ACPA Concrete Pavement Progress - Quarter 2, 2022

www.acpa.org 19 Quarter 2, 2022 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 promote the program and ask them to talk about the program with their members. “As we build the program, the easiest students to recruit are those who have family members already working in the industry,” he said. “I’m talking about the program to corporate leaders, but we need to get the word out to rank and file employees.” With state associations and companies offering scholarships, there is even more incentive for students to consider the program, he added. “A full-time recruiter is the next staff person to hire.” Although the NSC sets the CIM curriculum, Hostettler has tweaked it a bit to ref lect the unique situation at SDSU. “Other CIM programs often get students who have completed two years of community college or trade school, but South Dakota does not have a community college system,” he said. “This means that I will have more freshmen, which means they have never had a safety class.” He has created a safety class for first-year students in the SDSU program to ensure they have the proper training before visiting cement facilities, batch plants, or job sites. Launching a New Program The first step to establishing a program in a region is the creation of a Patrons Group that consists of concrete industry members and associations in the area that commit to financial support of the program, saidThompson. “The group commits to $100,000 per year for five years, andCIMprovides a matching grant to bring the total to $1 million,” he said. The university uses these funds to staff and support the private-public partnership. “In addition to the foundational funds to support the university program, a number of scholarships are available to students to minimize the cost of education.” Once funding is assured, universities in the region are asked if they are interested in offering the program. “For the North Central region, five universities responded positively, then we scheduled site visits to meet with faculty and administration and tour the facilities,” said Thompson. The group was narrowed to two for the NSC to make the final choice. “SDSU set themselves apart from the others with their proven track record of private-public partnerships, including an architectural program that is fully accredited,” said Thompson. Full accreditation of the program is an expectation from the CIM organization. “It was clear that they want to work with industry.” Thor Becken, the owner of the Minnesota-based ready-mix company Cemstone , was a key driver in establishing a CIM program in the North Central Region. His family-owned company has been in business for 95 years, and he sees the need to develop industry leaders for the future. CIM programs include internships to give real-world experience to students and hold career fairs to connect industry representatives with graduates. “We needed a program in the Midwest because it is difficult to recruit students to leave their region for an internship or a job after graduation—they usually stay in the region of the school they attended,” he said. “Our region includes 11 states, and we have support from companies and associations in all 11 for the SDSU program.” There are several ways concrete industry companies and individuals can support the program, said Becken. “In addition to financial support, there is always a need for field trip sponsors, guest speakers, internships, and research and development projects that include student participation.” This is in addition to spreading theword about the program and making sure company employees know about the program, he said. Hostettler has a good story to tell when encouraging students to consider the concrete industry as a career. His oldest son graduated from the CIM program at California State-Chico while Hostettler was teaching and is now heading up an aggregate operation for a cement producer. His other son is an operations manager for a ready-mix company. As members of the concrete industry look at the next several years and build a pipeline of leadership for the future, CIM programs are an important resource, said Hostettler. “We have to overcome the perception that all people who work in the concrete industry are laborers, and this program demonstrates the range of professional careers that exist in our industry.” To learn more about the program, visit www.concretedegree.com or https:// www.sdstate.edu/construction-andoperations-management/concrete-industrymanagement. As members of the concrete industry look at the next several years and build a pipeline of leadership for the future, CIM programs are an important resource.

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