PACA wishes to thank our 2024 Corporate Sponsors for their generous support and commitment this year!

• ASGCO Complete Conveyor Solutions
• Babst Calland
• Cleveland Brothers Equipment Co., Inc.
• Commonwealth Equipment Corporation
• Continental Placer, Inc.
• Conviber, Inc.
• East Rock Solutions
• Groff Tractor & Equipment
• Kemper Equipment, Inc.
• Maurer & Scott Sales, Inc.
• Mellott Company
• SIKA Corporation

PACA Board and Associate Board Seek Candidates for 2024 Election

Both the PACA Board of Directors and the Associate Board of Directors are seeking candidates for the 2024 election for a 3-year term from 2025 to 2027. Interested candidates should email their interest and qualifications to the appropriate staff liaison.

The PACA Board is open to any member producer of concrete, aggregates and/or cement only. The Associate Board is open to any supplier business partner that is a member of PACA.

Please note that the PACA bylaws state "one company, one vote," therefore if there is a representative from your corporate entity currently sitting on the either board, another candidate is ineligible to serve.

Deadline is August 30th to respond.

For the PACA Board, please send your nomination interest to Peter Vlahos.

For the Associate Board, please email Kallie Kline.

Concrete Award Nominations, Hall of Fame Nominations & Honors Program Submissions Due September 27th

It's time to think AWARDS as the PACA Annual Meeting and Honors Program is closing in.

Excellence in Concrete Recognition Awards

During the Honors Program, PACA bestows the Association’s Excellence in Concrete Recognition Awards to those outstanding projects that highlight what makes this industry great. The Recognition Awards honor those projects that show superiority and distinction in the areas of commercial, residential, decorative projects and/or other projects, companies or people of note in Pennsylvania.

The guidelines for nomination eligibility for these awards are available here. In order to be considered for the concrete awards, please submit all required materials to Ken Crank by no later than September 27th.

Hardcopies should be sent to PACA, 2040 Linglestown Road, Ste. 204, Harrisburg, PA 17110.

Ambassadors of the Industry Hall of Fame

The workers of the aggregates, concrete and cement industries in Pennsylvania have helped to make our state what it is today! The PACA Hall of Fame was established in 2000 to recognize outstanding individuals in the industry for their outstanding achievements and their contributions to their country, their community, their company and/or the industry as a whole.

Nominees may be recognized by their companies or peers for significant contributions including, but not necessarily limited to, loyalty to a company through long term employment, leadership, safety, ingenuity, service to the community, service to their country, and/or stewardship to the environment.

Nomination criteria/submission information is available here.. Nominate an outstanding employee today by completing the nomination information and returning it to Kallie Kline by no later September 27th.

Honors Program Recognition

While the Ambassadors of the Industry Hall of Fame and the Excellence in Concrete Awards mentioned above have been a part of the PACA Honors Program for many years - it was greatly expanded in 2018. This enhanced program is an honored and cherished portion of the Annual Meeting in Hershey and we would value the opportunity to highlight your and/or your company's accomplishments at the meeting.

Honors may include the aforementioned PACA Ambassadors of the Industry Hall of Fame and the Excellence in Concrete Recognition Awards, as well as, national award recognition, and any other special acknowledgements that your company or an employee of your company has received and you would like highlighted in front of your industry peers.

If you company or an employee of your company has received any special recognitions that you would like the industry to be aware of, please contact Kallie Kline to be included in the Annual Meeting Honors Program by September 27th.

Announcing Fall Legislative Session Dates

Pennsylvania House

September 23, 24, 25, 30

October 1, 2, 21, 22, 23

November 12, 13

Pennsylvania Senate

September 16, 17, 18, 30

October 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 21, 22, 23

November 13, 14

PACA-PAC Sets New Record!

Our Association's Political Action Committee has raised $230,000 since January 1, 2023, and are within $20,000 of reaching our goal of $250,000 to defend and support our political champions in the upcoming General Election! Please help us to support those that support our industry and our hardworking employees by utilizing the QR code below.

Check out our Government Affairs information sheet here.

Engage our Congressional Members in DC

Our national organizations, National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association, and the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, in addition to the National Asphalt Pavement Association are hosting a joint Hill Day in late September.

It is about time that we speak directly with our elected members in-person to explain our issues and concerns. We owe that to our employees and our families! There will be no better time to get their attention right before the November General Election with all 17 US House members seeking re-election and 1 Senate seat up for grabs.

The national Government Affairs staff will be scheduling the visits and providing key national issues to raise at our meetings. We will also pull together our own concerns to share with the policymakers. There will be plenty of online education in advance and at the meeting.

The Hill Day is scheduled on September 26 and there is a fee to participate.

Please contact Peter Vlahos, PACA's President/CEO, if you are interested so that we can build a strong PA delegation at this year's Hill Day!

July 2024 Edition of PACA's Monthly Regulatory Report Now Available

To view the report, please GO HERE.

DEP Announces New Deputy Secretary for Active and Abandoned Mine Operations

Deputy Secretary for Mining John Stefanko will be retiring on July 26th after 38 years of service to this agency. We wish him well in his retirement, but replacing 38 years will be huge shoes to fill. Luckily, Nathan (Nate) Houtz is preparing himself for the task. Nate started with the Department in 2002 as a Professional Geologist with the Pottsville District Mining Office. Nate continued his career in Pottsville as the Environmental Group Manager for the permitting section from 2007 to 2017. He then moved to the Moshannon District Mining Office as the District Mining Manager from 2017 to 2022. From there, he moved to Harrisburg and has been the Director of the Bureau of Mining Programs since 2022. Nate has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Geology from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. Nate’s first involvement with the Department was as an intern with the Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation during the summers of 1994 and 1995. Upon graduation from Bloomsburg, Nate worked for a private consulting firm for 6 years before joining the Department.

With Nate moving into this new role, Sharon Hill has graciously agreed to serve as Acting Bureau Director for Mining Programs.

PACA appreciates and thanks John Stefanko for his partnership over the years and we look forward to working collaboratively with Nate Houtz.

Sen. Phillips-Hill Succeeds with DEP Implementing Third Party Permit Review

DEP is preparing to implement a provision in the new state budget allowing for third-party contractor reviews of selected permit applications. The Streamlining Permits for Economic Expansion and Development Program (SPEED) is authorized under the Fiscal Code and was championed by Senator Kristin Phillips-Hill (York), an industry champion. The program is currently limited to state Air Quality Plan, earth disturbance, water obstruction and encroachment and dam safety.

A step in the right direction, but, the aggregates industry has not experienced a relief in the permit review process even though DEP has exclaimed that no permit fees have been refunded under the Payback program established in November 2023.

To keep up to date on SPEED developments, please click here.

Fall Environmental Community Meeting Scheduled

PACA has added our Fall Environmental Community Meeting to our online schedule of events.

The meeting will be held at the Best Western Premier Central Hotel at 800 E. Park Drive in Harrisburg on Tuesday, October 8th.

A meeting agenda will be forwarded at a later date.

To register to attend, please GO HERE.

August Members Forum Speakers Announced

Our next Members Forum Meeting, sponsored by Groff Tractor & Equipment, is scheduled for Thursday, August 8th at 11:00 AM.

This month will include the following agenda topics:

Featured Speaker - Bronwyn Weaver, Q-4 Impact Group

Government Affairs Update by PACA Lobbyist, Hank Butler

Regulatory - Baghouse Fines Update by Mike Clark, New Enterprise Stone & Lime Co., Inc.

ABOUT THE PRESENTATIONS:

Bronwyn Weaver will be introducing her company's latest publication, Bolder Magazine, a print publication targeting 8-12 year olds and their families - exploring where things come from and why it matters.

The purpose of the magazine is to inspire the next generation about earth science and spark their curiosity about careers that are mostly in the great outdoors.

Baghouse Fines Update -

You can't afford to miss this important update on Baghouse Fines management. For close to a year, we have been meeting with DEP Mining and most recently DEP Waste on the challenges facing operators with the Baghouse Fines management in their quarries per the WMGR028 General Permit. Don't be fooled that this is an exclusive east issue affecting Pottsville DMO permits. Per Randy Shustack, Director of District Mining Operations, a consistent policy will be implemented across all DMOs. Join us at the August 8 Members Forum to hear directly about these developments, how you can minimize enforcement actions and the future of the WMGR028 General Permit.

To participate in the Members Forum, REGISTER HERE.

PA Politics & Government Affairs Community Meeting - LAST CALL!

Join us for our PA Politics & Government Affairs Community Meeting scheduled for Monday, August 12th at the State Capitol Building in Harrisburg.

The day's tentative schedule is available HERE.

This updated format will expose attendees to many voices, including the General Assembly, agency leaders and industry champions.

The Government Affairs Community meeting will include our PAC strategy for the November election, education materials developed for members and their employees and an update on the redesigned PACA website focused on our advocacy efforts.

To attend, REGISTER HERE.

Sleeping Room Information Coming Soon

Please watch future email blasts for more information on booking rooms for the following PACA events:

PACA Young Leaders Conference - October 16-17, 2024 - Gettysburg, PA

PACA Annual Meeting & Honors Program - November 18-19, 2024 - Hershey, PA

Attention PACA Member Company HR Personnel

PACA is offering a new pilot program on mental health for our members. This program, Mental Health First Aid, is intended for HR personnel and those that complete the program will receive a certificate of completion at the end of the program.

The program is a hybrid workshop with an online portion that is required to be completed in advance of the in-person portion scheduled for September 12^th at Pennsy Supply’s conference room in Annville, PA.

More information on this seminar is attached.

Attendance is limited so we ask that you register your HR personnel as soon as possible. If they need a login profile to complete registration, please contact Kallie Kline to set one up.

Once we reach the 15-person max limit, I will start a “wait list” for those interested in the event of any cancellations or to track the interest for a second session.

To register, please use the following link - https://web.pacaweb.org/events/PACA-Mental-Health-First-Aid-Seminar-29171/details.

If you have any questions, please contact myself or Peter Vlahos, copied on this email.

Announcing Our Superintendent Workshop & Industry Tours

PACA will be holding our Superintendent Workshop, which includes industry tours as part of the day's agenda, on Thursday, September 19th in Nazareth, PA.

The day's agenda includes presentations on processing and crushing trends offered by Terex and a panel presentation on advancements in blasting including representatives from Austin Powder, Wampum Hardware and Orica.

The workshop will be held in the conference room of ASGCO "Complete Conveyor Solutions" and the company will be offering an truly interesting tour of their onsite facilities.

The final presentation of day will be very unique opportunity for our quarry superintendent audience. Quarries are run by hardworking professionals using similar processing equipment to deliver quality construction materials. The Superintendent Workshop agenda will feature a tour of Heidelberg Materials’ Nazareth cement plant which will expose our attendees to a different quarrying process. They are focused on the delivery of material for the kiln unlike the quarries processing aggregates or asphalt plants.

A final schedule of events will be forwarded in a separate email blast so please watch your inbox for more information.

Already interested? Go HERE to register.

ASSOCIATE BUSINESS PARTNER MEMBERS - Attendance for this event is limited to the first 50 people to register. Associate members are welcome to attend, however, to allow for space and the maximum educational experience for our superintendent community, we ask that Associate members register only one person per company please.

Aggregate Technician Certification Course Dates Announced

PennDOT has recently announced Winter 2024-2025 Aggregate Technician Certification Course dates.

Registration for these exams is not yet open.

December 17-18, 2024

January 14-15, 2025

February 4-5, 2025

February 11-12, 2025

March 11-12, 2025

March 25-26, 2025

National Associations Selected for EPA Grant

The National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA) and the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA) recently announced that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has selected these associations for a $9.63 million grant aimed at “Reducing Embodied Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Construction Materials and Products.”

The NRMCA wishes to thank every one of you who helped NRMCA’s grant application with a letter of support. Supporters included state ready mixed concrete associations, national material supplier trade associations, state agencies and a developer. I’ve included all the letters in the attachment so you can see who supported us in this effort.

Through this five-year project, NRMCA proposes to increase the quantity and robustness of ready-mix concrete Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) by providing grants to producers to create EPDs from an additional 3,000 plants (up from 1,500 currently). NRMCA plans to provide data quality management oversight and training, as well as education for producers by training additional EPD verifiers and certifying up to 500 EPD specialists through an online education system. NRMCA also plans to enhance its existing low-carbon concrete tool and host five low-carbon concrete training workshops per year for five years. NRMCA will work to improve the Product Category Rules (PCRs) for concrete and data availability for critical inputs, including cementitious materials, aggregates, and admixtures.

Through this initiative, NRMCA will collaborate with all of you to ensure a successful project. EPA will begin funding the project in the fourth quarter of 2024. In the meantime, the association invites you to visit www.nrmca.org/EPAGrant for additional detail. Lionel Lemay, NRMCA's Executive Vice President, Structures and Sustainability, also encourages you to Register for Concrete Innovations Session 23, where he will present a summary of the NRMCA grant program. NRMCA plans on scheduling more webinars specifically about the grant roll-out in the next few months.

PACA was one of 23 state aggregates associations that backed NSSGA in their pursuit of this grant.

About Our Sponsor

Conviber, Inc is a family owned and operated distributor for conveyor belting and components in its 47th year of business. We have the largest inventory of heavy duty Conveyor Belting, Idlers, Pulleys, Flexco, Power Transmission Products and all other conveyor related accessories in the Northeast and Great Lakes US. Two of our six stocking warehouses are located in State College and Pittsburgh to better serve all PACA members. Conviber can also do field service work through our CFS division. We’re proud to be a long standing member of PACA and are here to support all of its member producers. We thank you for the opportunity to serve you.

2024 Field Conference of Pennsylvania Geologists

PACA members are invited to attend the 2024 Field Conference of Pennsylvania Geologists.

REGISTRATION

Registration will open on August 5 at 9:00 a.m. for the 2024 Field Conference of Pennsylvania Geologists – RIFTS, OCEANS, AND VOLCANOES – PIEDMONT AND SOUTH MOUNTAIN GEOLOGY IN SOUTHCENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA. The conference will be held on October 3-5, 2024 in Gettysburg, PA! Registration is $300 for Professionals, and $150 for Students. All registration will be through the Field Conference website. The registration page will be made available on August 5.

CONFERENCE WEBSITE

Learn more about the conference on the FCOPG website, including:

trip leaders and the agenda, pre-conference trips, conference web map, hotel accommodations, personal protective equipment (PPE)

PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT

There is a greater emphasis on PPE this year. The conference quarry stop requires hard hats with chin straps and gloves are required for sample collecting. Conference planners have planned to provide chin straps at registration and those details will be included when registration goes live on August 5.

NEW! HISTORY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA FIELD CONFERENCE STORY MAP

Planners are excited to introduce the History of the Pennsylvania Field Conference Story Map! Here you can learn more about the history of the Field Conference, see conference photos going back to the first conference in 1931, and see the Commemorative Guidebook to the First Field Conference. You can also re-visit past field conferences by exploring the interactive map to see photographs taken at past conferences and download guidebooks. This map is a work in progress and more locations and photographs will continue to be added.

Donate to the PACA-PAC

PACA-PAC is creating a unified and strong voice for our industry. DONATE TODAY!

© 2023 Pennsylvania Aggregates and Concrete Association