CIM Makes a Mark at WOC

The Concrete Industry Management program had a big week at the World of Concrete. Once again CIM students and faculty partcipated in seminars and worked the CIM booth. During the course of the week, the students and faculty members had numerous opportunities to interact with people representing various parts of the industry.

On Wednesday, we held a press conference to provide the media with an update about the CIM program and unveil the first-ever CIM Annual Report. A PDF of the Annual Report is available here.

Committee meeting for the Education, Auction, Long Range Planning, and Finance Committee were held on Wednesday. The CIM National Steering Committee held meetings on Wednesday and Thursday.

The 5th Annual CIM Auction was held on Thursday and $386,000 was raised to establish, support, and sustain programs at selected universities. Both silent and live auctions were held. The signature item was a concrete mixer truck donated by McNeilus and Freightliner. The auction was made possible by the generous support from Hanley Wood, the World of Concrete, and Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers.

Perhaps the most interesting and emotional aspect of the week was the memorial the CIM students built for the firefighters who were killed in the 9/11 attacks.  Ed Gruetzner, a retired NYFD firefighter from a firehouse on 48th & 8th Streets in New York City, lost many friends on 9/11. Several months ago, Ed, currently a decorative concrete contractor in White Plains, NY, approached Mike Eastergard, owner of PreiTech Corp. in Atlanta, GA, to discuss the idea of creating a concrete memorial for the firehouse. Mike volunteered his custom concrete form expertise and worked with CIM students to create the memorial during the 2010 WOC Artistry event. A Captian from the firehouse spoke to the NSC members about 9/11 and the fire fighters who lost their lives. There was not a dry eye in the room.

By attending the WOC, one can see the positive impact the CIM program is having on the concrete industry.