As part of his report this month (pages 20-21), National Ready Mixed Concrete Association Chairman Norm Nelson discusses an endowment campaign for the RMC Research Foundation. With a goal of $12 million to be raised over the next five years, the campaign becomes one of the boldest market development measures that concrete interests — including ready mixed producers with and without integrated cement businesses — have ever taken.

The campaign is themed “Building A Strong Foundation.” In the spirit of that message, fund raising hit the ground running at a January 18 reception during NRMCA's annual convention in Marco Island, Fla. Campaign chairmen David Vickers (Calaveras Materials) and Bob Turner (Grace Construction Products) announced that the Foundation had received upwards of $8 million in early commitments. Included in that total were pledges of $750,000 or more from Ash Grove Cement, Cemex Inc., Holnam Inc., Lafarge Corp. and Lehigh Portland Cement.

The RMC Research Foundation will operate as a separate charitable organization in cooperation with NRMCA. Organizers figure that once the endowment reaches $10 million — a level nearly achieved when adding initial commitments and pledges through the end of February — at least $600,000 can be invested annually in projects under Research, Promotion and Education headings. A board of trustees, representing major contributors, will steer funds.

Today's RMC Research Foundation is an outgrowth both of the grass roots visionary movement known as Ready Mixed Concrete 2000 and an endowment NRMCA created 10 years ago. Initial funding enabled development and implementation of the Certified Concrete Sales Professional Program, plus purchase of new testing equipment for the association's A.H. Smith Research lab in College Park, Md. Foundation organizers contend that such measures demonstrate how an endowment positions NRMCA to help strengthen the industry.

The RMC Research Foundation is rooted in 1991, a year when most concrete interests saw the worst of business times. In sharp contrast, the Building a Strong Foundation campaign emerges amid a sustained construction boom — seven years and counting, based on record cement consumption levels — with each year bringing more evidence that sharp downturns in concrete demand are history. But a good economy and stable construction climate are only part of the timing behind the campaign. Organizers assess concrete's future against the bigger picture:

“Changing economic conditions in the United States, led by the shift from an industrial-based economy to a technologically dominated service society, have led to changes and consolidation within the concrete industry on a scale never before seen. At the same time, the new economics have dramatically impacted the available workforce, leading to less-skilled employees in need of a wider variety of training and education. Concurrently, governmental regulators are looking more closely at the environmental impact of concrete production. Compounding these challenges is a general public that is essentially unaware of the benefits of ready mixed concrete. There is no real identity for the concrete industry, primarily because until now there has never been an effort to improve and promote the industry's overall image.”

As David Vickers and Bob Turner oversee the entire Building a Strong Foundation campaign, trustees are educating companies and individuals in target industry segments on the RMC Research Foundation. Managing inquiries and day-to-day fund raising functions is NRMCA Director of Membership Kathleen Carr-Smith (301/587-1400, ext. 131).

e-mail: don_marsh@intertec.com