Hitting the big time: local producers help Middle Tennessee State's CIM program to reach a growth stage - Hot markets: Nashville - Brief Article

Concrete Producer, The, July, 2002 by Jimmy Ambrose

It used to be that someone joining the management team at a concrete production company got an "education" consisting of a few pointers on dispatching duties from a soon-to-retire co-worker. In many places, education meant tradition. Other than a few regular college courses on concrete basics, concrete producers relied on experienced field personnel to teach newcomers customer service. During that first day as a dispatcher, the new member of the management team probably thought that a 4-inch slump was how far one can lean back in one's chair to relax after hearing an irate customer's temper tantrum over a truck that showed up an hour late.

In the context of the ready-mixed concrete industry's RMC 2000 grass-roots movement in the late 1990s, leaders identified a critical need for qualified people. It was during this period of industry self-evaluation that Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU)'s Concrete Industry Management (CIM) program was born, and local producers have played a major role in its growth.

Located just 30 miles southeast of Nashville in Murfreesboro, Tenn., MTSU offers a broad-based curriculum unique enough to be considered as a future model of higher education by the U.S. Department of Education. Last October, U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige visited MTSU and said that he wants to send officials back to learn more about the CIM program in keeping with the Bush administration's priority of creating stronger bonds between industries and higher education.

Both students and local producers who are involved in the program are having quite an impact on the local construction market. Leading local concrete suppliers such as Metro Ready Mix Inc., Irving Materials, Hoover Inc., and Horizon Ready Mix have contributed equipment and materials for various hands-on projects. Metro Ready Mix is one of the largest local ready-mixed concrete suppliers and has even donated time and personal effort toward teaching courses and has employed several students.

"Our company has been involved in the program from the start," says Steve Herron, vice president and general manager of Metro Ready Mix. "We have made monetary contributions, sponsored interns, donated materials, and taught classes for students. Our company officials such as Rick Leeper serve on the CIM National Steering Committee." How has the CIM program helped our industry? "It has added more professionalism to our industry because it covers everything from production to sales, and it makes the technical aspects of the educational process easier," says Herron.

"As our industry finds out more about the program, it will realize the importance of employing more qualified people. Jason Shaw is one of the interns who is still employed with us. We feel that the knowledge he obtained from the CIM program helped elevate him to his management position that he holds now [managing one of the supplier's eight plants], and he got there more quickly than any other employee who has worked for us."

Says Leeper, CEO of Metro Ready Mix: "It has been a pleasure to observe academia and industry work hand in hand to make what in 1995 was an idea, a dream, become a reality. I have heard it said many times that if only we could get the industry and our educational system to work together, we could make great strides. Well, we have."

Metro Ready Mix, which employs Shaw, and Irving Materials each has hired CIM graduates for full-time positions. Irving Materials currently employs two CIM students. In addition, Bob Haldrop, president of the company's Nashville division, has taught courses, and the company has donated materials and the use of equipment and manpower for various hands-on student projects.

Several other industry groups have also been intimately involved in this program. Ward Poston of Holcim Cement Co. also has taught courses in the program and served on several CIM committees. Wayne Nobles of Hoover Inc.'s crushed stone division has donated materials for several hands-on projects in the program. Nashville-based fiber manufacturer Durafiber has hired several students, and Director of Sales and Marketing Jim Speakman is president of the Board of Directors for the CIM Patrons.

The CIM Patrons promote the program, maintain the curriculum, and set up workshops and meetings. Industry leaders including Speakman serve on the CIM Steering Committee, which serves as the program's "eyes and ears" in the real world.

Speakman explains the CIM program's uniqueness. The steering committee, which consists of individuals such as NRMCA's Bob Garbini and Julie Luther, meets with the patrons board annually to keep the patrons abreast of industry changes and needs. Patrons attempt to visit every class in the program on a monthly basis and get feedback from students. "We've been told that this is a unique program in that an industry has served in an advisory capacity on almost a daily basis," notes Speakman.

Our industry has had a reputation for being dirty and not paying much. But that reputation began to change when the CIM program graduated its first seven students in May 2000. Before graduating, six of these students had accepted job offers in the industry that paid an average of about $40,000 annually, got the use of company cars, and received signing bonuses of up to $7500. The Bachelor of Arts program started in 1996 with 2 students and now has about 100 students and 19 graduates.