Sources: Portland Cement Association, Skokie, Ill.; CP staff
Portland Cement Association has named 2015 John P. Gleason, Jr., Leadership Awards recipients in three categories: CalPortland Co. Vice President, Marketing Bill Larson, Business Continuity; Cemex USA Director, Market Development Jim Mack, Market Development; and, Buzzi Unicem USA Director, Environmental Affairs Adamn Swercheck, Young Leaders. The awards honor member company employees who have raised the bar on leadership and commitment, and made their mark on the association and industry. Business Continuity and Market Development dovetail key PCA strategic initiatives, while Young Leaders acknowledges high potential in non-executive employees.
At CalPortland, Larson is credited as an effective advocate for the use of portland cement and concrete in all aspects of government-backed construction. He has developed relationships with California Department of Transportation and encouraged the agency to implement the MIT-hosted Concrete Sustainability Hub’s (CSHub) pavement vehicle interaction model in real-life world conditions; consider true life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) as defined by CSHub; and, adopt an AD/AB policy that makes concrete pavement a viable solution.
From his Cemex base, Mack has been a critical component in PCA paving advocacy efforts, performing research and analysis integral to past and ongoing life-cycle assessment and LCCA research; incorporating CSHub findings into advocacy; and, melding of technical engineering with financial aspects. He has represented cement and concrete interests before meetings of the White House Office of Management and Budget, Federal Highway Administration, state departments of transportation, and U.S. Government Accountability Office.
At Buzzi Unicem, Swercheck demonstrates leadership in the areas of energy and environment, and has made significant contributions in development of industry positions on major Environmental Protection Agency rules and revised regulations.
The awards are named after PCA’s president from 1986 until retirement in 2007. PCA members and allied interests recognized Jay Gleason for his consensus building and strong leadership skills. The 2015 award recipients were selected from a pool of 18 finalists nominated from 12 PCA producers.