As a reader of Concrete Facts, whether this is your first issue or you have been appreciating its content for a while, I hope you can sense the diligence that goes in to making each of these quarterly issues impactful to your business. They are designed to inspire, designed to challenge, designed to alert, prepare, and report. A magazine that began as a four-page newsletter by my predecessor, Ed Sauter, became a full-fledged magazine of six issues per year in the 2000s. We found it quite a challenge at that time to keep up with the demands of maintaining membership and being a publisher. The switch to quarterly, while it is still quite a production, has brought with it the chance to make magazines with real meat and value, magazines that contain stories and information that speak to why so many of you choose to be members and readers.

This issue is no different, except for one major difference: we have been preparing this issue for six months. The pages of this issue hold three key feature articles. The first is one that has been built from the 2023 OSHA Safety Report. After CFA Board members were challenged to respond to the OSHA findings, a consulting member, Exceed Safety, put together a three-part response that clarifies what is commonly assumed, what is commonly overlooked, and what is far too often ignored in the understanding of safety regulations. His main goal is to make your companies safer and protected. The other two feature articles also come from members—two contractor leaders of the Association have authored articles about outreach to students (who will be tomorrow’s leaders), encouraging them to see how trades really do provide opportunities for inspiring careers. Read about the efforts of Perma-Structo from Wisconsin, and Stephens and Smith Construction from Nebraska in “Build My Future” and “Lighthouse After School.”

“But wait…there’s more.” If you are one of those persons that falls victim to that classic phrase uttered on TV over the last four decades, this issue is for you. A careful watch of the growing CFA membership reveals that valuable partnerships await contractors who want to tap outside expertise to grow and strengthen their businesses. RecruiterGuy has been a consistent voice in our pages and offers his next challenge: “Big Hairy Audacious Goals.” He is accompanied in this issue by two of our newest consulting members. The first, Jerry Aliberti, offers advice on “Navigating Generational Shifts” and the second, Tier3 Technologies, updates us on the latest cybersecurity risks.

You should expect this magazine to land in your mailbox or inbox each quarter with resounding clammer, demanding—or at least strongly inviting—you to take notice and plan responses. All of this is accompanied by news you can and should use as you prepare to increase your engagement with the CFA. Why wait? Don’t set this aside for a convenient time; get in there and take a big bite.