Balmer Brothers Wins Basement of the Year Award
Balmer Brothers Concrete Works, Inc. of Akron, Pennsylvania was voted the winner of the 2000 Basement of the Year (Basement from Hell) Award. Over 160 votes were cast between Tuesday and Thursday in the CFA booth at the World of Concrete and their 29,000 square foot basement was the odds-on (this is Las Vegas) favorite. The project was complex as well as mammoth.
Second place went to Formco Foundations in West Jordan, Utah and the third place winner was Loucks Concrete Specialists, Inc. in LaPorte, Indiana. Descriptions of the winning basements as well as the other 5 submittals are presented throughout the newsletter. The formal presentation will be made at the summer meeting on Friday, July 27th at the Sheraton Falls View in Niagara Falls, Ontario.
Record Attendance at Summer Meeting
Summer in Niagara Falls, Ontario is not nearly as warm as summer in southern Missouri. Just ask the record crowd that attended the annual CFA summer meeting held from July 26th through the 28th at the Sheraton Fallsview in Niagara Falls, Ontario. There were no complaints about the heat. The hotel offered some magnificent views of the falls which were just across the road.
The event opened Thursday night with a record thirty-eight exhibitors (watch out World of Concrete). One hundred forty registered for the full conference along with 70 spouses or guests. The variety of topics were presented during the educational segment of the program including sessions on concrete homes, economics of concrete placement, managing credit, tools for testing, the CFA web site, and concrete basics.
Activities included a picnic at the Chateau des Charmes, a delightful winery in the Niagara wine region (I didn’t think Canada produced anything other than Moosehead and Lablatts). The better wines compared with those of California and a special wine called “Ice Wein” was garnering special attention by many in the sample room.
The Saturday night event was a picnic at historic Queenston heights, where the Canadians repulsed an American invasion attempt sometime in the 1800’s. A bus tour of Niagara Falls attractions was also well attended. Unfortunately we had to compete for space with the thousands of tourists who descend on this area in the summer.
Next year promises to be a totally new experience in a place most CFA members have never visited. The only crowds next year will be CFA members because we have reserved all of the sleeping rooms of the resort for the three days of our event.
CFA Elects Smith Treasurer
Mount Vernon, Iowa–The Concrete Foundations Association (CFA), at its annual meeting in Portland, Maine, elected William Scott Smith, LaGrange, Ohio, treasurer. Other officers elected were Gary Bromley, president; Dave Clark, vice president and Barry Herbert, secretary. Joe Carr, immediate past president, becomes chairman of the board. Elected to the board were Bruce Neale, Kirby Justesen and Arie Van Wyk; Dave Clark and John Skotzke were reelected. Joan Ausbury was reelected to the board by the associates council made up of manufacturer members.
After graduating from high school in San Diego, Calif., Smith went to work as a concrete laborer. In the years that followed, he worked his way up to become business owner and president of Modern Poured Walls, Inc. and Modern Waterproofing, Inc., in LaGrange, Ohio.
He is active in the Building Industries Association of Lorain County, on the Code Review Committee. Smith lives with is wife Linda and two sons, Sean (a freshman at Wittenberg University) and Bryan (a Junior at Keystone High School) in Oberlin, Ohio.
As treasurer of CFA, Smith hopes to help the membership grow in order that more poured wall contractors can experience the potential for their businesses through the sharing of experience and ideas. He wants to promote the growth and continuing improvement of poured walls as the preferred foundation construction method, utilizing the CFA as the unifying body in which poured wall contractors can turn for information and support.
About the CFA
The Concrete Foundations Association is a not-for-profit organization of firms engaged in the installation of concrete foundations. The purposes are to maintain and improve the quality of cast-in-place concrete walls and foundations, and to promote the mutual interests of the members. Information about the association and membership may be obtained by contacting the Concrete Foundations Association, 121 1/2 First Street West, P.O. Box 204, Mount Vernon, IA, 319-895·6940, fax: 319.895.8830.
CFA Elects Van Wyk to Board
Mount Vernon, Iowa–The Concrete Foundations Association (CFA), at its annual meeting in Portland, Maine, elected Arie Van Wyk, Waldo, Wis., to its board of directors. Others elected to the board were Kirby Justesen and Bruce Neale; Dave Clark and John Skotzke were reelected. Officers elected were Gary Bromley, president; Dave Clark, vice president; Barry Herbert, secretary; and Scott Smith, treasurer. Joe Carr, immediate past president, becomes chairman of the board. Joan Ausbury was reelected to the board by the associates council made up of manufacturer members.
Van Wyk graduated from Oostburg High School, Oostburg, Wis., in 1969 and went on to found his own concrete construction business, Van Wyks, Inc., in 1979. His business has grown steadily since. He concentrates on building basement foundation walls for the residentlal market.
Van Wyk and his wife, Sue, live in Hingham, Wis., with their daughter Laura and son Matthew. They are active in local organizations.
As a member of the board of directors of CFA, Van Wyk hopes to contribute to the improvement of the cast-in-place concrete foundation industry, and the acceptance of “lower level living” space in all homes, nationwide. He will serve a three year term.
About the CFA
The Concrete Foundations Association is a not-for-profit organization of firms engaged in the installation of concrete foundations. The purposes are to maintain and improve the quality of cast-in-place concrete walls and foundations, and to promote the mutual interests of the members. Information about the association and membership may be obtained by contacting the Concrete Foundations Association, 121 1/22 First Street West, P.O. Box 204, Mount Vernon, IA, 319-89S-6940, fax: 319,895.8830.
