App accelerates ACI technician, inspector certification checks

Source: American Concrete Institute, Farmingon Hills, Mich.

The new Verify app allows users to quickly and easily confirm American Concrete Institute-certified individuals’ status by name or certification ID number. ACI has certified 400,000-plus concrete finishers, technicians, supervisors, inspectors and managers since the 1980s, and counts more than more than 123,000 active certifications across 25-plus programs worldwide.

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K. Watson Jr. shifts from Summit COO to Forterra CEO

Sources: Forterra Inc., Irving, Texas; CP staff

Karl Watson Jr. has transitioned from executive vice president and chief operating officer of Denver-based Summit Materials to chief executive officer and board member of Forterra Inc., a top concrete pipe and precast drainage structure producer. He arrives with 30-plus years in management and executive roles at major heavy building materials operators and, Forterra notes, “a track record of effectively leading through numerous business cycles and improving financial results.”

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Feds speed access to Davis-Bacon prevailing wage data

Sources: Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division; National Electrical Contractors Association, Bethesda, Md. 

The Labor Department is launching https://beta.sam.gov to succeed the www.WDOL.gov website for wage determination data under the Davis-Bacon Act, plus Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) guidelines. Features of the new site include:

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Associations poised for authoritative role in apprenticeship programs

Sources: U.S. Department of Labor; CP staff

A Labor Department Notice of Proposed Rulemaking calls for empowering agency staff to advance development of industry-recognized apprenticeship programs (IRAP), and trade associations or other not-for-profit organizations to function as Standards Recognition Entities (SRE) overseeing IRAP training, structure, and curricula in relevant industries or occupational areas.

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Concrete masonry sales pace cement consumption trend line

Sources: National Concrete Masonry Association, Herndon, Va.; CP staff

Year-over-year concrete masonry unit sales for 2017 increased 2.6 percent in the U.S. and 1.9 percent in Canada, according to gray or architectural block and masonry veneer data collected from 44 producers operating 210 plants, and analyzed in the inaugural National Concrete Masonry Association CMU Sales Survey.

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NRMCA seeks Driver Recruitment Survey responses by month’s end

Sources: National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Silver Spring, Md.; CP staff

The NRMCA Workforce Development Committee is encouraging producer participation in one of its top annual deliverables: the Mixer Driver Recruitment & Retention Survey, open here through June 28. Members aim to eclipse a 2018 survey sampling of 183 producers representing an estimated 26 percent of the industry driver pool. 

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