Npca Names Innovation, Industry Service Award Winners

At its Winter Conference held in conjunction with 2007 MCPX in Orlando, the National Precast Concrete Association (NPCA) presented its annual awards for

At its Winter Conference held in conjunction with 2007 MCPX in Orlando, the National Precast Concrete Association (NPCA) presented its annual awards for industry innovation, creativity, plant certification and safety. Winning entries spanned the breadth of the precast concrete industry and included major infrastructure projects, resort hotel construction, and a proprietary bar coding system. The group also presented its 41st annual Robert E. Yoakum Award for lifetime association service.

YOAKUM AWARD

The honor went to Mary Beth Rainero for ongoing volunteer efforts supporting the NPCA Partners Program and NPCA’s Educational Foundation Û a consuming interest for nearly two decades. Her husband, Charles Rainero, president of Permatile Concrete Products Co. in Bristol, Va., was among a small group of NPCA members who created a fund in 1989 for scholarships to students enrolled in a construction-related curriculum. Ms. Rainero helped develop an endowment to finance those scholarships, which evolved into the NPCA Educational Foundation. She served six terms on the Foundation’s board of directors.

In addition to awarding scholarships to students studying civil engineering, the Foundation funds industry research, technical education for plant personnel, and concrete curriculum development for students planning careers in construction management. Besides her involvement with the NPCA Educational Foundation, Rainero was the first chair of the NPCA Partners Group in 1990, serving as chair again in 2005 and 2006.

PINNACLE AWARDS

Voting on the top industry innovations from among 20 presentations in three classes Û production, safety, and marketing/management Û precasters elected the winner of the Best of Show Pinnacle Award, the highest-scoring entry among the three categories. This year’s Pinnacle Award winner was C.R. Barger and Sons, Harriman, Tenn., for its entry Precast-IT, a custom bar-coding system that tracks every aspect of a product from its design to installation.

Other winning entries included Production Û 1st Place: Fork skins by Camp Precast Concrete Products, Milton, Vt.; Production Û 2nd Place: Segmental hole formers by Garden State Precast, Farmingdale, N.J.; Management/Marketing Û 1st Place: Precast-IT by C.R. Barger & Sons, Harriman, Tenn.; Management/Marketing Û 2nd Place: Employee compensation packages by Gainey’s Concrete Products, Holden, La.; Safety Û 1st Place: The E-Plan by Gainey’s Concrete Products; and, Safety Û 2nd Place: ÎFingers Are Just Like Hot Dogs!Ì campaign by Atlantic Precast Concrete, Tullytown, Pa.

CREATIVE USE OF PRECAST AWARDS

NPCA’s Creative Use of Precast (CUP) Awards program honors innovative projects that reflect the best qualities of precast concrete, including flexibility, durability, cost savings and aesthetics. Entries are divided into two categories: Above Ground and Underground. This year’s winning entries were: Above Ground Category Û First Place (tie): Rosen Shingle Creek Resort and Convention Center, Stonecrafters Architectural Precast, Clearwater, Fla.; First Place (tie): Fort Snelling National Cemetery Columbarium Niches, Wieser Concrete Products, Maiden Rock, Wis.; Second Place (tie): Precast concrete insulated panels, International Precast, Siler City, N.C.; Second Place (tie): Test-case breakwater installations, Smith Midland Corp., Midland Va.; Third Place: Habitat for Humanity housing Û Yonkers, N.Y., The Altus Group (Oldcastle Building Systems, Rehoboth, Ma.; High Concrete Group, Denver, Pa.; Chase Precast, North Brookfield, Ma.); Underground Category Û First Place: Ohio Steel culvert replacements, Scioto Valley Precast, Chillocothe, Ohio; Second Place: Gibson County Coal – box culvert conveyance, M & W Concrete Pipe & Supply, Evansville, Ind.; and, Third Place: New Indianapolis Airport precast infrastructure, Independent Concrete Pipe and Rinker Materials, both of Indianapolis.

PLANT CERTIFICATION

NPCA presented awards to plants that have been continuously certified for five, 10 and 15 years. In addition, top-scoring plants receiving inspections in 2006 were honored with the Quality Award of Excellence. Recipients of the latter award are Fort Miller Co., Greenwich, N.Y.; Modern Precast Concrete, Easton, Pa.; and, Jensen Precast, North Las Vegas.

SAFETY AWARDS

The NPCA Safety Awards are presented in a variety of categories to recognize plants that have achieved superior safety records according to OSHA standards. The top-ranking Outstanding Safety Award is presented to those plants that recorded no lost time and no injuries during 2006. Plants are separated by production hours worked.

Outstanding Safety Award Recipients, 0 – 40,000 hours: Hanson Pipe & Precast, Pelham, Ala.; Hanson Pipe & Precast, Ashland, Va.; Hanson Pipe & Precast, War-Egan, Conn. Hours 40,000 – 80,000: Hanson Pipe & Precast, Mobile and Birmingham, Ala., and Manassas, Va. Hours 80,000 – 140,000: Hanson Pipe & Precast, Kissimmee, Fla., and Salem, Va. ; Superior Concrete, Auburn, Maine; and, Oldcastle Precast, Brookshire, Texas. Hours 140,000 – 200,000: Sherman Dixie Concrete, Dayton, Ohio; Concrete Systems, Hudson, N.H. (Hours over 200,000: Hartford Concrete Products Û Oldcastle, Hartford City, Ind.