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Association & Industry News
The estimated ready mixed concrete produced in December 2023 is 26.0 million cubic yards, 0.7% higher than in December 2022. The estimated production in the U.S. for 2023 is 393 million cubic yards, approximately 2.2% lower than that in 2022. Ready mixed concrete production is estimated from cement shipments reported by the U.S. Geological Survey. More detail, including production by state in 2023, is available here for NRMCA members under Production Statistics. NRMCA needs to ensure pro-business and pro-industry candidates are elected to the U.S. Congress in November. By coming together as an industry, we can help influence the political process by ensuring that legislators consider the impact proposed laws could potentially have on the ready mixed concrete industry. Every day, members of Congress vote on issues that affect the way concrete producers do business; the NRMCA Political Action Committee, CONCRETEPAC needs to have a strong voice on Capitol Hill to allow us to maximize the industry’s involvement in the political process. Last year was CONCRETEPAC’s most successful fundraising year in its history and planning for this year’s events is well underway. Your company’s support through corporate sponsorship enables NRMCA to underwrite the cost of CONCRETEPAC events. Donations of auction items allow us to raise funds for the PAC through personal contributions from our members. And thank you to all those NRMCA members that have already become sponsors this year (seen here). If your company has sporting event tickets, vacation homes, access to exclusive clubs, etc. that you would like to donate to the Lost Shaker of Salt Dinner and Live Auction, please contact Heather Houck. Click here for more information about sponsorship opportunities and open this page to fill out the online sponsorship form. 
Buildings
Federal Officials Plan Midwest Briefings on Buildings Using Low Carbon Materials, Including Concrete
The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), Public Buildings Service (PBS), Heartland Region (Region 6) is hosting an online Virtual Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) Industry Day, March 12 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. Central time, for small and large business concerns in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska interested in learning more about GSA’s recent $2.15B appropriation for projects planned with low embodied carbon materials for asphalt, concrete, glass, and steel. Attendees will learn about the specifics of the GSA’s IRA program, including:
Attendees must register by noon Central time on March 11. For more information, visit SAM.gov or contact NRMCA Senior Director, Building Innovations, Donn Thompson at dthompson@nrmca.org or 224-627-3933. Build With Strength Senior Director, Building Innovations, Patrick Matsche met recently with members of the AEC firm Morrison Hershfield’s architecture and structural engineering team in its Salt Lake City offices. With a stated goal of “thriving in an increasingly competitive and uncertain world, we must truly stand apart from our competition,” Morrison Hershfield sought information on low carbon concrete and what the industry is doing to advance sustainability. Matsche presented the Top 10 Ways to Reduce Concrete’s Carbon Footprint and encouraged the use of Build With Strength’s performance-based specification review and consulting services to create low carbon concrete specifications in lieu of unnecessarily prescriptive language that impacts the global reduction targets and goals of their its projects. NRMCA’s Build with Strength and Pave Ahead platforms offers design teams a range of education, promotion and execution support. The meeting provided valuable education to the firm and promoted concrete as the building material of choice. For more information, contact Patrick Matsche at pmatsche@nrmca.org.
Late last month, NRMCA Senior Director, Building Innovations, Frank Mruk met with Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and AIA Executive leadership, and with Senator Jack Reed (D-RI). The Senator Whitehouse meeting included Anne Law (AIA managing director, public policy and federal affairs; Mruk of NRMCA, AIA 2024 President Kimberly Dowdell Senator Whitehouse, chair of Senate Budget Committee; AIA Chief Advocacy Officer Alexander Cochran and Ken Filarski, USGBC Fellow and AIA Board candidate. (Shown here in photo at left on the top row Law, Mruk, Dowdell and Sen. Whithouse. Seated are, at left, Cochran and Filarski. In the photo at right is Mruk at left with Sen. Reed.) By adding another Associate member to NRMCA's Member2Member (M2M) Benefit program, all members receive better services and more value. The newest member to the expanding M2M list is Concrete Careers, a recruiting firm with a nearly 50-year history specializing in the concrete industry, supporting clients in hiring professionals, management and executive roles. Concrete Careers normally provides retained search services at a fee of 28% of total cash compensation, but will provide a four percentage point discount to NRMCA members – instead offering participating companies a 24% fee. 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 dies bit accept 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. Visit the NRMCA dedicated services through the updated M2M webpage. For more information, contact Jacques Jenkins at jjenkins@nrmca.org or Heather Houck at hhouck@nrmca.org.
NRMCA’s Lionel Lemay moderated a panel on Environmental Impact Assessment at the Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Advanced Materials for Sustainable Infrastructure Development in Ventura Beach, CA. The conference is held every two years, alternating between the U.S. and Europe or Asia. The purpose of the conference is to address how material science, structural design and construction methods can be synergistically integrated to meet carbon reduction goals using the latest scientifical technological developments. Sessions discussed binder innovation, mixture proportioning, structural engineering, (de)construction innovation, end-of-life resource management and automation. Collaborative discussions around the latest science to track and reduce embodied carbon were discussed as well as challenges that need to be overcome to implement low carbon infrastructure in practice. Lemay’s session included three panelists who discussed challenges in assessing environmental impacts from life cycle assessment, building codes, and standards and regulations. Participants included renowned concrete researchers and manufacturers, including several NRMCA members. Conference details can be found here. For more information, contact Lionel Lemay at llemay@nrmca.org. 
NRMCA’s Concrete Carbon Tool was launched in 2024 and has quickly become a foundational item in advocating for the sustainable benefits and capabilities of concrete materials. The Build With Strength team has been promoting the tool’s use while utilizing it as a consulting resource with design teams as they work towards reducing, quantifying and specifying low carbon concrete throughout the country. In an effort to offer supportive resources for using the tool in an on-demand and downloadable format, the NRMCA sustainability page has been updated. Updates include a 30-minute video presentation by Build With Strength’s Senior Director, Building Innovations, Brandon Wray on carbon reduction strategies and how to use NRMCA’s Concrete Carbon Tool and LCA for Ready Mixed Concrete Report. Additionally, a print guide on using the tool has been added to guide users through the tool’s use. The ready mixed concrete industry is consistently under pressure from the design community to lower the carbon intensity of concrete. In working with designers, the Build With Strength team has steadily become trusted experts who can highlight the sustainable and resilient benefits of concrete while showing that low carbon concrete is achievable. The Concrete Carbon Tool and supporting resources further reinforce this effort and allow for the concrete industry’s voice to be heard. The tool and supporting resources can be accessed here. For more information, contact Brandon Wray at bwray@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 topic, seen here, is titled Eyewash Stations at Ready Mixed Concrete Plants. Don’t miss out on the sponsorship opportunities for the 18th National Mixer Driver Championship. Review what’s available and lock in your spot today. For more information, contact Jacques Jenkins at jjenkins@nrmca.org. 
Calendar
Please note that e-mail and direct registration links to each event listed below can be accessed from NRMCA's website. March 18 - 21, Tampa, FL March 26 - 28, Denver *Sold Out April 9 - 12, Omaha, NE April 16 - 18, Nashville, TN April 22 - 23, Los Angeles April 23 - 25, Orlando, FL April 30 - May 2, Mendota Heights, MN *Sold Out April 30 - May 2, Waldorf, MD May 8 - 10, Milwaukee September 9 - 13, Baltimore September 10 - 12, Sacramento, CA October 10 - 14, Aurora, CO December 10 - 13, Charleston, SC 
Pavement
NRMCA Senior Director, Local Paving, Greg Halsted traveled to Lakewood, CO, on February 28 to speak as part of the 2024 Tri-Service Pavement-Transportation meeting, the largest annual gathering of Department of Defense pavement engineers. This year’s event gathered some 95 Army, Navy and Air Force attendees both in person and virtually. Halsted (seen here on right with Leif Wathne from the National Concrete Pavement Technology Center and Angela Folkestad with the Colorado/Wyoming Chapter of the American Concrete Pavement Association) presented on On-Site vs. Off-Site Batch Plants, focusing on the NRMCA Plant Certification Program and the distinction between on-site and off-site ready mixed concrete batch plants for use on concrete pavement projects. The presentation was part of a concrete, aggregate and asphalt industries update session and was well-received judging from the great deal of questions and discussion afterward. Halsted also introduced attendees to NRMCA’s Pave Ahead initiative and discussed how attendees could benefit from the education and design assistance this program offers. For more information, contact Greg Halsted at ghalsted@nrmca.org. Registration for NRMCA’s 2024 Safety Course to be held September 10 - 12 in Sacramento, CA, is now open. This 2.5-day course teaches participants about OSHA safety compliance, beginning with 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 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 and much more. Click here for location details and registration information. The NRMCA staff contact is Kevin Walgenbach. 
Engineering
The Regional Concrete Technology Training and Certification Program (Technical Short Course) was attended by 50 industry personnel at the office of NRMCA Producer member Dolese Bros Company in Oklahoma City the week of February 5. Besides the NRMCA Engineering Division Staff, guest speakers included Victor Villarreal with Master Builders Solutions discussing chemical admixtures and Dan Mayen with Dolese Bros speaking on quality control procedures. Results of the certification exams have been sent to the attendees. The NRMCA Concrete Technologist Level 2 certification was awarded to 25 individuals and 21 achieved the Level 3 certification. Anthony Ferrante with CarbonCure Technologies is congratulated for achieving the highest score of 98% on the Level 2 exam and 94% on the Level 3 exam. Dolese Bros Co is sincerely thanked for its hospitality in hosting the course. The support and sponsorship of NRMCA super sponsors (Chryso/GCP, Euclid Chemical, Master Builders Solutions and Sika) is acknowledged. The attendees at the course are congratulated for their involved participation. The next short course is scheduled in September in Maryland; location details are being finalized. For more information contact Colin Lobo at clobo@nrmca.org. 
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