At the Membership Meeting held during the ARM Annual Convention December 15, the membership of the Aggregate & Ready Mix Association of Minnesota elected a total of seven new directors.  The new Producer Directors are Mark Bintzler (Aggregate Industries), Jerry Carlson (Arrowhead Concrete) and Steve Linegar (AVR).  The new Associate Directors are Travis Collins (GRT) and Dave Fennessy (SI Concrete Systems).  The new Cement Company Directors are Dave Brodacker (Lehigh Cement Company) and Matt Parrish (Holcim (US) Inc.)

The 2006 ARM Board President Chad Sauer (Barton Sand & Gravel) recognized outgoing 2005 Board President, Reed Carlson (Fred Carlson Co, LLC) as well as outgoing Directors Norm Jagger (Aggregate Industries), John Rivisto (AVR), Mark Johnson (Lehigh Cement Company), Autry Beamon (Holcim (US) Inc.), Dennis Ehlert (Brock White Company) and Mike Thomes (Xcel Energy). The first 2006 ARM Board of Directors meeting will be held Tuesday, January 10, 2006 at the Eagan Community Center.  The main agenda item will be the finalization of the 2006 Budget. (L) Outgoing ARM President Reed Carlson

On December 14, 2005, two men were recognized for their lifetime commitment to the concrete industry at the ARM Building Excellence Awards Banquet.  Tom Richardson (retired from Lafarge) and Steve Rentz (Central Concrete) were honored for their commitment to the ready mix industry through their dedicated efforts both on a professional and volunteer level spanning a lifetime.

Richardson, nominated by Bob Bogard (Granite City Ready Mix), and Rentz, who was nominated by his son, Brian Rentz, were presented the awards in front of an audience of their families, friends and peers.  Between them, Richardson and Rentz have a combined total of over 70 years experience in the ready mix-related industries.


Tom & Donna Richardson and Steve & Wanda Rentz

Jason Fritz (Cemstone Products Company) was awarded the 2005 ARM Promoter of the Year Award December 15, 2005 at the ARM Annual Convention.  Fritz, Co-Chair of ARM’s ICF Committee, was recognized for his leadership and commitment to the ready mix and ICF industries in Minnesota.


2004 Winner Mitch Voehl (L) and 2003 Winner Jason Kruger (R)
congratulate 2005 Winner Jason Fritz (C)

ARM was pleased to have Bob Garbini, President of the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association; Joe Colaneri, Director, Government Affairs at the National Stone Sand & Gravel Association; Jim Niehoff, Residential Program Manager at the Portland Cement Association and Dawn Faull, Program Manager of the National Association of Home Builders’ Concrete Home Building Council at its recent Annual Convention.  ARM appreciates the support of the national associations and will continue to foster relationships with them.

In late September, NRMCA in conjunction with the Aggregate and Ready Mix Association of Minnesota (ARM) and Dale Fisher of Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI), placed a 17’ x 60’, 6” pervious concrete pavement at the nationally known state road pavement research facility in Albertville. The primary purpose of this research project is to test freeze-thaw durability of pervious concrete in the harsh winter environment common in the state of Minnesota and other northern states. Temperature gauges embedded in the concrete, aggregate recharge bed and sub-base indicates that the pavement system is entirely frozen.

Despite snow, slush, freezing rain and plowing, the pervious concrete appears to be holding up quite well thus far, reports NRMCA Midwest field promoter Brad Burke. He said that the pavement is receiving, on average, one 80,000 lb tractor trailer combination per day for traffic count. Burke, who has worked closely with a number of people in developing this project, will continue to document observations about this important research.

For more information, contact Brad Burke at bburke@nrmca.org

The Aggregate and Ready Mix Association of Minnesota (ARM) continues to lead the way in the promotion of insulating concrete form (ICF) homes. It's clear that the organizations' efforts are paying off—statistics published by the Insulating Concrete Form Association (ICFA) show that Minnesota was the leading state for residential ICF construction for the last half of 2004 and the first half of 2005.

ARM has developed the Concrete Home Specialist Program for their concrete homebuilders, which the ICFA is considering for adoption on a nationwide scale. The program identifies builders and installers that have completed at least three ICF homes, whose annual production is at least 50% ICF construction, and who have been approved by ARM’s ICF Committee. There are currently 14 contractors in Minnesota who have earned the Concrete Home Specialist Designation.

At its annual convention in Minneapolis last week, ARM announced that it will hold a statewide Concrete Homes Open House event on April 22-23, 2006, to coincide with Severe Weather Awareness Week.

Source:  Portland Cement Association’s December 19, 2005 “Executive Report”

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) figures issued Dec. 5 recorded an estimated 472 million metric tons of crushed stone produced and sold in the third quarter of 2005, a slight increase compared with the same period of 2004. The estimated U.S. output of construction sand and gravel in the third quarter was 387 million metric tons, compared with 379 million metric tons in the same period last year. USGS estimated the output of crushed stone in the first nine months of 2005 at 1.2 billion metric tons, a 3.6 percent increase compared with the same period of 2004. The estimated output of sand and gravel in the first nine months of 2005 was 942 billion metric tons, a slight increase over the same period in 2004. An estimated 852 million metric tons of total aggregates were produced in the third quarter compared with 846 million metric tons over the same period last year. The estimated output of total aggregates produced in the first nine months of 2005 was 2.2 billion metric tons, compared with 2.1 billion metric tons in the same period of 2004.

Source: NSSGA