A visit with American Concrete Pipe Association Chair Tom Hartley
Few are better suited than Tom Hartley to take the reins as 2024 American Concrete Pipe Association chair while members and staff execute a new strategic plan. With a tenure spanning 29 years at Rinker Materials, he has played a pivotal role across the enterprise, including tours in finance, mergers & acquisitions and operations. As senior vice president of Sales and Marketing, he is central to the producer’s concrete pipe and precast plants across the United States.
Over the last few years, ACPA has navigated major changes, including system modernization, organizational restructuring, plus branding and messaging updates and new market approaches. In late 2023, Hartley joined other members to reassess and update the ACPA strategic plan. The plan was approved during the Annual Business Meeting in March, and is a key initiative of Hartley to champion its implementation. That process includes ensuring that members, along with association headquarters and field staff, are well-versed on the plan and equipped with the necessary tools to realize its objectives.
RESOURCE UTILIZATION
Under Hartley’s leadership, ACPA is prioritizing improvements in organizational efficiency. This initiative aims to optimize resource utilization among member volunteers and staff, extend the ACPA’s reach, and amplify its impact on stakeholders. Additionally, the group is committed to further modernizing its operational processes and tools through advanced technology to a) improve accounting systems, processes and technologies; b) enrich event planning capabilities, including registration, communications and logistics; and, c) boost the efficiency of member communications to increase knowledge, awareness and engagement.
As part of the technological modernization, the association has developed and launched a digital version of the QCast pipe and precast plant certification platform. This has streamlined communications, enhanced efficiency, and increased deliverables from staff members involved with quality assurance. This year also marks the fifth anniversary of ACPA’s ANSI National Accreditation Board recognition in accordance with ISO/IEC 17065. ANSI accreditation triggered a thorough internal revision to standardize and streamline QCast administrative aspects. Through the accreditation process, QCast ensures operations are competent, consistent and impartial; serves the public interest by meeting ANAB’s essential requirements for openness, fairness and consensus; and, continuously makes improvements through annual internal and external assessments of system effectiveness.
COMMITTEE ENGAGEMENT
As 2024 ACPA chair, Tom Hartley is actively encouraging members to further engage with committees inside and outside the organization. “The strength of the ACPA is derived from the active participation of its members in its various committees,” he explains. “One particularly noteworthy committee is the Sustainability, Resilience, and Environmental Leadership Committee, which has gained prominence since its inception two years ago.”
The committee’s role is increasingly critical, he adds, following the Environmental Protection Agency’s mid-July announcement that ACPA, along with the National Precast Concrete Association and Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute, will receive a collective $10 million grant tied to Inflation Reduction Act funding provisions for promoting low carbon construction material procurement. The grant positions ACPA, NPCA and PCI to advance members’ capacity to generate and include environmental product declarations in public or private construction project submittals.
Along with the ACPA Sustainability, Resilience and Environmental Leadership Committee, Hartley encourages Rinker Materials colleagues and peers to maintain the industry’s representation on ASTM International Committees C13 on Concrete Pipe, E60 on Sustainability and F36 on Technology and Underground Utilities, coupled with participation in the work of the American Society of Civil Engineers, American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association, and other industry organizations.
“Our goal when working in industry committees is really three-fold,” says Hartley: “1) Product experts, we need to ensure they advocate effectively for our products and their application; 2) Committee balance, we need to maintain a balance of opinion and expertise to ensure a level playing field for all drainage materials in the market, thus protecting the integrity and resilience of our nation’s infrastructure without compromising quality; and, 3) Community resilience, we want to guarantee that evacuation routes and those roads critical to the safety of communities are supported by resilient and durable products that meet the highest possible standards.”
“Regardless of committee scope, it is important to note the ACPA does not aim to restrict market competition,” he affirms. “We advocate for a fiercely competitive market that drives product quality and high standards of customer service. Our focus is on protecting the integrity of the nation’s infrastructure and ensuring that standards serve the public interest, without influence from those who may not have aligning interests or promote subpar products.”
