www.acpa.org 17 Quarter 2, 2022 LABOR SHORTAGES IN ALL AREAS OF CONSTRUCTION HAVE BEEN WELL-DOCUMENTED over recent years, but the talent gap does not just apply to employees working in the field. “Our industry’s aging workforce represents a need to identify the next generation of leaders who can take over when current leaders retire,” said Art Thompson, Executive Director of the North Dakota Concrete Council.Thompson chaired the search committee charged with finding the best fit school for a new CIM program in the North C O N C R E T E I N D U S T R Y M A N A G E M E N T P R O G R A M continues on page 18 » Filling the Leadership Pipeline CIM program attracts and prepares talent for the future By Sheryl S. Jackson Central region. “Creating a pipeline of future leaders is not a simple task, but one solution has been in place since 1996 when members of the concrete industry joined together to create a four-year curriculum for a Concrete Industry Management (CIM) program that was initially offered at Middle Tennessee State University.” While different construction degree programs might include a class on concrete for one semester, the CIM program focuses on concrete throughout the curriculum and uses a combination of classroom teaching, lab experience, field trips, and internships to prepare students for careers in the industry, said Thompson. CIM is a joint initiative of a growing number of universities supported by networks of local, state, and regional concrete industry producers, suppliers, and contractors. “The curriculum is overseen by the National Steering Committee (NSC) of CIM and the education subcommittee to ensure that students learn
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