Let’s face it, I’m about this entirely and I’m guessing many of you are too. I don’t have many conversations it seems without someone having a college team that inspires them. Now, maybe you’re not a basketball fan and prefer wrestling or football, but you have to admit that there is a frenzy, a delirium, a craze that takes place heading into and through March.

It’s about competition, right? After all, the reason why basketball gets insane in March is that we have developed an appetite to see success and no matter if our team is in the contest or not, we become part of the electricity wanting to see the upset or feel the passion. I sense business is like that in many respects and March brings about a different madness for each of you.

Speaking as the voice of the cast-in-place concrete industry, the CFA recognizes that most you are in basement markets. This means you’re located mostly where there is a dramatic change of the seasons taking place. Normally the deep frost is leaving the ground and the ice is thawing on the stack of quotes you’ve put out there. These days, however, the markets are reporting very little slacking off during the past few months and project schedules are already stacked up as high as the quotes. How do I know this is true? I get this from every conversation I have but I also see it in the types of questions that are being asked.

Already this year we’ve been involved in efforts to justify the presence of chlorides in concrete; find alternative design provisions for walls; helped develop a position on fall protection safety; connect interested buyers to available sellers for used equipment and forms; identify sources for the latest software solutions; troubleshoot mix design and delivery problems; and help builders identify the latest technical advantages of industry standards. We’re busy because you are busy…and that is a good thing.

The number one aspect of my job each and every week is interaction with contractors. Some of you read this letter and know I’m talking about you past, present and future. Some of you, however, are receiving this magazine complimentary and you’ve yet to connect with the advantages of having an Association at your disposal to make your company bigger than it is. Is this madness? If it is, then I’m okay with it and I’m ready for it to get even more so. What problems are you facing? Why are you facing them alone? Why are just using “Google” to find the answer when it is proven that Google doesn’t get it right. Can your “Alexa” answer every question you throw at it? I can just about guarantee that the CFA can because, as I remind everyone I talk with, it is never what you know…it’s who you know.

Happy concreting. Go Cyclones!

CFA Executive Director, James Baty, jbaty@cfaconcretepros.org