• Board of Directors Announce New Management for Association and Celebration Strategies for 50th Anniversary

    Thursday, December 19, 2024

    Mount Vernon, IA (date) – The Concrete Foundations Association (CFA) Board of Directors has announced a management change for the organization, which coincides with its 50th anniversary. Beginning Jan. 1, 2025, CFA will be managed by the AOE Team – an association management and marketing consulting firm with headquarters in Farmington Hills, Mich.,  after more […]

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  • Using Decorative Concrete to Refresh Outdoor Spaces

    Thursday, December 19, 2024

    In both residential and commercial construction, decorative concrete is gaining popularity as a transformative element that revitalizes outdoor spaces. No longer reduced to just a functional, utilitarian solution, decorative concrete now serves as a versatile canvas for architects and designers looking to create aesthetically pleasing, durable, and cost-effective environments. The adaptability of decorative concrete allows […]

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  • New Identity for Central Wisconsin CFA Member

    Thursday, December 19, 2024

    Dane, WI – With a 77-year history of building trust, excellence, and strong foundations, Wisconsin-based concrete contractor Hottmann Construction, Inc. announces a rebranding initiative that reflects the company’s evolving vision, values, and commitment to the future. “We are excited to re-introduce ourselves to the marketplace in mid-December as Cru Concrete,” states company president, Ken Kurszewski. […]

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  • Caught-In-Action

    Thursday, December 19, 2024

    Timing on jobsites is not always precise, yet, as quality firms recognize, good crews always find a way to be productive. This photo was captured and sent in by CFA member, Bartley Corp, showing team members, who were waiting on forms to arrive to the site, capitalizing on available time. “This job was run by […]

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  • 2024 PROJECTS OF THE YEAR

    Thursday, December 19, 2024

    The Rest of the Best The last issue of Concrete Facts presented the top-voted project and each of the respective category winners from the 25th annual competition for the Concrete Foundations Association. Two ways to revisit these project awards are available in the toolbox accompanying this article. The feature image from each project can be […]

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Feature

Jan
27

PALFINGER TEAMS UP WITH NORTH AMERICA’S LEADING TRUCK MANUFACTURERS ULTIMATE IN POWER AND REACH

PALFINGER North America, a proven world leader in building truck mounted cranes, has teamed up with North America’s leading truck manufacturers. The result is to offer the ultimate in power and reach with superior performance for extreme applications featuring the PK 85002, PK 100002 and PK 150002 knuckle boom cranes. Palfinger engineers design each truck and crane to withstand the maximum torque and load to tackle the […]

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Jan
27

WATER BASED FORM RELEASE AGENTS Tap Into The Benefits

Continually rising oil prices and stricter environmental and safety regulations are changing the way many contractors work. Water based form release agents are the clear choice in answering many of these challenges and Nox-Crete’s water based formulas offer benefits that are just not possible with petroleum based products: PERFORMANCE Nox-Crete’s continued research and development has produced water based form release agents with improved performance over traditional petroleum based […]

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Jan
27

GRIFCOTE – GOING GREEN

“Going Green” are key words in today’s construction industry. This includes concrete form release agents. Hill & Griffith now has truly biodegradable concrete form release agents, field proven and being quickly accepted in the concrete industry. Sold under the trade names GRIFCOTE® LV-50, GRIFCOTE® LV-50 Plus and GRIFCOTE® Bio Gold, these materials meets the EPA definition of biodegradability (maximum half-life of 28 days), are non-carcinogenic, non-flammable, noncombustible, non-DOT regulated, VOC compliant […]

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Jan
27

NEW AND BETTER PRODUCTS FOR WATERPROOFING

Dry Dog Barriers has quickly built a reputation as the cutting-edge “go-to” manufacturer in the Below Grade Waterproofing Industry. While other manufacturers are resting on old technology and past accomplishments, we are constantly challenging the status-quo to develop new and better products for the waterproofing world. Our latest innovation involves what many consider as the most exciting change to the industry in years. THERMAL DRAIN …. […]

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Jan
27

IMPROVING YOUR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES Listen To Your Customers

Ernie Jessop of Concrete Form Services wrote in to say “we listen to our customers, to take their ideas and bring them to fruition. One of our long time customers, Danny Johnson, owner of Horizon Concrete out of Syracuse UT. Is the inventor of our “DJ” Jogger. Over the years he has brought flaws in the system to our attention, and helped the concept of EZ […]

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Jan
27

FOR THE NORTH AMERICAN POURED WALL MARKET NEW K40L BY CIFA

CIFA USA is “pumped up” and excited to announce the latest addition to its line of concrete boom pumps, the K40L-meter. Taking over 80 years of experience in the production of concrete manufacturing and placing equipment CIFA has designed, built and tested an entirely new placing machine for the North American poured wall market. The K40L is a 40-meter boom based on a 36-meter chassis (and price) […]

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Magazine Issues

Jan
9

OSHA UPDATE: NEW REPORTING REQUIREMENTS STARTED JANUARY 1ST

As of January 1, 2015, there is a change to what covered employers are required to report to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Employers are now required to report all work related fatalities within 8 hours and all in-patient hospitalizations, amputations, and losses of an eye within 24 hours of finding about the incident. […]

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Jan
9

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 […]

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Jan
9

Setting A New Standard for Leadership

CFA Professional Awards CFA BOARD OF DIRECTORS BESTOWS THEIR HIGHEST HONOR ON DOUG STAEBLER OF CUSTOM CONCRETE, INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA. The Robert D. Sawyer Award is named for the CFA’s first Executive Director, whose commitment and diligence wove together a vital network of information, experience and togetherness that has perpetuated to shape the future of this industry. […]

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Jan
9

Perseverance in the Face of Adversity

CFA Professional Awards CFA RECOGNIZES TIM PARRISH, FORMERLY OF CORNERSTONE FOUNDATIONS AND NOW CFI ENTERPRISES, AS CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR The most frequently awarded recognition for individuals from the CFA is the Contractor of the Year award. This recognizes the contributions of a poured wall contractor to the industry and often evidences the excessive efforts […]

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Oct
19

Thank You for an Energized 2014 CFA Convention!

THANK YOU FOR AN ENERGIZED 2014 CFA CONVENTION! The Largest Gathering of Foundation Contractors   Enjoy this recap of the 2014 CFA Summer Convention held July 31 – August 2 in Sandusky, Ohio What Our Attendees Had To Say…We wanted to say thank you for the well organized, fun and educational summer meeting.  Our family […]

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Oct
19

Introducing Your New Leaders

TAKE A MOMENT TO TALK WITH ANY CFA BOARD MEMBER AND YOU WILL QUICKLY FIND OUT THAT WHILE THE INVESTMENT OF TIME AND MONEY CAN BE SIGNIFICANT THE THREE-YEAR TERM, THE VALUE THEY RECEIVE IS FAR GREATER THAN ANYTHING THEY COULD POSSIBLY INVEST. MIKE REED of Reed Concrete in Ephrata, PA; MARY WILSON of Michel Concrete in Springfield, IL […]

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Oct
19

CFA Honors Founding Members During Convention

Thank You for Four Decades of Vision and Leadership! FOUNDING MEMBERS HONORED AT THE 2014 SUMMER CONVENTION Founding Members who attended the 2014 CFA Summer Convention were honored for their longstanding commitment to the Association and our industry. Pictured above from upper left, the six founding members who were present or represented at the event are […]

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Oct
18

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 […]

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Oct
18

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 […]

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Oct
17

40 Is The New 30!

So what does it look like for an association to turn the calendar to its 41st year? This is a particularly poignant question one might ask in an industry that is as pressing and full of hard work as that of the concrete industry.  But what of the people, the places and the technologies found […]

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Oct
17

Sauter to be Honored During World of Concrete

Ed Sauter will retire as Executive Director of the CFA at the end of 2014.  World of Concrete will officially celebrate his legacy after 22 years of service. 1993 – ED SAUTER BECAME THE FIFTH EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR THE CONCRETE FOUNDATION ASSOCIATION and began expanding the benefits of membership as well as increasing the Association’s […]

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Oct
15

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 […]

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