Successful CIM NSC Meeting Held at Texas State

Update from Fall NSC Meeting

The Concrete Industry Management (CIM) National Steering Committee (NSC) Meeting, Board of Directors Meeting and various Committee Meetings met October 14 -15 at Texas State University (TSU) in San Marcos. We had a very successful and productive meeting and the NSC members thank the faculty and staff at TSU for their hospitality!

Our meetings were followed by a bus tour of the facilities at TSU. We had the opportunity to see the new concrete lab, a full-service facility complete with both wet and dry testing of concrete and materials. The facility includes a high strength compression testing machine and moisture controlled curing room as well as numerous other concrete testing machines. This facility would rival many labs in the concrete industry and certainly would rank high among concrete testing labs located on college campuses.

Meeting highlights included:

University Reporting

Highlights of the meeting included reports from all five CIM universities. The reports included 2010-2011 academic year program enrollment, the number of declared majors and projected number of graduates. Of particular interest in the reports was the number and unique aspects of the projects that the students are engaged in at each program. CIM students are definitely being exposed to the wonderful world of concrete and its thousands of varied constructive uses. Chairman Schneider commented on a special committee that met at the end of the 2009-2010 fiscal year to discuss what has been termed The Path Forward for NSC.

NSC Budget Review

The daylong meeting developed a number of longer term initiatives that will be a part of this year’s program of work and eventually be presented to the board. The board was informed that the 2009-2010 audit had been successfully completed with no qualifications. The proposed 2010-2011 budget was presented and discussed. Highlights included the marketing committee budget which is focused on continuing to expand the industry’s awareness of CIM. Significant marketing and promotion dollars are earmarked for the annual auction at the World of Concrete. This event is the significant fund raiser to support the NSC activities as it provides direct cash contributions to participating programs.

2009-2010 NSC Funds and Annual Report Distributed

Chairman Mike Schneider of Baker Concrete distributed checks amounting to $217,500 to the various universities at this meeting. The 2009-2010 annual report was distributed for those in attendance. This is another significant marketing piece that is included in this year’s marketing committee budget. This marks the second year of publishing an annual report and it is a good way of capturing the many activities of both the program and the NSC.

Masters Program/CIM Auction Update

The education committee reported on its numerous initiatives including the activities of the ad hoc Masters program committee. The results of a survey that was sent to the industry regarding the proposed Masters program were presented. The survey indicated significant industry support for development of such a program. Chairman Schneider reminded all in attendance of the importance of the World of Concrete CIM auction January 20, 2011. Auction committee chairman Peter Brewin of GCC indicated that the committee has been actively working at soliciting donations for the auction and they are off to a good start. The next NSC board and committee meeting will be held on the 19th and 20th of January at the Las Vegas Convention Center in conjunction with the auction.

Next Meeting at World of Concrete in Las Vegas

The next Concrete Industry Management (CIM) National Steering Committee (NSC) Meeting, Board of Directors Meeting and various Committee Meetings will be held on January 19-20 at World of Concrete in Las Vegas. For information on the meeting, please contact Nicole Maher, nmaher@nrmca.org.