Committee Reports

CSDA Committee Reports 6/4/2020

CERTIFICATION COMMITTEE

Doug Walker presented the committee report. There are no new certified companies since the
last meeting. The committee made phone calls to several non-certified members to find out why
they were not certified. Most stated they did not know the program existed, they did not see the
benefit or they did not have the time to fill out the application.
A new marketing campaign to get companies certified will commence in the fall and the
application will be converted to a fillable PDF form to allow for easier application.

CONVENTION COMMITTEE

Kevin Baron was not present for the meeting and the report echoed what was stated in the
Executive Director’s report, so no committee report was needed.

ELECTION COMMITTEE

Donna Harris presented the committee report and reminded 2020 Board candidates to submit
their Board applications or Lifetime Achievement Award nominations by the June 30 deadline.
Since the 2020 Convention was cancelled, and Tim Beckman was to receive the Lifetime
Achievement Award at that event, it was decided to honor Beckman with the award at the 2021
Convention & Tech Fair in Bermuda. The committee will wait until the nomination deadline to
decide if they will honor another recipient in 2021.

GPR IMAGING COMMITTEE

Mark DeSchepper presented the committee report. The new Best Practice on operating on and
around GPR-scanned concrete slabs and structures was finalized and submitted to the
Standards & Specifications committee for final review.

MANUFACTURER COMMITTEE

Scott Brown presented the committee report. The 101 classes to be held in Olathe, KS at the
Husqvarna training facility will go forward as planned. A minimum of 10 students will be required to register for the class at least 30 days prior to the start date. If 10 or more students are not signed up by Friday, September 11, the classes will be cancelled.
The 201 Operator Certification classes at St. Petersburg College are also moving forward as
planned. The GPR Certification class date and location has yet to be decided.
The equipment lottery list was again reviewed and will be discussed with the two instructors.
The committee will then review assignments at the September meeting to be ready for the
November Operator Certification course. The Tech Talk assignments were updated.
Western Saw and Diamond Vantage volunteered to donate items for the 2021 World of
Concrete raffle. Any other interested manufacturers should contact Scott Brown. Committee
members were asked about their interest in forming a “concrete renovation and
demolition/diamond tool” pavilion at the World of Concrete for the indoor booths. This pavilion
would be open to any member who wished to participate but would not be required. There were
no objections to this idea, so Erin O’Brien will work with Informa staff on a proposal for the 2022 World of Concrete show. The committee set two goals for 2020: increase contractor membership in CSDA and participation in meetings and training classes. The committee will also plan to include a Zoom element in their in-person meetings in the future for those who cannot attend.

MARKETING COMMITTEE

Jami Harmon presented the committee report. The committee continues to work on updating the Diamond Advantage presentation with new graphics, photos and a more modern look. The
template is available for review and anyone who has images or information to submit should
contact Jami. The committee’s goal is to have the updated presentation ready by the September
meeting.
Advertising in the June issue of Concrete Openings was discussed, as some advertisers had
considered pulling their ads due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Only two full page ads were pulled,
along with two smaller ads. One full page ad was moved to run later in the year. In response to
the decreased in expected advertising income, the page count for this issue was decreased to
save money, as well as limiting the number of international prospect recipients.
CSDA will shift its booth to the new West Hall for World of Concrete 2021, in order to stay close
to as many other member exhibitors as possible. A diamond tool/concrete renovation and
demolition pavilion is being discussed with Informa, the show organizers for World of Concrete,
for the 2022 show.
The committee set two goals for 2020: (1) complete the updates for the Diamond Advantage
presentation and (2) finalize a job description and plan for hiring the Market Development
position.

MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE

Dan Dennison presented the committee report. The original membership dues deadline was
extended to June 1, 2020 due to the pandemic to allow for members to better asses their
financial situation. The decision was made to extend it further to June 15, with CSDA sending
thank you letters to those that have already renewed and reminders to those who haven’t. We
will work with any member who cannot afford to pay their dues but would like to retain
membership. A follow-up meeting will be held on June 15 to evaluate what has happened since.
The committee would like to continue their proactive outreach approach, so members do not
feel like they are only being contacted when dues are due.

NEXT GENERATION COMMITTEE

Bill Fisher presented the committee report. The committee stated three goals for the year. One
is to shift the calendar of events from 2020 to 2021. The second is to repeat the World of
Concrete networking reception, but in a different location to a more intimate environment and
allowing the event to be more inclusive. A third goal is to use social media to promote the
benefits of being a CSDA member. This will be done using short job story highlights and
promoting all the disciplines that CSDA contractors offer: cutting, demolition, GPR, polishing
and recycling. Committee members will also compile a list of five member benefits that can be
used to develop additional marketing materials.

POLISHING COMMITTEE

Bruce Ferrell presented the committee report. The testing that was being performed to
contribute data to the CSDA-ST-118 updated Standard was temporarily put on hold, due to the
loss of access to the slab being used for testing. Superabrasive near Atlanta has volunteered a
slab at their facility so testing will resume this summer.
The committee would like to wait for ACI/ASCC to publish their new specification before the
committee reviews and updates the CSDA polishing standards, specifications and best
practices.

SAFETY COMMITTEE

Bennett Jones presented the committee report. The committee did not have a chance to meet
prior to the Board meeting but has committed to focus on revising the safety videos that need
updating. Erin O’Brien will send the videos to those who had previously volunteered to review
the content.

STANDARDS & SPECIFICATIONS COMMITTEE

Mike Orzechowski presented the committee report. The committee has released one new and
five revised documents since the last meeting. The new document is a Best Practice for GPR,
CSDA-BP-026 Operating in Scanned Slabs. Updated documents include: CSDA-BP-002
Equipment Maintenance Management for Contractors, CSDA-BP-006 Hydraulic Cutting
Equipment, CSDA-BP-007 Ground Penetrating Radar, CSDA-ST-107 Blade Application Code
and CSDA-C-101 Core Drilling.
The committee’s goal is to review and update all 43 documents by the 2021 Convention.

TRAINING COMMITTEE

Patrick Harris presented the committee report.
Texas Cutting & Coring requested a site-specific course for GPR Certification to be held at their
Round Rock, TX facility. The committee is working on a proposal and dates.
The job descriptions and agreements for trainers are being reviewed and finalized by the
committee. Work continues on the new Cutting Edge online course. A final draft is being
circulated around the committee for comments. The committee hopes to have this project
completed by July.
Patrick Harris and Rick Norland will work on reviewing the course tests to ensure duplicate
questions have been removed prior to the fall training classes.