The cement and concrete industry met with congressional offices and top federal officials to discuss policies impacting the industry during the North American Concrete Alliance (NACA) 3rd Annual Cement & Concrete Fly-In* April 9-10, 2019 in Washington D.C. The annual fly-in “ended on a high note”** as the partnering cement and concrete industry associations as well as the NACA partners and member companies mark another successful advocacy event. According to the Portland Cement Association (PCA), the cement and concrete industries collectively employ 600,000 peopleâwho build our nation’s infrastructureâcontribute over $100 billion annually to the US Economy. (#Concrete4America)
VIDEO (PCA):
1 –Â Tom Beck, Chairman-PCA: “A lot of Legislative visits and we met with the Executive Branch as well. We are here to talk about some of the key issues in our industry. First and foremost, we are talking about infrastructure & finding a permanent fix for the Highway Trust Fund.”
2 – Lori Tiefenthaler, Sr. Director of Marketing-Lehigh Hanson: “Staffers are ready and prepared with questions, printed one-pagers, electronic information, engage in dialogue, and make sure we have language in the bills that help the DOTs make really good decisions on what they might be building infrastructure out of for the future.”
3 – Tom Chizmadia, Lehigh Hanson: “The bottom line is the value of meetings like this is two fold: 1) Bring people in from companies from member companies from the districts to meet with their representatives and staff, and 2) It also keeps the presence up with the members and staff to know what the issues are and how important it is for us. As the saying goes ‘It’s a marathon, not a sprint‘. But, it’s the frequency, it’s the continued message development, so that they can take back and put it into sound policy.”
4 – Mike Ireland, President and CEO-PCA: “We also have a good piece of the message that’s getting a lot of resonance here. We talk about life-cycle-cost analysis. And we talk about resilience. We talk about essentially making sure that the money we spend now, that we are spending it wiselyâthat we are wise stewards of those tax dollars so that what we build, LASTS.”
5 –Â Shelly Moor Capito, US Senator (R) West Virginia: “The good thing about roads and infrastructure is that it is very much a bi-partisan effort. Everybody gets to take something home. It’s a shiny object here. And there’s usually a lot more cooperation. The economic impact of this is by far the biggest selling point.”
On the first day, more than 140 participants representing 12 cement and concrete trade associations engaged in an excellent program by Federal government officials, key officials in the Administration, and Congress. It entailed:
- Updates
- Presentation discussions on key transportation issuesâan estimated 30% of Congressional offices with subjects such as:
⢠Highway reauthorization
⢠Highway trust fund
⢠Resiliency
⢠Truck weights
⢠LCCA
⢠Airfield pavement research
⢠and much more … - Capitol Hill visitsâ14 small teams attended more than 160 meetings to discuss funding and other topics
- Briefings
- Specific sessions that covered some of the cement and concrete industry’s highest priorities
- Reception
- Dinner
9 Federal Agencies and Administration offices had speakers from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), The White House, and the Office of the Vice-President. From Congress, 11 U.S. Representatives and 3 Senators presented remarks, and the House Committee Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I Committee) members also spoke during the event.
Officials included:
James Redstone, Special Assistant to the President-White House Domestic Policy Council
Phillip Pinegar, Domestic Policy Advisor for the Office of the Vice President
Paul Teller, Special Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs
Brandye Hendrickson, Acting Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration
House Speaker Ranking Member Sam Graves (R-MO)-House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
House Speaker Ranking Member Lloyd Smucker (R-PA-11), House Education & Labor Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Investment
House Speaker Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL-3)-Member of the T&I Committee and 2018 Cement & Concrete Champion
Senate:Â EPW Chairman and 2016 Cement and Concrete Champion
Senate:Â John Barrasso (R-WY)
Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Chair of the Senate EPW Infrastructure Subcommittee and 2019 Cement and Concrete Champion
Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)-Senate EPW Committee
During the two-day affair, an active social media campaign was launched
âACPA a leading contributor
*The North American Concrete Alliance is a coalition of 12 concrete-related associations formed in 2004 for the purpose of addressing industry-wide concerns and initiatives in the areas of research, safety, education, and government affairs: The coalition is comprised of:
â˘American Concrete Pavement Association â˘American Concrete Pipe Association â˘American Concrete Pressure Pipe Association â˘American Concrete Pumping Association â˘Concrete Foundations Association â˘Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute â˘National Concrete Masonry Association â˘National Precast Concrete Association â˘National Ready Mixed Concrete Association â˘Portland Cement Association â˘Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute and â˘Tilt-Up Concrete Association.
**American Concrete Pavement Association (ACPA)
2019 Fly-In Links:
VIDEO and 2019 Fly-In website: www.cement.org/events/2019-cement-and-concrete-fly-in
Agenda: www.cement.org/docs/default-source/events/2019-fly-in-agenda.pdf
ACPA Government Affairs repository: www.acpa.org/category/legislative-affairs/
Social media users! Follow these links to see ACPA and other NACA partners’Â messages:
Twitter and Facebook. (Tags: #2019NACAFLYIN, #CONCRETE4AMERICA, #CONCRETETOCONGRESS, #infrastructure, and variations of these topics.)
Information for this story was provided ACPA, PCA, and Rachel Derby, PCA
Cover Photo: Cell from PCA Video (link above)
ISCP NACA articles, please go to:
“NACAâs 3rd Annual Industry Fly-In to be Held April 9-10, 2019âRegistration Deadline March 12” (Jan 2019): https://www.concretepavements.org/2019/01/23/nacas-3rd-annual-fly-in-to-be-held-april-9-10-2019-registraion-deadline-march-12/
“NACA New Website Addresses Timely, Weighty Topics for Concrete Industry”(Dec 2018): https://www.concretepavements.org/2018/12/19/naca-new-website-addresses-timely-weighty-topics-for-concrete-industry/
“NACA Post-Election Webinar: â2018 Election DebriefââHow will it impact Our Concrete Industry?” (Oct 2018): https://www.concretepavements.org/2018/10/15/naca-post-election-webinar-2018-election-debrief-how-will-it-impact-our-concrete-industry/
“NACA Partners Map Strategies, Communications in Washington, DC” (Aug 2018): https://www.concretepavements.org/2018/08/13/naca-partners-map-strategies-communications-in-washington-dc/