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 – set a new record raising more than $1.2 million in gross revenue at its annual auction, held in conjunction with the World of Concrete on Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2019.
"The 2019 World of Concrete Auction was our best ever,” commented Mike Philipps, CIM Auction Committee Chairman. “This year’s auction was a tremendous success, both in terms of the value of donated items and the number of attendees at the Auction. The results are indicative of the high value the concrete industry places on the CIM program.”
The 2019 CIM Auction featured two ready mix trucks, including: a Mack Granite Bridge Formula mixer donated by Mack Trucks, Inc. and equipped with a Beck Industrial mixer; and a 2019 Kenworth T880S truck with a Con-Tech Manufacturing bridge-formula rear-discharge BridgeKing mixer.
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, decorative concrete tools, water meters, pumps, generators, training sessions, reference books, iPads and laptop computers, sports travel packages and golf and vacation travel packages.
“Once again we had incredible support from 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 Mack Trucks, Inc., Beck Industrial, Con-Tech Manufacturing, Kenworth and Kenworth of Central Florida, Somero Enterprises, Inc. 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 440 students pursuing degrees in Concrete Industry Management. With more than 1,200 graduates of the program, 80 percent of CIM graduates are currently working in concrete or concrete related industries.
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.
