The CFA Summer Convention 2009 is all about education. We may be in a down economy but CFA staff feels they have assembled one of the strongest educational programs ever. Our most popular presenters over the past 12 years have been recalled to active duty to serve the needs of members. Topics are relevant and should be indispensable as we enter the recovery (it is coming) as leaner, meaner, and more astute businesses.

We now have twelve fully certified concrete foundation companies and the education portion of our event is designed so that their entire continuing education requirement for the year can be met by attending the seminars. Others interested in certification can take the first step by having company personnel take the Foundation Technician seminar and examination.

One or our most popular presenters last year was David Whitlock, an attorney specializing in labor law. His enlightening, and at times humorous, presentation left everyone with a deeper understanding of immigration law. This year he will provide further insight into labor relations in his presentation on Workers as Independent Contractors.

Brent Anderson is known to just about everyone in our Association as the presenter of our popular Foundation Fundamentals series or for his annual presentations on a variety of topics at the World of Concrete. He has not presented at the summer meeting in several years. However this year he will present an entirely new topic, which should be of interest to all of our contractors. Hit the Deck will present the advantages, methods, and reasons why you should be considering replacing wood decks with concrete decks. If you are doing fewer jobs, why not get more work on the jobs you are doing?

Doug Staebler will make his 12th consecutive presentation at a CFA Summer Convention. His presentations have run the gamut of industry management topics from succession planning to financial strategies to retirement plans. He has never failed to impress our members with his knowledge of our industry. Th is year, his presentation Build it Forward will focus on how you can position your company now, for what we all know is coming – an upturn in the economy.

Sustainability is one of the hottest topics in the building and construction industry and if you aren’t knowledgeable or conversant in the topic, you had better become so soon. The National Association of Home Builders introduced their green building standard called the Green Building Initiative (GBI) in late 2004. Owners and builders are asking their contractors how their product (concrete foundations and slabs in our case) can contribute to the “greenness” of their homes. Concrete has a good story to tell and Amy Miller of the National Ready-Mix Concrete Association will bring you up to speed in all that is “green” in concrete.

A subtheme of our convention this year is Why Waste a Good Recession. The focus of the final session of the convention will be a series of short presentations on things you can do to expand your horizons and streamline your company, followed by an open panel discussion and sharing of ideas.

Rounding out the program will be two additional offerings: The Thermomass and the CFA Certifi ed Technician certification programs.

And then there’s the Ocean… Yes, we have a great location but this is one meeting you shouldn’t miss – for the education. Let’s ‘Catch the Wave!’