Committee Reports

CERTIFICATION COMMITTEE

Doug Walker presented the committee report. Four new companies have achieved Company Certification since the September meeting. Current program auditor Glenn Purdue expressed significant concern about a former CSDA member, Ted Johnston, serving as new program administrator. His recommendation is to have new recommended CSDA legal counsel, Chris Cervellera, serve as the new CSDA Company Certification Program auditor. The committee approved this recommendation.

A roundtable will be held at the annual convention to help contractor companies learn about the program and help them fill out their applications. Current Certified Company representatives will serve as table moderators for this roundtable, and the roundtable will be moderated by Doug Walker, Jack Sondergard and Matthew Finnigan.  

CONVENTION COMMITTEE

Matthew Finnigan presented the committee report for Kevin Baron. Registration is open for the 2020 Convention & Tech Fair in Carlsbad, CA. Attendees are encouraged to book their hotel rooms now, ahead of the March 6, 2020 room reservation deadline. Meeting attendees were reminded of the early-bird registration deadline of February 10, 2020.

Erin O’Brien reported that the committee conducted site visits to the Bahamas and Bermuda, visiting three properties in consideration in the Bahamas and two in Bermuda. Three properties emerged as favorites, and the committee will ask for contracts from all three before making a final decision based on the property that will best fit CSDA for the convention. A contract will be signed by the end of the year. 

ELECTION COMMITTEE

Donna Harris presented the committee report. The slate of Board nominees for 2021 remains unchanged. They are: Bill Fisher, National Research Company; Rick Glidewell, Hilti, Inc.; Donna Harris, Concrete Renovation; Jeff Keeling, Brokk, Inc., Tim Terrell, Husqvarna Construction Products and Kevin Warnecke, ICS, Blount. The 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Tim Beckman at the Annual Convention during the Gala Reception & Awards Dinner on Saturday, April 4. Harris reminded attendees of the June 30, 2020 deadline for applications for the 2021 Officer and Board of Director positions.

GPRIMAGING COMMITTEE

Mark DeSchepper presented the committee report. All eighteen students in both GPR Certification courses held this fall, both in Clearwater and in Chicago at Hard Rock Technologies, were certified. Fifteen students attended the Clearwater class, November 8-9 and three students attended the Chicago class at Hard Rock Technologies, November 17-18. 

The committee will change the GPR Certification class to a one-day class. This change was based on feedback from instructors and students. A possible partnership with NULCA for GPR Certification training is in development. There will be a Panel discussion at the Convention about scanning and cutting operations working together. 

MANUFACTURER COMMITTEE

Scott Brown presented the committee report. The committee reviewed the 101 and 201 training classes in 2019 in Portland and Clearwater. He thanked all of those who helped with both classes. 

Husqvarna will host the fall 2020 101 courses in Olathe, KS, October 12-16. Operator Certification training will again be held in Clearwater, FL at St. Petersburg College, November 2-6, 2020. A request was made to the GPR Committee to confirm dates and locations for their 2020 training classes. An additional request was made to all manufacturers to review the equipment lottery and only bring the equipment that has been requested by the committee.

The World of Concrete (WOC) 2020 Raffle at the CSDA booth is set with donations coming from Diamond Tools Technology, ICS, Blount and Diamond Products. 

All manufacturers agreed that no swag or promotional items from the manufacturers will be distributed or displayed during the training classes.

DDM Concut will host a tour of their facility during the September 2020 meetings in Seattle. Greg Lipscomb is coordinating a tour of the Hendrick Heritage facility during the June 2020 meetings in Charlotte, NC. The tour will take place following the Board meeting on Thursday, June 4 and all are invited. 

The Standards & Specifications committee sent a final draft of CSDA-ST-107 Blade Code Application to all committee members to review and approve by the March 2020 meeting. 

MARKETING COMMITTEE

Jami Harmon presented the committee report. The new website was reviewed with the committee. One of the highlights is that it will feature a blog section that will contain member-submitted content as well as CSDA-generated content in an attempt to reach out to as many members and prospects as possible. The marketing committee will help contribute content for this blog. 

The committee continues to work on updating the Diamond Advantage presentation. Harmon will work with a design team to create a template that can be used for this and other CSDA presentations. 

The Market Development subcommittee is updating the job description for the position and will be renewing their job posting early in 2020, as well as sourcing applicants at the World of Concrete. 

MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE

Dan Dennison presented the committee report. The results of the North American Contractor survey were reviewed, with 73 responses. The consensus was that most appreciate their CSDA membership, although many requested additional training courses and training classes in California and Texas. Anyone interested in reviewing the survey results should contact Dennison. 

The new individual membership categories are live on the website and a marketing plan is in place to promote these new membership categories early next year. 

Bruno Silla and Randy Hayes arrived a day early in New Orleans and met with four local contractor prospects. All were interested in CSDA membership and the committee will follow up with them. 

NEXT GENERATION COMMITTEE

Bill Fisher presented the committee report. The new Next Gen logo was selected and will start to appear on promotional materials at the WOC. The 2020 committee calendar was finalized. The Next Generation Networking Reception will again be held at the Renaissance Las Vegas on Wednesday, February 5 at 4:30 PM. A registration table will be present to sign up new members. Any member that brings a potential new member will be entered into a drawing win a set of Airpods, along with the prospective member. Invitations will be sent to committee members and printed copies will be available at the CSDA booth. 

Next Gen is promoting a social/networking event at the 2020 Convention. A San Diego Zoo VIP Tour is set for Wednesday, April 1 at 12:30pm and all convention attendees are encouraged to sign up. 

The committee will start highlighting “rising star” operators and company employees in a “Next Gen Spotlight” feature on CSDA’s social media accounts. 

POLISHING COMMITTEE

Bruce Ferrell presented the committee report. The three rounds of surface texture testing are complete, and the data is being analyzed by outside firms, including Taylor Hobson and CIM (Construction Industry Management), at no cost to CSDA. There was a delay however in producing the samples and Ferrell will work on procuring those samples.

A marketing piece is being developed to promote CSDA membership for concrete polishing contractors. 

The Concrete Polishing 101 class taking place at World of Concrete February 4-5, 2020 will include an outdoor demonstration. WOC management will be notified of the date, schedule and student names so that instructors and students can access the outdoor lots for this demonstration before show hours. 

The committee would like to investigate regional training classes for Concrete Polishing 101 and add on a half day for the inclusion for the testing methods into the class. The course will be held in the Kansas City area. A budget for this class will be developed and a date set by the March 2020 committee meeting.

Student and instructor shirts for the WOC class were requested. 

Ferrell has volunteered to write an article updating the industry on the progress of CSDA-ST-118 to be published in the March issue of Concrete Openings. 

SAFETY COMMITTEE

Jack Sondergard presented the committee report for Bennett Jones. There are no new registrations for the Construction Employer’s Association (CEA) Silica Data Collection Program, and members in attendance were reminded again to sign up to get access to this data library. Information on the program will be available at the WOC, and the committee will contact CEA to inquire about their involvement at WOC and Convention. An article promoting the program will be placed in the March 2020 issue of Concrete Openings.

The new TST on Robotic Demolition was completed and approved. The anchoring TST final draft is ready for approval and the electrical cord TST is nearing completion. 

The script review for the Safety DVDs continues. Bennett Jones is reviewing Slab Sawing and Core Drilling, Scott Brown and Kevin Warnecke are working on Wall Sawing and Tim Beckman is working on Wire Sawing. 

CSDA submitted a proposal to OSHA to renew the CSDA OSHA Alliance program. The comments are being reviewed by OSHA and an update is expected in January. 

CSDA is supporting Concrete Sawing and Drilling Safety Week presented by GPRS, taking place January 6-10. 

STANDARDS & SPECIFICATIONS COMMITTEE

Mike Orzechowski presented the committee report. Three new Best Practices on concrete cutting and selective demo on GPR-scanned slabs were submitted to the committee by the participants of the September 18, 2019 Chicago-area chapter meeting of GPR scanning and concrete cutting contractors. Those documents were reviewed and are in final draft for any additional comments.

Two Best Practices, CSDA-BP-003 Hazard Identification and Debris Removal and CSDA-BP-004 Remote Control were reviewed and updated by the committee. Final revisions were distributed to committee members, and any comments should be submitted by the March 2020 meeting. 

TRAINING COMMITTEE

Patrick Harris presented the committee report. The 101 and 201 courses held this fall in Portland and Clearwater were reviewed. Clint Ralston was reviewed by Rick Norland, the manufacturer representatives present and Harris, and all concluded unanimously that Ralston is approved as a CSDA Instructor. 

Improvements were made at St. Petersburg College in time for the 201 classes. A new water source was procured, the shed floor was repaired, a new lock was installed on the shed and additional extension cords and safety barrier equipment were purchased. 

Digital Lagoon is requesting an additional $10,000 for the completion of the Cutting Edge project. This amount is not included in the current budget, so the committee is discussing how to handle the request. 

Expenses were submitted by instructors Rick Norland and Mark DeSchepper for the 101, 201 and GPR Certification classes that included a $150/hour “Mobilization Mileage” that was to cover time spent traveling to and from the classes. This amount has historically been included in the daily instructor fee. The instructors believe their compensation amount should be increased. As this amount is not in the 2019 budget, the committee will evaluate the entire training budget and make a decision. 

The committee decided that each instructor needs to submit a detailed agenda/syllabus prior to their class. The PowerPoint presentation for the 101 sawing and drilling class needs to be reviewed and updated prior to the next class, and concern was raised about anecdotal stories and graphic photos used during both classes. Instructors will be asked to keep these to a minimum in the future. 

A subcommittee consisting of Kellie Vazquez, Mike Hogan, Ryan McBride and a representative from Texas Cutting & Coring will evaluate the required equipment list for the classes and update as needed. 

The 201 Operator Certification test needs to be reviewed for duplicate questions that should be removed. Students attending the 101 and 201 classes need to be reminded about the importance and requirement of bringing appropriate PPE with them to the class. They will not be permitted to participate in the hands-on training portion without it. 

Husqvarna will host the next 101 training classes in Olathe, Kansas on October 12-16, 2020. 

A pop-up committee meeting will take place in Las Vegas on Wednesday, February 5, 2020 following the Board meeting at World of Concrete.