The Concrete Promoters' Resource Center (ConcretePromotion.org) was launched in January 2008 to assist industry promoters in creating broader awareness of the benefits of concrete through shared knowledge, enhanced communication and access to the best tools. Some noteworthy content added recently includes:

·         New “Big Benefit Success Stories” debuts with five successes in a format suitable for printing and sharing with specifiers.

·         ICFA has posted eight “Tech Briefs” as PDFs that are a great help in ICF promotion — click here.

·         Jason Wimberly from Carolinas Ready Mixed Concrete Association submitted copies of six concrete promotion ads that ran in business journals in North and South Carolina — these are available by clicking here.

For two years NRMCA has been offering popular promotion Webinars to audiences comprised of whomever signed up for a particular presentation (click for a list of Webinars, scroll down for Promotion Webinars). NRMCA is now offering special Webinar presentations for particular audiences in cooperation with state affiliate partners and members. Affiliates and members can arrange for NRMCA to provide any Webinar as a featured presentation during an in-person meeting or via the Internet to any number of member or employee locations.

These presentations by NRMCA staff can be adapted to the particular needs of the specific audience and they will also have the benefit of Q & A and discussions that center on interests that are pertinent for the specific group. The fee for these special Webinars are based on the number of participants with a minimum of $500.

For more information, contact NRMCA’s Glenn Ochsenreiter at 240-485-1140 or glenn@nrmca.org.

PCA estimates that parking lot new construction is a 90 million cubic yard ready mixed concrete opportunity every year — and the consensus is that the reconstruction parking lot opportunity is several times that large. Whitetopping is a key application to get a portion of that reconstruction market and NRMCA Senior National Resource Director Jon Hansen’s new Whitetopping Webinar is a great way to quickly learn the fundamentals about the application and how to promote it.

Under this program, the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA) is working with the Ohio Ready Mixed Concrete Association (ORMCA) to provide concrete parking lot design suggestions for specifiers referred by NRMCA State Affiliates. The program encourages and supports specifiers lacking concrete experience to give concrete parking lots a try with a high likelihood for success. The program provides design suggestions, including CAD/CAM drawings along with guidance for the project designer, contractor or owner, to allow them to design, specify and/or build an economical and well designed project. Promoters that have utilized this program have had a very high success rate.

The Virginia Ready-Mixed Concrete Association has submitted more than a dozen projects to the DAP program. Keith Beazley from VRMCA had this to say about the program:

I think the combination of CPA software and the DAP design service and the flip chart is probably the most professional thing we can do as far as promoting parking lots — very powerful. I’m totally impressed with this service (DAP), we’ve done many nice projects, in fact when submitting the combination of the CPA analysis and the CAD drawings (DAP) my success rate is perfect with the exception of one job. By using DAP, you create a bond and partnership with the engineer. He knows that you are looking out for his interest and his client’s interest and they are very receptive to you — he will give you more information and he feels like you’re a partner in the project. He’s using a service that I provide to him at no charge — this builds trust and confirms I have his best interest in mind.

The cost of a DAP project ranges from $300 to $700 depending on the area of the parking lot. Until July 1, 2009, NRMCA will pay 100% of the cost of the first state affiliate submission and 50% for the second and subsequent submission. After that date NRMCA will subsidize only the first submission (100%) and the second (50%). Click here for complete information.

As part of the stimulus package, the Federal government plans to spend $72 billion on education. When Hessam Nabavi of Virginia Ready-Mixed Concrete Association offered his draft of a state promotion brochure for concrete school design, NRMCA was glad to use it as the basis for our new national brochure. With expectations that significant investments will be made in new schools and facilities with the stimulus money, this new 4-page 8-1/2 x 11" promotion brochure (view a PDF) is designed to increase ready mixed concrete’s share. From pervious to ICFs to tilt-up, this attractive and informative brochure outlines concrete's contributions to sustainable design, reduced costs and supportive educational environments.

Orders can be “mix-n-matched” with other promotion brochures (including the recently released “Architectural and Decorative Concrete” brochure) for special quantity discounts – as low as 39 cents each. Order at least 250 brochures by May 31 and receive a free 3-tier acrylic display. For more information, Click here.

NRMCA’s ConcreteAnswers series of Web sites offer invitations to specifiers for project assistance from the ready mixed concrete industry. “Assistance” links on those sites lead to the series “hub” site: www.ConcreteAnswers.org. Specifiers are given the choice of contacting NRMCA for assistance or a local, state or regional organization that covers their geographic area. Experience shows that approximately half of these requests for assistance lead to valuable new contacts and leads for upcoming projects.

NRMCA is glad to list a contact for all our non-profit promotion partners and wants to make sure the listings we currently provide are up to date — please check the page at http://www.concreteanswers.org/Local_Assistance.html. To correct a listing or add a new one, contact Karen Ochsenreiter at 240-485-1183 or kaochsenreiter@nrmca.org.

In a similar manner, on the parking lot site (www.ConcreteParking.org), NRMCA provides contact information for the use of specifiers who may be interested in hearing a presentation comparing concrete and asphalt parking lots based on CPA software. Individuals from promotion partners are listed that have taken an NRMCA course or Webinar on CPA software. Please check the listing at www.ConcreteAnswers.org/CPA_software.html and let Karen know about corrections or additions.

NRMCA’s new Selling Concrete Parking Lots course offered recently in Phoenix received excellent evaluations from both ready mixed concrete producer and contractor attendees, gaining a collective rating of 4.83 out of five with every participant indicating he or she will recommend the course to a colleague.

Conducted by NRMCA national resource directors Phil Kresge and Jon Hansen, the course provides the practical information and techniques needed to successfully win new parking lot business and reconstruction projects. The instructors share their considerable parking lot sales and placement experience, including key aspects of design and construction, an understanding of asphalt’s vulnerabilities, how to effectively use available promotion tools, and the importance of marketing and presentation to gain the sale.

NRMCA offers both one and 1 ½-day versions of the course and will conduct it in partnership with state affiliates as well as for member companies.

For more information, contact NRMCA’s Glenn Ochsenreiter at 240-485-1140 or glenn@nrmca.org.

Last fall was the first time NRMCA’s ConcreteWorks included a promotion/sales track — attendance was better than expected and session and conference evaluation scores were high (more than 500 people attending the entire event). This fall NRMCA will expand the variety of promotion/sales offerings in part to help compensate for the fact that the popular Professional Promoters Workshop will not be held this spring. To support state association participation at ConcreteWorks, NRMCA will offer a 50% discount of the $575 admission fee to state association personnel and provide a $200 travel stipend to a single staff member from affiliates. ConcreteWorks will held October 18-20 in Indianapolis. A link to information will be posted soon on NRMCA’s home page (www.NRMCA.org).

Also, please take a few minutes to complete our  survey (click here) which asks you to rate your interest in 15 promotion/sales topics to help us develop the promotion/sales track at NRMCA’s upcoming ConcreteWorks fall conference. Please complete the survey even if you are not planning to attend the event — NRMCA appreciates feedback on current sales and promotion interest apart from its relevance for ConcreteWorks.