Source: CP staff
As outgoing National Ready Mixed Concrete Association Chairman Karl Watson, Jr., of Cemex USA had to tackle the threat of aggressive environmental regulators, so must incoming Chairman David Robison, president & CEO of Delta Industries, Inc., step into his role amid members’ debate over a new funding mechanism for the industry. With one of the biggest challenges in building the ready mixed industry back up to pre-recession production being the search for additional resources to promote the product’s benefits, NRMCA has taken its cue from other construction materials associations and begun the work to launch a Check-Off Program. To promote their products on a national scale, NRMCA is exploring the idea for the ready mixed concrete industry, with largely positive reactions from producers around the country.
“Opposition to Check-Off seems to revolve around the fact that people don’t like having other people tell them they have to spend money,” explains Robison. “Check-Off is not a tax. If approved by the industry, it would be money we’re investing in ourselves to promote our product. There is fear of government intervention, which is a valid concern for people to ask about, but in conversations I’ve had with people in very successful Check-Off Programs, government intervention is not something you need to worry about. The industry writes the legislation, laying out all of the guidelines of the program, then has a chance to vote in referendum to approve the program before it ever goes into effect. The government’s only role is to ensure that the Check-Off Board operates in accordance to the bill the industry drafted and approved.”
In addition, Robison mentioned that NRMCA’s government affairs team has centered on getting a fully-funded, multi-year transportation bill in place sooner rather than later. The association stresses that passage of such a bill plays a key role in stimulating the economy, maintaining the nation’s global competitiveness, and creating American jobs. As such, NRMCA has orchestrated a coalition of 15 like-minded associations and construction industries to host a rally on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to emphasize the importance of passing a multi-year, fully-funded surface transportation bill and the role it plays in creating jobs and stimulating the economy.
Elected NRMCA chairman at the association’s annual convention, March 4-6 in Savannah, Ga., Robison began his career at the 67-year-old Delta Industries in 1971 and spent the majority of his early years in the Ready Mix Concrete Division. In the late 1980s, he was promoted to Vice President of Delta and finally to current position in 1995.