Member Exchange Networks (M.E.N.)
It has been nearly 1-1/2 years since the formation of the first CFA Member Exchange Network (M.E.N.) group. Representatives from CFA member companies in Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska and Illinois met in Waterloo to exchange information about how their companies operate, their challenges, their solutions, and the state of the industry. Since then they have met two more times and the date […]
Insurance – Are you in a competitive advantage or disadvantage?
Are you aware that we are heading toward a very hard market for insurance? A hard market is a time when the insurance companies have complete control and power over the service and protection they provide to you, their customer, as well as the rate at which they provide it. You may be at a […]
OSHA Revises Hazard Communication Standard
Employers will need to offer safety training for their workers on the new Globally Harmonized System pictograms and safety data sheet format by December 1, 2013. To better protect workers from hazardous chemicals, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) revised its Hazard Communication Standard, aligning it with the United […]
New Beginnings
Dear CFA Friends, Greetings! I am honored to serve as your new president. I seem to make a living of following “tough-acts.” Tim Parrish, our outgoing president and new chairman of the board, has been a great mentor. Tim leads with strong spirit. His humble, inclusive, can-do attitude has been an inspiration to me. […]
Summer Meetings — What You Want
Another successful CFA Summer Convention is in the books. Attendance is picking up after several “off” years but it appears that quite a number of our members still use the event as an opportunity to get away with the family during hectic times – not everyone – but enough to make us think that […]
35 Ways to Reduce the Expenses of Your Construction Firm
Across the United States, contractors report “hitting the wall” of minimal cash in the bank and project prospects. It is time for survival. Look no further than construction employment stagnation. Business expansion has not included the contracting community. The basic rule “don’t run out of cash” takes on a whole new urgency. As you fight […]
Should the CFA Expand Its Scope?
The Concrete Foundations Association has always been about residential foundations. While all of our members are involved in some aspect of the residential foundation industry, many of them perform other types of work in both the residential and commercial markets. It has become a necessity in order to survive in the current economy. CFA members perform grading, excavation, and backfill; […]
Our Community
The 2012 CFA Summer Convention is fast approaching, and with it, perhaps one of the best investments of time and money a concrete contractor could ever make. The energy, vision and camaraderie of a summer meeting all join together to make us better business owners, and better persons. If you have not already done so, let me encourage you […]
Summer 2012 —Way Up North
It may be the middle of winter but its time you start making your plans for the CFA Summer Meeting 2012 at the Grand Traverse Resort in Traverse City, Michigan. The dates of the event will be July 26-28. 2012. The water should be warm enough to swim in by then and the frost will be off the greens by […]
Our Customers
Spring is in full bloom as you read this (and as I write it, with 65 degree temperatures in February). Hopefully, the phones are starting to ring and work is beginning to pick up for us all. If you recall my last letter, you know I will be elaborating on the second leg of our mission statement […]
