Reflection & Farewell

This month’s letter from the CFA Executive Director: Reflection & Farewell It has been nearly twenty-two years since I took the helm of the Concrete Foundations Association at the suggestion of Larry Clark. We now live in a different world. The country, the industry, and the Association have undergone great change in that period. We […]

Letter from the President: What My Toolbox Looks Like…

This month’s letter from the CFA Board President: What My Toolbox Looks Like David Martinson Martinson Construction davem@martinsonconstruction.com   If your company is like mine, the start of the new year, while certainly not a surprise, brings forward a list of what we didn’t get accomplished last year compared to what we did manage to achieve. […]

Beating the Boomer Bust

YOU CAN’T CHANGE THE FACTORS THAT CREATE THE MOST COMPETITIVE SELLING ENVIRONMENT IN HISTORY. UNDERSTANDING WHAT THE FUTURE LOOKS LIKE IS A CRITICAL FIRST STEP IN THE PROCESS. By John F. Dini More than 60% of US business owners are over 50 years old, and many of them are looking toward retirement and the process […]

Understanding Concrete Maturity for Curing Cold Weather Concrete Pours

Originally published by Concrete Contractor Magazine, a ForConstructionPros publication on December 22, 2014 by James R. Baty II, F.ACI, F.TCA Question: The onset of cold weather has complicated our project schedules tremendously. One of the municipalities we work in is requiring us to leave forms on the wall for three days and telling us to […]

Los Angeles Blaze Calls Building Codes into Question

Concrete Industry Opposes Further Relaxing of Codes SKOKIE, Ill.— The fire that ruined buildings and snarled traffic in downtown Los Angeles this week may not have happened ten years ago. However, loosening of the building codes and the increasing importance on low-cost construction is putting Los Angeles and other areas at risk. “Taller and larger […]

CFA Board Drives Forward Towards 2015

Top 10 Current CFA Board and Staff Work Initiatives   An energized meeting of the CFA Board took place recently in Washington DC during the Fall ACI Convention. Board members not only participated in afternoon scheduled to steer the next months of the CFA, they also participated in the new ACI committee for Foundation Certification […]

OSHA Extends Compliance Date for Crane Operator Certification Requirements

Industry News OSHA Extends Compliance Date for Crane Operator Certification Requirements WASHINGTON – The Occupational Safety and Health Administration today issued a final rule extending the deadline for crane operator certification requirements in the Cranes and Derricks in Construction final rule* published Aug. 9, 2010 by three years to Nov. 10, 2017. The rule also […]

Identify Your Employees by the Theory of 21

“FOR EVERY PERSON WHO WILL SAY YES, THERE ARE TWENTY WHO WILL SAY NO. FOR A POSITIVE RESPONSE YOU MUST FIND THE TWENTY-FIRST PERSON.” – THE THEORY OF 21 by Chuck Reaves The CEO of an electronics company had an idea. He was a solid business person but was not as well-versed in electronics as […]

Letter from the Director: We’ve Learned Our Lessons – and Now We Are Stronger

This month’s letter from the CFA Executive Director: We’ve Learned Our Lessons – and Now We are Stronger Another winter is on its way but otherwise things are heating up in the residential concrete industry. Growth is slower than we would like to see but the trend is there. Credit is tighter (as it should […]

Letter from the President: Learning from One Another…Being Friends

This month’s letter from the CFA Board President: Learning From One Another…Being Friends David Martinson Martinson Construction davem@martinsonconstruction.com   It gives me great pleasure to write to you as your president. As a third generation concrete contractor and a member since 1993, I have experienced first-hand what the Concrete Foundation Association has to offer. It was […]