The Ready Mixed Concrete Research & Education Foundation (RMC Foundation) kicked off a major fundraising campaign and celebrated its 25th anniversary at a reception during the 2016 National Ready Mixed Concrete Association Convention last month in San Diego.
The campaign will secure matching gifts to leverage a $3 million pledge from the Troesh Family Foundation of California. Paid over the 2016–2020 period, it is predicated on the RMC Foundation achieving a 3:1 match in contributions from industry and other sources. A total of $9 million in new contributions must be pledged in order to receive the full Troesh Foundation gift. A $12 million net will enable the RMC Foundation to maintain its current funding levels for programs advancing ready mixed concrete and cast-in-place concrete practice.
Backed by founders of Southern California’s Robertson’s Ready Mix, the Troesh Foundation announced the pledge just prior to the anniversary reception. “We are pleased as a family to be able to give back to an industry where I started my career and built my initial business,” said Dennis Troesh, Robertson’s founder. “We believe in the RMC Foundation’s mission of increasing quality, professionalism and sustainability in the ready mixed concrete industry, and are happy to support their efforts with this gift. We challenge companies, and those who have made their careers in the industry, to join us in supporting this organization.”
RMC Foundation officers announced during the reception an initial $3,275,000 in pledges over the next five years, led by $500,000 commitments from Ash Grove Cement Co., CalPortland Co. and Lehigh Hanson Inc. Early contributors in the $100,000–$300,000 range are GCP Applied Technologies, BASF Construction Chemicals, Command Alkon, Concrete Supply Co., U.S. Concrete, Vulcan Materials, Chandler Concrete, and Staker Parson Companies.
Chairman Matt Wood (Ash Grove Cement) recognized companies stepping up to the fundraising challenge, noting, “It is a testament to the Foundation’s high-value research and education programs that companies like ours are so willing to reinvest in this important industry resource.”
“The Troesh Foundation’s generous gift will provide us the opportunity to achieve a fully-funded endowment so that we can continue to invest in important industry research and education in perpetuity,” said RMC Foundation Executive Director Julie Garbini. Commitments announced in San Diego, she added, “have gotten us off to a great start, and we are humbled that so many companies have been willing to step up early on. If we are able to achieve our [$9 million] goal, we anticipate that the Foundation will finally be fully-funded so that it can be maintained as a lasting industry resource … We aim to keep the ready mixed concrete industry on the cutting edge so that it can provide high quality, sustainable homes, buildings and infrastructure to the general public.”
Early campaign pledges have brought the RMC Foundation past the $30 million mark in commitments over a 25-year period. In the same window, trustees have approved more than $15 million for 65 projects. Additional information on the campaign, 25th anniversary observances and current research and education activities can be obtained at www.rmc-foundation.org.
|
|
| Major contributors on hand for the 25th anniversary celebration were, from left, Staker Parson’s Scott Parson; GCP Applied Technologies’ Adam Grose; RMC Foundation Vice Chairman Diggs Bishop of Vulcan Materials; 2015-16 RMC Foundation Chairman Matt Wood of Ash Grove Cement; 2015 NRMCA Chairman Allen Hamblen of CalPortland Co.; BASF Construction Chemicals’ Alan Nedza; 2009 NRMCA Chairman Henry Batten of Concrete Supply Co.; RMC Foundation Executive Director Julie Garbini; 2016 NRMCA Chairman Ted Chandler of Chandler Concrete Co.; U.S. Concrete’s Wally Johnson; Lehigh Hanson’s Lori Tiefenthaler; and, Command Alkon’s Phil Ramsey. |