Join us for Concrete Day at the Capitol on April 27!
It has been a busy first few months of the year for the CRMCA. As the weather begins to warm and the first signs of spring begin to show, the green of a new year’s growth begins to peek out at us. In a similar way, the work our CRMCA staff and committee volunteers have put in over the winter has already begun to show. See below for updates on the CRMCA, Build With Strength campaign, and transportation infrastructure.
In the beginning of March, the CRMCA and the annual NRMCA conference was awarded the State Association of the Year for the second consecutive year. Winning this award once is a great honor with so many amazing things going on in the concrete industry right now. For our association to be back to back winners, is a testament to the great leadership and membership we have. Todd and his staff do an amazing job year after year. Please take a moment the next time you see one of them to tell them, “Thank you.” I would also like to take a moment to thank Rich Umbel (Oldcastle Materials) for his leadership over the last 3 years as our president. He is seldom willing to step forward and be recognized, one of his great qualities, but his stead hand at the helm should not go unnoticed.
This month’s three alarm fire in North Capitol Hill area of Denver was a significant tragedy for the construction industry. I am sure as we all saw the footage/pictures of this intense fire on the news and social media we were worried for the safety of everyone in the area. In the wake of this tragedy, we implore our members to redouble your efforts in the “Build with Strength” campaign. We all see the high number of mid-rise wood structures being built all over the state. While this campaign will benefit our industry, fires like the one last month remind us this is a bigger issue than just growing the concrete industry. NRMCA and CRMCA with the leadership of John Loyer, Lionel Lemay, and many others are beginning the process of possibly proposing local ordinances to increase fire safety. This will be a long road, but one we should all be willing to go down to help avoid future events like this fire.
Another exciting initiative is the joint effort to get a transportation funding initiative on the 2018 ballot. For the first time since TABOR, infrastructure is polling as the #1 issue to voters. There are still many details to work out, but 4 proposals have been submitted. These proposals range from ½% to 1% increase in state sales tax, which would bring earmarked revenue for infrastructure from $772 million to $1.5 billion per year for 20 years. To get this campaign passed is going to take a lot of support both financially and physically. Please stay tuned for more details in the coming months.
Don’t forget to mark your calendars for the upcoming Concrete Day at the Capitol BBQ on Friday April 27th from 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. This is a great event and could be even more important this year. We would love to have a huge turn out from our membership to volunteer and thank our public servants. Contact Emma to volunteer. I hope to see many of you there. Also mark your calendars for the CRMCA Sumer Conference in Vail on July 19-20th.
Thank you all for everything you do to make our association great!
Dana Rotkovich
CRMCA Board President
Sales Manager / Bestway Concrete & Aggregate
