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 $1.1 million in gross revenue at its annual auction, held in conjunction with the World of Concrete on Wednesday, Jan. 24.
"The 2018 World of Concrete Auction was our best ever!” commented Mike Philipps, CIM Auction Committee Chairman. “The results of this Auction are indicative 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 Back model mounted with a McNeilus 10.5-cubic-yard M77 paver mixer, donated by Mack Trucks, Inc. and McNeilus Co., a Division of Oshkosh Truck.
An addition to the list of industry items donated to the annual Auction this year was a 2018 T880S bridge formula truck with a 11-yard bridge formula rear discharge BridgeKing mixer. This vehicle was donated by Con-Tech Manufacturing, Inc. and Kenworth and Kenworth of Central Florida.
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, 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., Con-Tech Manufacturing, Kenworth and Kenworth of Central Florida 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.
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 through the RMC 2000 movement in 1994 and was put into action by the Tennessee 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, and producing its first graduates in 2000. Since its humble beginning, the CIM program has expanded and now in addition to MTSU, it is offered at California State University, Chico, Texas State University and the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Today there are more than 500 students pursuing degrees in Concrete Industry Management and hundreds of CIM graduates working in the concrete industry.
The goal of the program is to produce broadly educated, articulate graduates grounded in basic construction 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 provide much more than what is simply in the text – they emphasize problem solving, quality assurance and customer satisfaction. They utilize practical case studies and an internship to make sure the student obtains real-world experience essential to starting a successful career. Additional opportunities include on-campus socials and other events providing industry networking and professional development.
In 2012, an Executive MBA program was added by the CIM National Steering Committee. The CIM Executive MBA is specifically designed for individuals with three or more years of experience in the industry.
The CIM program has, and continues to provide future leaders for the concrete industry. To learn more about the program, visit www.concretedegree.com.
