WHAT KEEP PRODUCERS UP AT NIGHT?
Hiring qualified personnel. Retaining customers from low-price competitors. Combatting wet spring and summer weather.
These are just a handful of the challenges aggregate producers faced in 2017. Among the countless others that producers faced: dealing with floods, keeping up with demand, and balancing overtime with burned-out employees.
WAKE TECH - HEATT JOB FAIR
Wake Technical Community College’s Heavy Equipment and Transportation Technology program has extended an invitation for NCAA members to attend and/or exhibit at the 25
th
annual HEATT Job Fair. The job fair is scheduled for March 28 at 9:00am at their Main Campus in the Student Services Building.
The Heavy Equipment Program students that will be attending the job fair are in different stages of their education; therefore, students will be looking for full-time, part-time, and Work Base Learning (formally Co-Op), positions along with just information for the future. For some of these students, Work Base Learning would be their final semester; therefore, they could be future permanent employees.
If you are interested in attending or exhibiting, please contact Paige Kearns or Karla Howe before March 9.
RECYCLED GLASS AGGREGATES
AeroAggregates LLC opened a plant to produce lightweight construction material from mixed recycled glass. The company manufactures foamed glass aggregate, which resembles crushed rock and serves a similar purpose in construction projects, but it weighs 85 percent less than stone and is very strong.
TAX REFORM BILL
On December 22, 2017, President Trump signed the tax reform bill (
H.R. 1- Tax Cuts and Jobs Act)
. Below are a few highlights of interest to the construction industry:
- Reducing the corporate tax rate from 35 percent — to 21 percent;
- Provide a 20 percent deduction on the first $315,000 of joint income for businesses organized as S corporations, LLCs, and sole proprietors;
CENSUS
North Carolina remained the 9th most populous state this year, keeping pace with No. 8 Georgia and putting more distance between it and No. 10 Michigan, according to the latest estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. As of July 1, an estimated 10,273,419 people lived in North Carolina, nearly 117,000 more than the previous year.
RELOCATIONS
North Carolina proved to be a slightly less popular place to move to during 2017, but remains in the top 10, according to the annual United Van Lines' report released earlier this month. The state ranked eighth for the second consecutive year, compared with fifth in 2015 and third in 2014 and 2013.
CONGRESSIONAL
"PROBLEM SOLVERS CAUCUS"
PROPOSE INFRASTRUCTURE SOLUTIONS
Last week, the Problem Solvers Caucus, a bipartisan group of 24 republican and 24 democrat U.S. House Members released “
Rebuilding America’s Infrastructure
,” a report detailing points of bipartisan consensus on policies to improve the nation’s infrastructure. Rep. John Katko (R-NY) and Rep. Elizabeth Esty (D-CT) led the Infrastructure Working Group that identified places of agreement to address infrastructure needs across sectors. Congressman Katko commented that we “Can’t have a 21
st
Century economy with 20
th
Century infrastructure,” when describing why this report was needed.
2018 MID-YEAR MEETING & TRADE SHOW
REGISTRATION DEADLINE JANUARY 30, 2018
Based upon the survey results from last year’s attendees, the Mid-Year Meeting is being offered again this year. The Meeting & Trade Show will be at the Embassy Suites Greensboro-Airport, just off of I-40, in Greensboro, NC, February 21 & 22.
The meeting’s focus is on educational topics of interest to the producer member’s operations employees, such as: Plant Managers, Superintendents, Foremen, and Operation Managers.
The registration deadline for signing employees up to attend the Mid-Year Meeting is January 30.
CLICK HERE
for the registration form
.
NATIONAL STONE & GRAVEL
