CFA Announces 2016 Safety Achievement Awards
The CFA announced the 2016 Safety Achievement Award recipients at CFA Convention 2016 in Myrtle Beach, SC on Saturday, July 23, 2016. The Safety Achievement Awards program seeks to recognize the commitment to safety and risk management among the hundreds of professional cast-in-place contractors found in CFA membership. “Safety remains a top priority in our […]
Putting Sustainability Where Our Mouth Is
Take a poll of constituents in the public domain or even within the concrete construction sector that asks what the top buzz words are today and arguably one of them that will surface at a high percentage is sustainability. Whether forced by regulation or encouraged by intuition, the drive for sustainability in our homes, our […]
Privileged To Serve
I am honored to be the new President of the CFA and I thank everyone for all the support I have received. In the next two years I hope to be able to share some of the knowledge I have amassed over the last 32 years, much of that directly due to becoming actively involved as a member of the CFA. Why is it so important to be a CFA member? The […]
Are You Sure You’re Training the Right Things?
Not long ago a training consultant got a call from a sales manager who said, “We need sales training!” The consultant answered, “Are you sure?” The caller explained that some of their customer service reps were doing four times the volume of others. It had to be because they were better salespeople … right? So, they […]
Are You Ready for the URS?
Businesses big and small have vastly different goals and needs – that’s no revelation. However, nearly every company, no matter how big, where they are, or what they sell, agrees on this point: Simplifying and streamlining business practices helps everyone. Such is the intent of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) Unified Registration System […]
Controlling Your Risks in the Ever-Changing Insurance Marketplace
Over the last few decades, the considerations involved in managing a company’s risks have drastically changed. Business risks that used to be inherent are much different today and, as a result, mitigation techniques are vastly different than those used in the ‘80s, ‘90s or even the ‘00s. As many business owners know, when it comes […]
Plan of Action for Implementing OSHA’s Final Rule on Crystalline Silica Exposure
On March 25, 2016, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSHA, issued its final rule on exposure to crystalline silica in the workplace. The final rule is decades in the making, and has seen many stumbling blocks along the way, but Dr. David Michaels, Assistant Secretary of OSHA, saw the new standards as one of […]
CFA Member Benefit: The Employee Manual
One of the most important parts of any business is establishing the boundaries between management and employees that protect both in times of discipline. The policy manual is the tool used to provide prospective employees with the picture of expectations by the employer, as well as maintaining an ongoing and effectively positive relationship. Employee manuals […]
This National Association Has Your Back…
I just returned from a week in Chicago where just about every concrete and masonry industry group was represented at combined meetings for the Alliance for Concrete Codes and Standards (ACCS), the Masonry Alliance for Codes and Standards (MACS) and the Concrete And Masonry Related Associations (CAMRA) executive council. These are bodies that I interact […]
Getting the Last Word…
Eight years ago I accepted the encouragement from Ed Sauter, Jim Baty and the incoming President at that time, Dan Bromley, to enter the officer track for the Board of Directors. After joining the Board in 2004, I have looked back on the past twelve years to see unbelievable transformation for both this Association and […]
