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Committee Reports

Read more about what CSDA’s committees are doing for the membership and the wider industry.

Note: whether you are a member of the association or not, you can join CSDA’s Board and committee members at quarterly meetings across the U.S. – meetings are open to all and your input would be valued. For more details on upcoming meetings and other CSDA events, Click Here.

CSDA Members: you can download complete Board minutes, committee reports and Executive Director’s Reports for these, and other previous meetings, by logging in and visiting the Members Section (visible under the Members drop-down when logged in).

Certification Committee

Doug Walker presented the committee report. Non-certified companies were asked for the reasons they had not yet submitted their applications. Most responses were related to the time commitment, specifically the Quality Assurance section of the application. Jim Dvoratchek has offered to work with the committee to develop a template for this section to help companies save time filling out the application.

The fee for initial certification has been reduced temporarily to $100 until May 30, 2018 in an effort to increase applications, and manufacturer members were encouraged to apply as well.

Walker and Jack Sondergard will moderate a panel discussion on Thursday during the convention to educate members on the program and answer any questions.

There are currently nine companies certified, with one in process. The committee’s goal is 25 certified companies by the end of 2018. The Certification, Marketing, Membership and Finance Committees will meet in Dallas ahead of the Summer Meetings to help streamline the coordination between Company Certification, dues and the Market Development position.

Convention Committee

Erin O’Brien presented the committee report for Kevin Baron. The 2018 Convention & Tech Fair has drawn about 275 attendees, which is the highest convention attendance in the last 10 years.

A contract was signed with the Renaissance Vinoy Resort in St. Petersburg, FL for the 2019 Convention which will be held March 11-15, and the committee is starting to investigate western U.S. locations for the 2020 Convention.

Election Committee

Bennett Jones presented the committee report for Donna Harris. The 2018 slate of Board of Directors will be announced at the Annual Meeting on Saturday. Jones reminded the Board that the deadline for Board of Director and Lifetime Achievement Award applications and nominations is June 30 and all applications must be submitted by that time.

GPR Imaging Committee

Mark DeSchepper reported that there is continued concern with the GPR Certification course at World of Concrete (WOC), as CSDA does not have the ability to control who signs up for the course. There have been several students who did not meet the clearly stated prerequisites and without a way to verify who signs up, there are students in the class who are not qualified to attend. The committee is planning to offer an introductory level class at World of Concrete in 2019 and offer the GPR Certification course in St. Petersburg later this year.

Manufacturer Committee

Greg Lipscomb presented the committee report. The raffles at WOC 2018 were a success and will be continued in 2019. Lipscomb asked for volunteers for the 2019 show to contact him by the June meeting.

Hilti is hosting a plant tour on Tuesday, June 5 in Dallas during the Board and committee meetings. Details on this event will be available soon through CSDA.

There were no manufacturer volunteers to host the 101-level training courses, so CSDA will check with St. Petersburg College to find out what dates are available at the college. Manufacturer members will continue to support the 101 courses with equipment and representatives.

Marketing Committee

Jami Harmon presented the committee report. The Austin Pub Crawl raised $3,900 in total for the Market Development position, both through the sale of t-shirts and sponsors for the shirts.

The committee would like to plan on exhibiting at the Canadian Concrete Expo (CCE) in 2019, as the attendance is expected to double from the initial 2018 show in Toronto. Members in attendance reported that attendees were excited about a show in the Toronto area and planned to return to the next one.

Plans continue for the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Expo in New York City June 22-23. Erin O’Brien will represent CSDA, while Jami Harmon, Joe Russo and Doug Walker have also volunteered to help staff the booth. The committee is drafting a marketing plan to target architects before the show and help to drive traffic to the CSDA booth.

Membership Committee

Dan Dennison presented the committee report for Ty Conner. The committee is helping to promote a 50/50 Raffle held during the convention, with the drawing taking place during the Gala Luau on Saturday. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased from Next Generation members. The goal is to raise $5,000, with $2,500 going towards the Marketing Development Position.

Membership has increased in 2018 by 29 members, thanks in large part to a member re-joining CSDA with 19 branch offices. CSDA staff continue to update the membership document online, and Dennison reminded committee members to please keep it up to date and continue to reach out to both new and existing members.

The membership testimonials were updated and will now also include other testimonials from operators and employees and will also discuss training, safety and other membership benefits.

Next Generation Committee

Jami Harmon presented the committee report for Kellie Vazquez. She reminded everyone about the 50/50 raffle and the committee is planning another pub crawl in Milwaukee for the Fall Board and committee meetings.

Polishing Committee

Jessica Ledger-Kalen presented the committee report. The committee was disappointed with the instructor for the Concrete Polishing and CSDA-ST-118 classes at WOC and will be looking to replace the instructor for future courses. They are recommending that the CSDA-ST-118 course not be held at the WOC 2019.

Committee members will be meeting in Georgia at a facility provided by Ryan McBride to perform additional testing for CSDA-ST-118 in April. Anyone is invited to attend.

Prof. Chris Brown did not fulfill the committee’s expectations regarding the CSDA-ST-115 rewrite. They will be looking into other options to complete this task.

Safety Committee

Matthew Finnigan presented the committee report. The Hand Saw video has been completed and will be released for sale on the CSDA website. The committee will review the remaining videos to determine what updates are needed.

OSHA is looking at “willful neglect” in regard to the silica rule, which could result in costly fines for contractors. The committee would like to investigate a “Pay to Play” program where contractors can submit data in exchange for the results of future testing.

Jack Sondergard and Mike Orzechowski will review a potential HazComm issue with the change from MSDS to SDS and report back to the committee.

The committee would like to create a searchable Toolbox Safety Tip (TST) database and has asked the CSDA staff to investigate this.

Standards & Specifications Committee

Mike Orzechowski presented the committee report. Any committee members interested in helping with the ST-118 testing at Ryan McBride’s facility in Woodstock, GA should contact the committee for more information.

Final comments on the Dry Dust Best Practice are due to Orzechowski by the end of April, and the document is set to be approved at the June committee meetings. The Best Practice on Extension Cords was approved and is ready to be released.

The Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI) reached out to CSDA for comments on their new standard ANSI/OPEI B175.4 – ANS for Outdoor Power Equipment – Internal Combustion Engine-Powered Cut-Off Machines – Safety and Environmental Requirements. Rick Norland and Mike Orzechowski have formed a subcommittee and will present comments on behalf of CSDA.

Training Committee

Kevin Schmitt presented the committee report for Patrick Harris.

A new instructor for the CSDA-ST-118 and Concrete Polishing courses is needed. Please submit any suggestions to the committee.

The committee would like to try more online marketing via Google, social media and other outlets to promote the training courses in the future.

There is a proposal to reduce the three 101 course modules from six days total to only five. More discussion will be held on this matter. There were no manufacturer volunteers to host the fall 2018 101 training courses, so CSDA will check dates with St. Petersburg College to hold the training in Clearwater, FL. Manufacturers have offered to donate equipment and instructor assistants as needed.