Greetings!

Like many others here in California, I recently received my first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and I’m feeling optimistic that this terrible disease will soon run its course.  It’s encouraging to see so many people embracing vaccination with close to 50 percent of Californians fully or partially vaccinated.  I would like to thank you all for helping stop the spread.

As of March, California construction employment is only 0.8 percent lower than it was one year ago, which is a great indicator considering last year’s job losses.  As our workforce continues to grow, I wanted to highlight a resource many people may not know about – the ACI Career Center  (LINK), which compiles available job opportunities and great candidates for openings specifically within the concrete construction industry.   In order to increase usage in California, ACI has offered a 20 percent discount on Career Center products through the end of July.  To take advantage of this discount on your next job posting, use the coupon code ACISOCAL2021.

As a reminder, we currently have an open ballot to vote on the revised by-laws, available for review here.  Current members can use this link  to cast their vote.  The ballot will remain open until Friday, June 18. 

We will have our Join ACI/SEAOSC virtual meeting on May 19th at 12-2pm PST.  The meeting will start with an update on what is happening with ACI at the national and local level and then focuses on a discussion about concrete modulus of elasticity (MOE) and its importance to both designers and suppliers of concrete. Our two presenters will be the ACI national President, Cary Kopczynski, and MasterBuilders Solution’s Director of Sustainable Concrete Technology and Solutions, Andreas Tselebidis.  Click here to sign up.

I am pleased to announce that for our next event, Don Davies with MKA Structural Engineers will present on Concrete Sustainability- which will address the exciting trend of lowering the carbon content of concrete.  This virtual event will be held on May 26 at 12PM and will include Los Angeles-specific case studies of successful implementation of lower carbon concrete solutions.  I look forward to learning more about this important topic and hope that you can join the discussion.  Click here to sign up.

I would like to thank Clayton Garrison for volunteering to chair the Student Activities committee as well as acknowledge the outgoing chair, Tim Saenz for his year of service.  Please help spread the word for our chapter-sponsored $2,500 student scholarships! This opportunity is open to local University students pursuing a degree in Civil/Structural Engineering, Construction Management or Architecture.  Please visit our website to see the application requirements, selection criteria as well as an online submission form for applications due June 1.  One of the committee’s goals is to hit the ground running when students come back to school in the fall. If anyone has any connections with faculty or student leaders at local Universities, please reach out to us with an email to student@acisocal.org. 

On May 3rd, ACI opened a new Resource Center in San Bernardino.  There has been an increasing demand for ACI knowledge and the ACI Resource Center will offer on-demand access for all ACI certifications and other educational and training offerings.  For more information, please visit this website.

Lastly, the ACI Concrete 2020 Spring Convention was held virtually at the end of March and 74 people from our region participated.  Everyone is hopeful that the next convention in October will be in person in Atlanta, Georgia. 

Sincerely,

Chris Garcia

2021 Chapter President