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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Robert Piceno

Well, I will keep it short and to the point with this month’s message. This past Tuesday November 18th, we were very fortunate to have Mr. Tom Pyle speak on AB-32 and how the CO2 will be regulated in the concrete industry due to the Governors climate action team activities. One of the many hot topics in our daily industry news that will change the way we currently do things. There was a lot of information that came out of Mr. Pyle’s presentation and from all the great questions asked as well. Thank you Mr. Tom Pyle and those who attended. We hope to see you all once again at our December program.

December 11th – We will have a winter Happy Hour Social at Seau’s, which will be another good opportunity catch up with others in the concrete industry. This event is FREE.

January 13th - We will have a guest speaker talking about the Petrography of Concrete.

So please come and join us and if you are not a member and are interested in becoming a member and seeing the benefits the ACI has to offer please contact our San Diego office at (619) 579-1940 or email us at concreteaci@cox.net.

As we prepare to enter the holiday season, I am sure that we all have a lot on ours minds. Nevertheless, we must remain focused on the day-to-day task, whether it is looking to make your concrete as green as possible or just preparing for this holiday season. Whatever it may be, we have to realize that the things we cannot control may not get fixed overnight or even by the end of this year and that, this time is for us to focus on friends, relatives and those that we care deeply about and making it as memorable a holiday season as possible.

Season Greetings!

Robert Piceno

As we to move through this fast paced year we are all still well aware of our current economy and the challenges that come with it. Some of us have been through this before and some of us are seeing this and feeling the impact for the first time. It is evident, as construction funds decrease and costs of materials increase, it forces us to think out of the box and be more innovative than we have had to in the past while still continuing to reduce cost.

The last program that we held in July “ACI 360 – Design of Slabs-on-Ground & Cost Effective Slabs on Ground” presented by Jeff Ferris of Propex Concrete Systems and Robert Waggoner of PNA was focused on the potential ways of reducing construction cost while enhancing the quality of your concrete floor or pavement. I would like say “thank you” to Jeff Ferris and Robert Waggoner for giving us alternatives and some answers to the many questions that arise when thinking out of the box.

As we continue to move through this difficult year it is apparent that the next year may be more of the same if not tougher. It is easy to look at downside of all this, but we need to also look at what can be taken from these tough times as well. When we think out of the box, we venture down many paths seeking the right answers, some paths will lead us to closed doors, but many of those paths will lead us to open doors. These open doors can lead us to new opportunities, business contacts & relations, innovations and above all knowledge. It also breaks us of the mold that many of us have become accustom to the past couple of years and forces us to not do it the way we’ve always done it.

We will do our best in continuing to provide you with the paths to venture down and the open doors that will provide some answers through programs and guest speakers. This month we will be dark but our upcoming scheduled programs in September and October will both be programs that you will not want to miss out on. September we will be grateful to host a program that is given at the World of Concrete in Las Vegas. It will be titled “Engineering 101 for the Non Engineers” presented by Jay Thomas and Nils Fox both of Structural Preservation Systems, Inc. In October we will be hitting out of the box at our annual ACI golf tournament held at the Twin Oaks Golf Course in San Marcos. Sign up now for both events. You can locate sign up information in this edition of the news letter or on our website. Should you have any ideas for upcoming programs please give us a call. I’ll leave with a quote from Alexander Graham Bell…

"When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us."
Until next time, Be Safe!