance measures and demonstrated a commitment to environmental excellence through plant and staff investment. NRMCA member companies producing ready mixed concrete from a fixed plant location in the U.S., its territories or Canada are eligible to enter. Awards will be determined upon individual plant merits. Winning entrants will be honored at the Awards Ceremony at NRMCA‘s ConcreteWorks this October in Nashville, TN. Winners will also be featured in a 2023 edition of NRMCA’s quarterly magazine, Concrete InFocus as well as Concrete Products magazine. Entries and photos must be e-mailed to gmullings@nrmca.org) by Friday, July 21. Click here for more information and to download the entry form. The staff contacts are Gary Mullings and Kevin Walgenbach. Registration for NRMCA’s Fall Safety Course to be held October 11 - 13 in Denver is open. This 2.5-day course teaches participants about OSHA safety compliance, beginning with why safety is so important and details the reasons why an effective safety program actually saves money through loss prevention and control. Participants learn about the new silica rule, electrical safety, machine guarding, fall protection, hazard communication, confined spaces, personal protective equipment, emergency action plans, maintenance shop safety, chute handling, fleet safety, pre-trip inspections and much, much more. Click here for location details and registration information. For more information, contact Gary Mullings or Kevin Walgenbach. Calendar
Please note that e-mail and direct registration links to each event listed below can be accessed from NRMCA's website. April 11 - 13, Carmel, IN April 18 - 20, Nashville, TN April 18 - 20, Oklahoma City April 18 - 20, Los Angeles April 24 - 25, Antioch, TN April 25 - 27, Manchester, NH 
Pavement
NRMCA Senior Director, Local Paving, Greg Halsted traveled to Reno, NV, on March 31 to speak as part of Concrete Expo 2023 sponsored by the Sierra Nevada Concrete Association and the ACI Northern California and Western Nevada Chapter. The event attracted approximately 85 architects, designers, engineers, producers, contractors and material suppliers. The morning technical session began with Dr. Jason Weiss from Oregon State University educate attendees on Understanding Shrinkage and Approaches to Reduce Shrinkage Cracking and Sustainable Concrete Mixtures. After lunch and visit time with exhibitors, Halsted presented the afternoon technical session on The Proper Placement, Curing, and Finishing of Concrete. Designed to attract individuals involved with design, construction, quality assurance, testing, and maintenance of pavements and bridges, the presentations were well-received and generated a lot of thoughtful discussion afterward, Halsted reported. He also introduced to NRMCA’s Build With Strength and Pave Ahead initiatives and discussed how they could benefit from these programs on their next concrete projects. For more information, contact Greg Halsted at ghalsted@nrmca.org. 
May 9 - 11, Orlando, FL May 16 - 19, Albany, OR May 16 - 18, Online Course May 16 - 18, Antioch, TN May 23 - 25, Manchester, NH June 6 - 8, Orlando, FL June 20 - 22, Manchester, NH September 29 - October 3, Nashville, TN October 11 - 13, Centennial, CO November 7 - 9, Charlotte, NC November 28 - 30, Orlando, FL December 12 - 15, Orlando, FL 
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Former chairman of the NRMCA Board of Directors Mike Lynn McNeill died on March 22 at 87 years old; the cause of death was pneumonia. Mr. McNeill was a resident of Stephenville, TX, at the time of his death. A native of Prescott, AZ, he worked for the Sante Fe Railroad for one year after graduating high school and then joined the US Navy, serving for four years, mostly in the Philippines, repairing radar on submarines and ships. After his military career, he worked for two years at Point Barrow, AK, on the Distant Early Warning (DEW) line, a network of radar stations established to alert the United States if threatened by aircraft attack.
