CERTIFICATION COMMITTEE
Doug Walker presented the committee report. There are no new certified companies since the
last meeting.
CSDA staff will begin working on an innovative marketing campaign to get companies certified
the application will be converted to a fillable PDF form to allow for easier application.
CONVENTION COMMITTEE
Kevin Baron presented the committee report. The committee will be discussing whether to hold
the 2021 Annual Convention in Bermuda, March 2-6 as planned in the next several weeks. A
survey will be sent out to all members to gauge interest and ability to attend if the convention
were to be held.
ELECTION COMMITTEE
Donna Harris presented the committee report. The deadline has passed for submissions for the
2021 Officers and Board of Directors. Seven applications were received for Board positions, and
one each for the offices of Vice-President and Secretary/Treasurer.
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.
There was additional discussion about the slate of Board applicants for the 2021 election. A
slate of six candidates was proposed to put on the ballot, but further review found that would
contradict the election procedures set forth in the Bylaws. Therefore, it was determined that all
seven applicants will be listed on the 2021 Election Ballot.
GPR IMAGING COMMITTEE
Mark DeSchepper presented the committee report. A GPR Certification instructor qualification
list and job description for recruiting new instructors was approved.
MANUFACTURER COMMITTEE
Scott Brown presented the committee report. The 101 and 201 Operator Certifications classes
that were to be held in Olathe, KS and Clearwater, FL were cancelled due to the COVID-19
pandemic. The committee will work with Husqvarna and St. Petersburg College to possibly hold
the classes in the winter or spring.
There still has been no official announcement for the World of Concrete show. Many
manufacturers would attend if it is held as planned but would scale back the number of
employees that would attend. CSDA staff were informed that a decision should be made by
October.
The committee emphasized its commitment to increase contractor participation in the quarterly
meetings, conventions and training classes. Each manufacturer member committed to bringing
in five new contractor members.
The 2021 Convention in Bermuda was discussed, and most manufacturers stated that they
would attend if there was a good turnout from the contractors. A survey will be developed to
send to members to evaluate if contractors will attend depending on the current COVID
environment.
MARKETING COMMITTEE
Jami Harmon presented the committee report. The new Concrete Openings website is now live
and includes easier navigation, new features and digital advertising opportunities. Advertisers
will be able to receive traffic and tracking information from their ads, and all website traffic will
be better able to be analyzed. This new website was created by O’Brien International at no cost
to CSDA to demonstrate the commitment by O’Brien to create added value to the association,
members, advertisers, specifiers and prospects.
Concrete Openings advertising rates for 2021 were approved with no change from 2020 rates.
The website advertising options were added for fourth quarter 2020 and all of 2021. Members
who reserve digital and print ad space for 2021 will receive a 20% discount.
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 December meeting. Special thanks to Greg Lipscomb from
Diamond Products for providing images to be used in the presentation. Anyone else that would
like to contribute images or review content should contact Jami.
CSDA’s American Institute of Architect’s (AIA) Provider membership renewal for 2021 was
approved. Action on the Market Development Position was postponed until 2021, given the
current climate. No additional needs for World of Concrete 2021 were requested, and the
Concrete Openings Awards presentation could move to taking place during the Convention in
Bermuda instead of at World of Concrete to better adjust to COVID-19 guidelines.
The committee approved a request by the Next Generation committee to provide funding to print
and distribute a 2021 Calendar coinciding with the Next Generation committee’s Photo Contest.
MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE
David Perkins presented the committee report. Perkins was appointed committee Chair after
Dan Dennison’s resignation from the Board and the committee at the June meeting.
After the final day of 2020 dues collection on August 31, there were 66 member resignations.
Committee members will work on calling each of these resigned members to determine that we
have correct contact info and to try to obtain a reason for the resignation. The committee hopes
to have this project completed by the end of October.
The committee approved the 2021 dues rates which will remain the same as 2021 to help
members who have been significantly affected by COVID-19. A one-time $10 assessment will
be added for all North American members to help cover the costs of shipping two Safety
Handbooks to each member. The hope is to renew interest in the Safety Handbook and
encourage additional sales.
NEXT GENERATION COMMITTEE
Bill Fisher presented the committee report. The committee will plan to host an informal Pub
Crawl in Nashville during the Winter Board & committee meetings, but there will be no shirts
sold or sponsorships.
To help drive interest in submitting job stories, and additional social media activity, the
committee is hosting a 2021 Calendar Photo Contest. Submissions are free through the CSDA
website, with winners to receive a spot in the calendar, social media feature , job story feature in
Concrete Openings and the grand prize winner will receive complimentary convention
registration for one person.
POLISHING COMMITTEE
Bruce Ferrell presented the committee report. The committee remains focused on providing
benefits for polishing contractor members to encourage contractors to join CSDA. One of these
goals continues to be publishing ST-118 when all the testing is completed. Another goal is to
expand the Polishing 101 class outside of World of Concrete. One option is to create an online
class, and the committee will begin work on this.
SAFETY COMMITTEE
Bennett Jones presented the committee report. The committee continues their work on several
long-term ongoing projects. These include: updating the Safety Videos for Slab/Flat Sawing,
Core Drilling, Wall Sawing and Wire Sawing; the application for a Susan Harwood Grant from
OSHA; renewing the OSHA Alliance; updating the trenching and excavation TST and creating a
competent person policy.
STANDARDS & SPECIFICATIONS COMMITTEE
Mike Orzechowski presented the committee report. The committee is currently updating CSDABP-005 Diamond Cutting Tools for ADA and hopes to release it by the next meeting in
December.
TRAINING COMMITTEE
Patrick Harris presented the committee report. The committee would like to create online course
options for the Sawing & Drilling 101 classes, Concrete Polishing 101, GPR Methods & Theory
and Estimating. Instructors for each class will be contacted to determine if this is possible and
how it might be done. In-person classes for 101, 201 and GPR Certification are tentatively set
for Spring 2021.
Work on the online Cutting Edge course continues. The course is in the final editing stage and
should be completed by the end of the year.
A roundtable topic was suggested for the 2021 Convention that would cover onboarding and
new hire training. Kellie Kimball and Patrick Harris volunteered to moderate this roundtable.
A request was made for an online training class based on the new Best Practice CSDA-BP-026
Operating in GPR Scanned Slabs. Duke Long requested an onsite robotic demolition class at
his shop in Wisconsin. The committee will investigate both requests.
