Press Releases

David Biggs Honored With NCMA’s Industry Champion Award

September 4, 2019

SEATTLE, WA – David Biggs, the principal of Biggs Consulting Engineering based out of Saratoga Springs, NY, was presented with NCMA’s Champions Award August 8, 2019, at the association’s annual Midyear Meeting in Seattle, Washington.

The NCMA Industry Champion Award recognizes individuals that make significant contributions in roles beyond what can be accomplished by the association alone, and honors these meritorious contributions that support the advancement of the use of concrete products.

The first individual not employed by a member company to be appointed to the NCMA Education and Research Foundation Board of Trustees, Biggs was recognized for his vision, leadership and passion for advancing concrete masonry design and construction.

Raised in Troy, NY, a tight-knit community surrounding the many manufacturing plants that dominated the region at the time, Biggs began studying engineering and playing soccer at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), in the very same town. Upon graduation, in 1972, he participated in masonry and welding apprentice programs, to better understand the materials he would spend his career designing with, and improving. In 1977, he joined forces with a fellow RPI graduate Tom Ryan to form their own firm, a partnership that would last until 2010, when Biggs sold his interests to pursue his innovative ideas and traveling the world and lecturing.

Since then, he has worked helping developing building codes and preserving historic structures in places like Egypt, the Czech Republic, Iraq, Turkey, Italy and New Zealand.

Following September 11, 2001, Biggs was a member of the Building Assessment Team assigned to investigate the World Trade Center disaster for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) where he helped assess and investigate the performance of the structures in and around Ground Zero.

A “mason’s engineer” he’s been instrumental in a number of turning points for the industry. He was instrumental in developing an industry coalition including NCMA, MCAA, the International Masonry Institute, and others. Most recently, he created another coalition of the industry to launch the Building Information Modeling for Masonry Initiative. This group has developed many new tools for integrating masonry into BIM platforms, and Biggs served as the program coordinator (as well as primary advocate) from the beginning.

Biggs has a great ability to evaluate complex failures and suggest practical solutions that often save masons from being solely and unfairly blamed.

“While David Biggs is a design practitioner that works with all building materials, he has consistently had a passion for masonry,” said Rick Roach of Barnes & Cone, Inc. in Syracuse, NY. “Fortunately for our industry, he has channeled that passion for helping the masonry industry to grow and advance. He has challenged the different segments to work together on issues that cross boundaries and has served so many important roles.”

An adjunct professor and educator over the course of his accomplished career, Biggs helped develop the Hybrid Masonry Structural Building Concept, a precursor to a project funded by the National Science Foundation to research seismic response of such structures.

“There is only one David Biggs in this world,” said Robert Thomas, NCMA president. “We should be thankful that he is working to support us. To say that he is a worthy recipient of this honor is an understatement. We’re extremely proud as association to extend such laurels.”

Biggs has been supported throughout his career by his wife Monica, his sons Daniel and Mark, and the rest of his family.

Industry News Press Releases

Charles Newsome Inducted Into NCMA’s Hall of Fame

August 29, 2019

SEATTLE, WA – Charles Newsome, retired vice president of Johnson Concrete and Carolina Stalite, both of Salisbury, North Carolina, was inducted into The National Concrete Masonry Association’s Hall of Fame on August 8, 2019, at the association’s annual Midyear Meeting held in Seattle, Washington.

The individuals enshrined into NCMA’s Hall of Fame are those that have demonstrated exemplary leadership and service to the association and industry through a distinguished career. Inductees into the Hall of Fame also become Honorary Members of NCMA.

Born in Greenville, North Carolina in a tobacco farming community, Newsome eventually attended the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. He initially wanted to become a lawyer, and was accepted to go to law school, but ultimately decided against it and pursued a career in business.

Newsome was working as a salesman for Giant Cement in 1968 when he was hired to be general manager for Tufflite and Stalite, an expanded clay and shale company. Fourteen years later he was also hired to fill an additional role, as Executive Vice President of Johnson Concrete. Shortly thereafter, he helped guide a consolidation of two smaller plants into one larger one, in a successful effort that increased their business in the Piedmont area of North Carolina and elsewhere.In the decades after he steered Johnson Concrete’s expansion throughout the southeastern United States, supplying premium custom architectural block from Maryland to Florida.

“Charles is a visionary,” said Starling Johnson, Vice President of Sales for Johnson Concrete Products and close personal friend (and mentored apprentice) of Mr. Newsome. “When you ask him what he’s proud of, Stalite is high on his list. When he started, Stalite was made using sintering machines and its furthest customer was 125 miles away. Today, Stalite operates eight rotary kilns with patented technology, ships material all over the world, and is the industry leader in structural lightweight aggregate.”

A leading voice in the industry, Newsome was not only NCMA’s Chair of the Board in 2013 (in addition to serving on countless committees throughout the years), he also chaired the Carolinas Concrete Masonry Association, the Expanded Clay Shale and Slate Institute and was instrumental in establishing NCMA’s Young Professional Group (YPG).

He has been an early, and continues to be an ardent champion of the pursuit to create a commodity checkoff program for concrete masonry and actively supported both NCMA and the Mason Contractors Association of America political action committees. He has made numerous trips to Capitol Hill seeking congressional authorization and traveled extensively across the country to generate industry support for the checkoff program.

In addition to the milestones he’s achieved in business, his role as a philanthropist is just as exemplary. Newsome has completed more than 30 missionary trips to Africa, most of those times to the Zambian village of Mwandi. He personally led efforts to raise necessary funding and implement project to bring improved and more reliable electricity to the village, remodel a hospital, construct a church, and other similar charitable projects.

“A place in the NCMA Hall of Fame is an honor bestowed upon the finest individuals who have come through for our industry. It shines a light on a lifetime of service, leadership, and excellence. It recalls milestones achieved by deserving honorees that have benefited all of us,” said Robert Thomas, NCMA president. “Charles has been such a vital member of the association for so long, having served in a variety of capacities and we really could not be more proud to have this opportunity to celebrate his career.”

Newsome has been supported throughout his career and at the award ceremony by his wife, Chris, their children Jimmy, Helen and Josh, and their grandchildren Moses and Willoughby.

Industry News Press Releases

Concrete Masonry Checkoff Program Authorization Passes US Congress

February 24, 2019

[Herndon, VA – October 3, 2018] The U.S. Senate passed the Concrete Masonry Products Research, Education and Promotion Act, providing Congressional authorization for the concrete masonry products industry to develop its own commodity checkoff program to support needed industry initiatives. The concrete masonry products bill was included in H.R. 302 as part of the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2018. Having already passed the House of Representatives, it now goes to President Trump, who is expected to sign before October 7, 2018.

“This is a great day for our industry,” said Major Ogilvie of CEMEX USA, national chair of the concrete masonry checkoff initiative since 2010. “We demonstrated a level of perseverance on this initiative that is only matched by the resilience of the products that we manufacture. By standing together, we will not only strengthen our industry, but our communities. We applaud the members of Congress for recognizing that the small businesses in our industry can accomplish even greater things together if we can more effectively pool our resources to promote ourselves.”

“Our work is just beginning,” said National Concrete Masonry Association Chairman of the Board, Kent Waide of Ruby Concrete. “Congress did not create a concrete masonry checkoff program, they only authorized it. Our entire industry will now begin the earnest discussions about how we develop a program that is meaningful to concrete block manufacturers of all kinds – those large and small, those in all regions of the U.S., and those with all kinds of local market interests. We will present the value proposition to rationalize an increased investment to collectively promote the value of concrete masonry systems.”

An industry referendum on program creation would likely occur in mid-to-late 2019, with every company that manufactures concrete masonry products being provided the opportunity to vote.

Numerous commodity checkoff programs already exist. Most of these programs relate to agricultural products under the management of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) oversees two such programs: propane and heating oil. Concrete masonry products would be the second such program related to construction products, the other being softwood lumber under USDA, and the first under the Department of Commerce.

Ogilvie expressed pride in the manner in which the advocacy effort was conducted. “Manufacturers and contractors in our industry invested a lot of time and energy to get to know their representatives and to share the impact of their businesses on local communities. We visited hundreds of congressional offices, secured nearly 300 bi-partisan co-sponsors when we were a stand-alone bill, and we were frequently praised on Capitol Hill for doing this the ‘right way’.” Ogilvie also praised the hard work of the bill sponsors who worked within a bipartisan approach to figure out how to move the legislation in a challenging environment. Representatives, Brett Guthrie (R-KY), Kathy Castor (D-FL), Senators, Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Bill Nelson (D-FL) have each acted as bill sponsors for the last three congressional terms.

NCMA President Robert Thomas maintains that the real winner through this congressional action is the general public. “People in this country deserve to live, work, shop, and learn in buildings that are resilient and durable. If we are successful, there will be more structures locally sourced, manufactured and constructed, creating more American jobs. These structures will be thoughtfully built with “strength,” resulting in more fire-resistant, energy-efficient, and cost-effective buildings that do not rot, burn, or decay.”

Another notable inclusion in the FAA reauthorization was the Disaster Recovery Reform Act, which represents an unprecedented shift in disaster resilience policy in the U.S. NCMA is an active partner in the BuildStrong Coalition advocating for enhanced pre-disaster mitigation funding and applauds Congress for recognizing that building decisions matter! In particular, NCMA compliments its concrete masonry checkoff bill sponsors who continue to be significant leaders on resilience legislation.

For more information about the concrete masonry products checkoff initiative and for future updates, visit www.cmucheckoff.com.

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