Concrete Pavement Progress 18 www.acpa.org 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 » continued from page 17 what they need to succeed in our industry,” said Thompson. “Their experience in the lab, visiting concrete operations, and working in the industry while interning means they understand the opportunities and choose a career in concrete.” In addition to concrete industry knowledge, students graduate with a minor in business which prepares them for entry- tomiddle-level management positions, he added. “We’ve hired two CIM interns, and one has joined us full-time,” said Chris Carwie, Business Development Manager at AG Peltz in Birmingham. “We’re actively seeking interns from the CIM program because they have a leg up on other applicants; they already understand the basics of concrete.” The company interviews students and participates in research programs to support the university program. History of CIM Since its inception in 1996, more than 80% of CIM graduates have continued to work in the industry. This has beenmade possible due to the concrete industry’s continued strong support of CIM through the involvement and financial support of the NSC. Many of the industry’s associations, foundations, companies, and Patron’s Groups have provided financial and in-kind support to the CIM program. Following CIM’s inception at Middle Tennessee StateUniversity, the programhas expanded to the New Jersey Institute of Technology, California State University-Chico, and Texas State University.The newest program is at SouthDakota State University (SDSU), which was launched in 2021. In addition to the four-year degree program, an Executive MBA in CIM is also available. SDSU CIM Program Director and Associate Professor of Practice Timothy Hostettler has previous experience that made it possible to launch the program quickly. A 35-year veteran of the concrete industry with 20 years in management, Hostettler’s involvement with CIM began in 2009 in California. He was managing a ready-mix facility and was asked to co-teach a course on facilitymanagement at California State University-Chico. His faculty partner resigned two weeks before the class began, so Hostettler taught the class solo and continued to take on other teaching responsibilities until 2017 when he moved to South Dakota for a business opportunity. “It was destiny that SDSU was chosen as the site for the newest CIMprogram and that I was here in South Dakota,” said Hostettler. Entry-level classes were taught in the 2021–2022 school year, and the full program will launch in the 2022–2023 school year. “We had four students in the first year, even though we had no time to recruit,” he said. Presentations to students with undeclaredmajors yielded one CIM student and another young woman who “stumbled” across the program in the course catalog. “Recruitment of students is a big focus for the upcoming year,” said Hostettler. He is visiting state industry associations in his 11-state area to
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy Nzc3ODM=