Cemex USA officials assembled just after Labor Day in Brooksville, Fla., to mark the producer’s first U.S. admixture blending and packaging facility. The automated, 21,000-sq.-ft. plant will ultimately supply nearly 160 ready mixed plants throughout the Florida and Mid-South regions, shipping up to 16 normal or high range water reducers, setting accelerators or retarders, air-entraining agents and specialty agents by tote.
“This blending plant produces specialized admixtures developed by Cemex, and therefore, enables us to create concrete mixtures that differentiate us in the marketplace,” said Cemex USA President Ignacio Madridejos. “The centralized location ensures we can deliver those unique admixtures to the facilities that need it, providing our ready-mix customers with exceptional value-added products and allowing our plants to be ready for any request.”
Additional admixture blending and packaging plants are planned for sites in Texas and California, where the company has extensive, integrated cement, aggregate and ready mixed operations.
Easi-Set Worldwide, a subsidiary of Virginia-based Smith-Midland Corp., has added Minnesota’s Wells Concrete Products Inc. as a licensed producer of SlenderWall, a high-performance, lightweight architectural cladding.
“Wells’ efforts to find innovative ways to provide more value for clients is what led them to SlenderWall,” says Easi-Set President Art Miles. “The expertise Wells has in architectural precast products will play a pivotal role in expanding SlenderWall’s Midwest market opportunities. Their R&D skills, and relationships with accessories suppliers like Empirehouse (plant-installed windows), will be a benefit to both Easi-Set as an organization and SlenderWall customers.”
Wells Concrete is a precast solutions provider in the upper Midwest, serving seven states plus Manitoba from four plants and eight offices. “With the labor shortages we are experiencing in the field, we are bringing some of the site work into our plants including installation of windows and the application of foam insulation. The lighter weight SlenderWall system will allow multiple pieces on a load for shipping, which greatly improves the site logistics for the field services team as well as reduced loadings on the structure,” notes Wells Concrete Senior Vice President of Product Development Gregg Jacobson.
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Tony Aina |
Maryland ready mixed and aggregate producer Chaney Enterprises has named Tony Aina as green building guru for its recently rebranded building supplies and services division, BuilderUp. Aina will focus on sales and installation of insulated concrete forms. He joins with 16 years of general contracting experience, most recently managing a lumber company’s contractor division.
“In today’s tight labor market, ICF construction is a highly-desired option because less workers are needed, and this alleviates the pressure felt from the construction labor shortage our customers feeling,” says BuilderUp Chief Builder Steve Tripp. “Not only does this help with the labor shortage in the construction industry, but, because ICF installation is so fast, more jobs can be done per year. With rising materials costs, energy costs, and disaster-related costs, ICFs are more in-demand than ever before. Clearly there is a lot of education to be done on this topic and Tony is dedicated to advancing the building industry with this green product and our installation experts. His customer-oriented focus aligns perfectly with Chaney and BuilderUp.”