ASTM Lime Committee Elects Graves as Chairman

Robin E. Graves, Ph.D., corporate manager of technical services at Vulcan Materials Co. in Birmingham, Ala., has been elected chairman of ASTM International Committee C07 on Lime and Limestone.

Committee C07 includes more than 80 members who oversee 25 ASTM International standards related to lime and limestone used for industrial, environmental, chemical, construction and agricultural applications. 

Graves, who also serves as vice chairman of ASTM International Committee C09 on Concrete and Concrete Aggregates and chairs Subcommittee C09.95 on Coordination, has been an ASTM member since 1992. He is currently serving a three-year term on the ASTM board of directors and is a past member of the ASTM Committee on Technical Committee Operations (COTCO), where he was chairman of the subcommittee on Regulations. Graves is also a member of Committees C12 on Mortars and Grouts for Unit Masonry, D04 on Road and Paving Materials and D18 on Soil and Rock.

A graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi, where he received a bachelor’s degree in geology, Graves earned his master’s and doctoral degrees in geology and civil engineering from the University of Florida. He was a senior materials scientist with Vulcan for 13 years before assuming his current role in 2011. Prior to that he was quality control manager and business development manager at Chemical Lime Co., and later vice president of research and engineering for the National Aggregates Association.

A licensed professional geologist, Graves holds two patents, has published several technical articles and reports, and serves as a technical reviewer for various professional journals. Outside ASTM International, he is a member of the American Concrete Institute and the Transportation Research Board, and has served as chairman of the technical advisory committee and the advisory board of directors for the International Center for Aggregates Research.

ASTM International is one of the world’s largest development and delivery systems of standards and related products and services. ASTM International meets the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles for the development of international standards: coherence, consensus, development dimension, effectiveness, impartiality, openness, relevance and transparency. ASTM standards are accepted and used in research and development, product testing, quality systems and commercial transactions.
 

AGC Charities to Build Equestrian Center for Horses 4 Heroes

Construction charity organization AGC Charities Inc. will build an equestrian center for a local charity group that provides equestrian programs and activities for veterans, their families and local first responders. As part of its annual Operation Opening Doors effort, contractors will donate their time, expertise and money to create a new facility for Las Vegas-based Horses 4 Heroes.

“This project gives us a chance to give back to those who sacrifice so much for our freedom and safety,” says Jim Clemens, chairman emeritus of Philadelphia, Pa.-based Clemens Construction Co. and the chairman of AGC Charities. “We want these brave men and women to have a place to bring their families, relax and enjoy a day of riding.”

Since its establishment in 2006, Horses 4 Heroes has been operating out of the back yard of the woman who founded the group, Sydney Knott. But thanks to AGC Charities and the help of many member firms, the group has received permission from Las Vegas to build a facility at the Tulley Springs Ranch on the northern end of town.

Las Vegas-based Martin-Harris Construction has volunteered to serve as the lead contractor for the charitable effort. The AGC of Las Vegas also has committed to recruiting many of its members to participate in the effort. The facility will have an area for farm animals, riding arena and Mare Motel, as well as new fencing. In addition, the team will renovate one of the Ranch’s old cottages into a residence for the horse caretaker and perform significant site-prep work. The facility is scheduled to open on Thursday, March 6.

"Contractors have an obligation to give back to the communities that have helped make us so successful,” says Guy Martin, VP at Martin-Harris Construction and president of the AGC of Las Vegas. “We wanted to give something to show our appreciation for that our military and first responder families do on our behalf.”

Clemens said the AGC Charities group is currently fundraising to support the soon-to-be renovated facility. He noted that the charitable group was established six years ago to channel and support the charitable efforts of the construction community. He added that the group held previous national Operation Opening Doors projects in Washington, D.C., Honolulu, Orlando and Palm Springs.

Click here for more information about Horses 4 Heroes, AGC Charities Inc. and its Operation Opening Doors projects.

Mason Contractors: The OSHA PEL in Simple Terms

Click the link to learn more about the OSHA PEL in simple terms, courtesy of IQ Power Tools.

http://www.iqpowertools.com/silica-the-osha-pel-simple-terms

In Memoriam: Kris Belinte Chee

Kris Belinte Chee died Sunday, Feb. 16, 2014.  Kris graduated from the AMCA Apprenticeship Program in 2001 and, since that time, regularly volunteered his Saturdays to work with our apprentices and assisted with various apprenticeship community service projects throughout the years. 

Kris was a regular competitor in local masonry competitions, including the Arizona's Fastest Trowel Competition on the Block and the Bricklayer 500. 

Kris represented Arizona many times on the winners' podium during the MCAA Fastest Trowel on the Block Competition held during the World of Concrete/World of Masonry Convention including:

• 2014 - 2nd Place
  
  
• 2012 - 3rd Place
  
  
• 2011 - 1st Place
  
  
• 2010 - 1st Place
  
  
• 2009 - 3rd Place
  
  

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Belinte Chee Family during this difficult time.

Bluebeam Invests in Associated Schools of Construction Student Competition

Bluebeam Software, a developer of PDF-based markup, measurement and collaboration solutions for design, construction and other technical professionals, exhibited at the 27th Annual Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) Student Competition and Construction Management Conference in Sparks, N.V. 

ASC, an association dedicated to promoting excellence in construction education, is becoming an increasingly important resource contributing to the development of Bluebeam’s academic outreach program.

While Bluebeam attended the conference to show students and educational professionals how the company’s flagship solution, Revu, streamlines project communication, company representatives learned more about the challenges that construction management students and academic professionals face. 

Bluebeam attributes a sharp increase in students and professors inquiring about Revu licenses for school labs and competitions to a renewed commitment by institutions to engage with the industry, define the essential skills graduates will need to be competitive and to provide the critical tools that will enhance those skills.

The ASC Competition provides university students with the unique and highly competitive opportunity to partner with top design and construction firms. Student teams apply their skills in solving the types of problems that they would face during the bidding and procurement phases of real-world construction projects.

In addition to providing Revu licenses for student competitions, Bluebeam is investing in the future of the industry by furnishing university labs with Revu licenses, offering hands-on training and providing opportunities for Revu to be incorporated into the curriculum.

Mason Contractors: Organizational Structure That Works for Change

By Tom Somodi

Many, if not most people, would argue that the ability for an organization to change over time is critical to that organization’s long-term survival. To this end, the literature is full of theories, methodologies, recommendations and analysis on how an organization should be structured in order to maximize the likelihood of obtaining successful change.

It is explained that organizations need to be structured to provide employee empowerment, lean operating techniques, and continuous improvement philosophies as just a small sampling of examples. Yet, we still hear about organizations failing to obtain desired change even though they possessed exemplary efforts to support such structural recommendations.

The reality is that if we want to see advancement in this arena, a major paradigm shift needs to occur regarding the dynamics of change and organizational structure and the best place to begin this shift is by leveraging off of concepts found in Change Science.

Step 1 – Develop and Communicate a Proper Perspective of Change in the Organization

One of the first things Change Science tells us is that change is constantly and continuously occurring around us on a universal basis. Therefore, it is important for everyone in the organization from the board of directors down to individuals in frontline administrative and production positions to recognize this fact.

Every time a new customer order is received, an engineering drawing is created, a product is produced, an invoice is generated, and the list goes on, a change has occurred within the organization. Therefore, an organization is continuously inundated with change and assuming that the organization has managed to survive, this change (both expected and unexpected) on a whole has been successful change.

So, step one is for everyone to stop thinking of change as strictly specific efforts and/or events and recognize that the organization is already successfully dealing with a continuous stream of change at every level in the organization.

Step 2 – Develop an Organization Wide Understanding of Responsibility

So how does an organization manage all this continuously occurring change? The answer is simple – delegation of responsibility. From the person who pushes the button to start the production machine, to the person who enters the customer order and to the manager that resolves a conflict, responsibility for the control of these various changes has been delegated.

It is important to recognize that the concept of employee empowerment automatically exists as soon as that individual is given responsibility for managing and controlling the change that has been assigned to them. What is most often lacking is a top to bottom organizational recognition of the fact that not only is there a significant amount of change continuously occurring in the organization, but through the assignment of responsibility, all the employees in the organization are already masters at managing and executing all of that change.

Step 3 – Recognize and Communicate Two Broad Categories of Change within the Organization

Given that organizations are already managing and executing a continuous flow of change, why all the discussion about how organizations struggle with change? The answer lies in the fact that organizations have allowed the lines of responsibility between day to day operational change and strategic change to get blurred. More importantly, the lines of responsibility have not only become blurred but it is common that the interrelationship between operational change and strategic change has become disconnected.

Strategic change is in response to both internal opportunities for improvement and reaction to external influences that can threaten the organization.

Operational change focuses on the short term expected and unexpected change that needs to be executed in support of the customer and is based upon strategic change that has occurred within the organization on a historical basis.

It is critical that everyone in an organization understands that both operational change and strategic change is equally important in order for the organization to survive. There needs to be an understanding and an acceptance on the part of all individuals within the organization that operational change needs to be continuously executed in order to support the customer in the here and now, while strategic change needs to be continuously executed in order for the organization to survive into the future.

Step 4 – Adjust Organizational Responsibility to Clearly Support Operational and Strategic Change

Assuming an organization is successful in Steps 1 through 3, it can still face challenges when addressing change within the organization if there is not a clear delineation of responsibility for operational and strategic change amongst the workforce. The following guidelines will help:

·       Drive responsibility for day to day operational change as far down the organizational pyramid as possible. Ideally, the more operational change that can be executed and controlled at the administrative and production levels of the organization, the better. These are the people closest to the operational change and generally have the greatest ability to address opportunities and issues that may arise.

·       Clearly indicate (i.e. including through appraisal and compensation arrangements) that the primary responsibility over strategic change is from the lowest management levels on up to the executive and board level. There will always be operational change that requires involvement at the higher levels of management. Even a major customer contract could easily require signoff by the CEO. However, it should be clear that the main responsibility for management should be related to the accomplishment of strategic change. 

·       There should be a clear understanding at the ground operational level that it is management’s responsibility to make sure there is continuous strategic change occurring in the organization with an objective of long-term improvement and survival of the organization.  However, it is also important to make sure a communication loop exists that supports the delineation of responsibility. This includes communication of the whys and what behind strategic change to those with a primary responsibility over operational change along with feedback communication to those responsible for strategic change regarding the performance of strategic change initiatives and other opportunities for improvements that might exist.

By following these four steps, the formula associated with an organizational structure that will greatly enhance the ability to support the change required for growth and long-term survival is really quite simple. The real challenge lies in executing the paradigm shift that requires a clear understanding by everyone in the organization that change is already constantly successfully executing within the organization and a new delineation of responsibility between strategic and operational change is required.

Tom Somodi is a speaker and expert on change, applying his extensive domestic and international business experience, including reorganizations, acquisitions, strategic change initiatives, and taking a company public during the difficult 2011 financial markets. Tom has held CEO, COO, CFO and board level positions. Tom’s book, "The Science of Change: Basics Behind Why Change Succeeds and Fails" is now available. For more information, visit www.changescienceinstitute.com or email info@changescienceinstitute.com.