The National Steering Committee (NSC) for the Concrete Industry Management (CIM) program – a business intensive program that awards students with a four-year Bachelor of Science degree in Concrete Industry Management – raised more than $925,000 in gross revenue at its annual auction, held in conjunction with the World of Concrete on Wednesday, Feb. 3.
"The NSC of the CIM program is pleased to report that the 2016 World of Concrete Auction surpassed our highest gross proceeds total ever,” commented Mike Philipps, CIM Auction Committee Chairman. “This Auction is a great example of the high value the concrete industry places on the CIM program. We had a record in terms of the value of donated items and attendees at the Auction that helped make this year’s event a tremendous success."
The signature item this year was a Mack Granite Axle Forward model mounted with a McNeilus 11-cubic-yard Bridgemaster concrete transit mixer, donated by Mack Trucks Inc. and McNeilus Co., a Division of Oshkosh Truck. The winning bidder of the mixer truck was Roy Simmons with Rockingham Redi-Mix Inc.
An addition to the list of industry items donated to the annual Auction this year was a 1951 vintage Ford Ready Mix truck. This vehicle was restored and donated by Dean Leaman of Allied Concrete Materials. The winning bidder of this unique item was Steve Ireland of SD Ireland Concrete.
In addition to the live auction, a silent auction was also held. This year CIM had record proceeds from the silent auction. Auction items included cement, concrete saws, drills, mixers, vibrators, safety equipment, screeds, fiber transport systems, dust collectors, decorative concrete tools, water meters, pumps, generators, training sessions, reference books, advertisements, laptop computers, sports travel packages, and golf and vacation travel packages.
“We were blessed to have the incredible support of the World of Concrete show management, Informa and Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers,” said CIM Marketing Committee Chairman Brian Gallagher. “We thank the many companies such as McNeilus Companies, Inc., Mack Trucks, Inc., Somero Enterprises, and the numerous companies that donated items to the Auction to make it a complete success.
Again this year, NSC partnered with GiveSmart – a user-friendly bidding technology service providing customized auction and event solutions primarily for nonprofit organizations. With GiveSmart, participants were able to register for the auction, sneak preview silent and live auction items, make a donation, and bid on their favorite silent auction items immediately. Once again this year, participants who were not able to attend the live auction were able to bid online during the event.
The CIM Program
Recognizing the need for people with enhanced technical, communication and management skills, the CIM program was developed in 1996. The individuals graduating from this program will have the skill set necessary to meet the growing demands of the progressively changing concrete industry of the 21st century. It is a business intensive program, providing solid management skills that can be used in any industry, but has been developed specifically for the concrete industry. The program gives students many advantages including entering the concrete workforce with exposure to the industry early in their careers, unlike others coming in with generic business degrees.
The goal of the program is to produce broadly educated, articulate graduates grounded in basic business management, who are knowledgeable of concrete technology and techniques and are able to manage people and systems as well as promote products or services related to the concrete industry. It entails a broad range of courses, from English and history to science and mathematics. A series of required business courses such as finance, marketing, management and business law are also taken throughout the length of the program. The concrete-specific courses teach the fundamentals of concrete, properties and testing, concrete construction and more. All of these courses utilize practical case studies and an internship to make sure the student obtains real-world experience essential to starting a successful career. Additional opportunities for growth include on-campus socials and other organized events providing industry networking and professional development.
About CIM
Receiving tremendous support from the concrete industry, the CIM program was the first of its kind in United States – a four-year Bachelor of Science degree in Concrete Industry Management. The need for such a program was recognized in 1994 and was put into action by the concrete industry. The end-result was a partnership between the concrete industry and Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) to develop the CIM program, implementing it with its first two students in 1996. Available at MTSU, California State University, Chico, the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and Texas State University, the program has been successful for both the industry and the graduates.
Seeing the need for concrete industry-specific executive education, the NSC of the Concrete Industry Management (CIM) program launched an Executive MBA program. In the fall of 2012, the first class of students in the CIM MBA program at MTSU began. The Executive MBA degree program is the result of many years of close collaboration between MTSU, the NSC and companies in the concrete industry. The program is designed to expand the industry-academic partnership by bringing CIM to the business world through an Executive-type MBA and stand alone in its focused curriculum on the concrete production and concrete construction industries.
