Alexandria, VA – March 19, 2025
The National Ready Mixed Concrete Association held its 2025 Annual Convention earlier this month in Tucson, AZ, and elected a new slate of officers for its 2025 – 2026 term while also presenting a number of awards for outstanding industry service.
Succeeding Nathan McKean of BMC Enterprises, Inc., St. Louis, as chairman of the Board of Directors is G. Carlton Golden, Jr., president of Builders Supply Company, Inc., a CRH Company, Bossier City, LA. Elected vice chairman was Henry Batten, president of Concrete Supply Co., LLC, Charlotte, NC and elected secretary/treasurer was Scott Brewer, executive vice president/coo of Dolese Bros. Co., Oklahoma City.
Brief summaries of each award presented at the convention are listed below. Please click here to access more background on the recipients and the awards themselves.
Robert A. Garbini Chairman’s Award – Adam Manatt is the recipient of the prestigious Robert A. Garbini Chairman’s Award for 2025. Mr. Manatt, who served as NRMCA’s immediate past chairman last year, has continued to demonstrate exceptional leadership and commitment. His unwavering dedication and ability to provide invaluable guidance were instrumental in helping NRMCA navigate through a complex year.
State Association of the Year Award – The 2024 winner was the Indiana Ready Mixed Concrete Association (IRMCA) which has transformed the landscape of the ready mixed concrete industry in Indiana through a robust program of member engagement, community building and strategic advocacy.
IRMCA organized several signature events throughout the year, including its High School Concrete Days initiative in 2023 and 2024. This program is designed to educate high school students across Indiana about concrete technology, its practical applications and career opportunities within the industry. Over the past three years, IRMCA has undertaken a transformative digital presence improvement and upgrade initiative. This comprehensive program, launched in September 2022, has significantly enhanced IRMCA’s online footprint, engagement with members and overall operational efficiency. IRMCA has also offered and promoted a diverse number of educational opportunities, including hosting 11 free webinars, one free onsite course and partnered with leading organizations to present multi-day educational summits and workshops.
IRMCA has also been instrumental in promoting national events like the PCA Sustainability Summit (August 2024) and industry-leading discussions on NRMCA’s Environmental and Health Product Declarations (March 2024). Paid events have included the Think Like an Owner Course (June 2023), held in partnership with NRMCA.
Richard D. Gaynor Award – The 2025 award was presented to G. Terry Harris, Sr., senior director, technical service, Chryso Saint-Gobain. Mr. Harris started in the concrete industry in 1979 and has been active for 45 years with experience in companies involved in precast, masonry, ready mixed concrete and chemical admixtures. He has been with his current company for 27 years in the role of technical support of admixture products to customers. Mr. Harris is an active participant in ACI, ASTM and several industry associations, including NRMCA. He is a Fellow of ACI and a past member of the ACI Board. He has been involved in the ACI Concrete Innovation Council; chaired the Certification Programs Committee and serves on committees that select award recipients. Mr. Harris has served on the NRMCA Research, Engineering, and Standards (RES) Committee for several years, supporting committee initiatives on developing publications, resources on quality and performance-based specifications. He is active in the NRMCA Materials Division and was recognized with the Shydlowski-Turner Award in 2024. Mr. Harris is also active on the Advisory Council of the Concrete Advancement Foundation.
The award is named for Richard D. Gaynor who served NRMCA for more than 40 years until he retired in 1997 as the executive vice president of the Engineering Division.
William B. Allen Award – The 2025 William B. Allen Award was presented to John Carew, president of Carew Concrete and Supply Co., Appleton, WI. Prior to joining the family business, Mr. Carew became a certified public accountant and holds bachelor of business administration, JD and master of business taxation degrees. He is a past president of the NRMCA Board of Directors, having led the Association and the ready mixed concrete industry though the uncertain days of COVID. In addition to his commitment to business excellence, Mr. Carew has participated in many leading organizations and boards, including the Boys and Girls Club of the Fox Valley, the Building for Kids, Inc., the Boys and Girls Brigade, the Wisconsin Family Business Forum and the Wisconsin Ready Mixed Concrete Association.
This award is named after one of the ready mixed concrete industry’s most distinguished and accomplished figures, Bill Allen, who served the concrete and aggregates industries for more than 50 years.
Promoter of the Year Award – Buildings – Joseph Gallagher, Boston Sand & Gravel. Mr. Gallagher has more than 30 years of experience in the concrete and construction industry, starting his career with Rosenfeld Concrete, a Boston Sand & Gravel subsidiary, in 1988. He is extremely active within various industry trade groups, serving as vice president on the Board of the Massachusetts Concrete and Aggregate Producers Association as well as being involved with NAIOP, CIM, AGC, NRMCA, PCA, CIB and as a past president at the Massachusetts Building Congress.
Promoter of the Year Award – Pavement – Jake Ables, Silvi Materials. Mr. Ables is the director of concrete promotion for Silvi Materials, headquartered in Fairless Hills, PA. He was instrumental in starting the Silvi Construction Division which only bids projects designed in asphalt in an effort to convert them to concrete. Since September 2023, Mr. Albes has submitted over 35 projects to NRMCA’s Design Assistance Program and has converted more than 500,000 square feet of pavement in 2024 alone. He has enlisted the NRMCA Pave Ahead team to educate over a dozen engineering firms how to design concrete pavements using ACI 330 and PavementDesigner.org by sponsoring Lunch & Learn sessions and was the catalyst to create a promotional video highlighting how Silvi promotes concrete pavements with NRMCA.
State Affiliate Promoter of the Year Award – Jessica Wilson, Carolinas Ready Mixed Concrete Association. In 2024, Ms. Wilson spearheaded CRMCA’s collaboration with state Departments of Transportation to establish performance-based specifications that prioritize sustainable materials and practices in regional infrastructure projects. She also played a pivotal role in securing a Low-Carbon Transportation Materials Grant, resulting in over $63 million allocated for North and South Carolina communities. Ms. Wilson’s leadership extended to CRMCA’s partnership with NRMCA to drive regional best practices in performance-based specifications and project team communication. Under her guidance, CRMCA launched Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) resources, specification review services and planned the 2025 Southeast Low Carbon Symposium.
John W. Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award for Promotion – Lori Tiefenthaler has been dedicated to promoting concrete her entire professional life. She is a staunch supporter of NRMCA through her participation on NRMCA’s Sustainability and Promotion committees; has helped shape NRMCA’s EPD Program and has steered many of Heidelberg Material concrete and cement plants to publish plant-specific EPDs using NRMCA’s EPD program.
Ms. Tiefenthaler’s early career included being vice president of the Iowa Concrete Paving Association, executive director of the Portland Cement Association Southeast Region where she supported concrete promotion in partnership with NRMCA state affiliates. In 2010, she joined Lehigh Hanson as vice president, sustainability, and then was named director of marketing at Heidelberg Materials. In 2017, Ms. Tiefenthaler served as chairwoman of the American Concrete Paving Association, becoming the first woman to serve as the top volunteer leader in the group’s 54-year history. She has also served on the executive board for the National Concrete Consortium, through which she has helped improve connections and outcomes for the cement and concrete industries with federal and state departments of transportation and academia.
This award was named in honor of former NRMCA Chairman John Watts Roberts who over a 76-year career was a leader in both the industry and his community.
Concrete Cares Award – Chaney Enterprises Charitable Foundation was the recipient of the Concrete Cares Award. In 2024, more than 140 Chaney employees contributed more than 700 hours of service to Chaney’s 45th Annual Bull Roast and 25th Annual Golf Tournament fundraisers. The golf tournament alone raised $170,000 to propel a critical capital project: building a new Boys & Girls Club in Lothian, MD. Funds raised through these events also provided crucial support to local organizations such as the Boys & Girls Club, Farming 4 Hunger, Habitat for Humanity and Raising a Reader.
Carpenter – Mullings Award – Mike Brekken of Cemstone in Mendota Heights, MN, was selected as the 2025 recipient. Mr. Brekken is the safety director for Cemstone with responsibility for approximately 500 trucks in a four-state area. He has served as NRMCA Safety Task Group chairman and vice chairman, has been a past chairman and vice chairman of the NRMCA SEO Committee, a judge for the NRMCA Environmental Awards and a speaker for the ConcreteWorks educational sessions. Mr. Brekken also played a key role in developing NRMCA’s monthly Think First safety topics. His tireless work has been instrumental in the success and development of the NRMCA National Mixer Driver Championship.
Carpenter Award recipients are chosen for their outstanding lifetime contribution to the ready mixed concrete industry in the field of operations, safety or environmental. The award is named for the late Joseph E. Carpenter of Rinker Materials, West Palm Beach, FL, who was instrumental in the formation and early operation of the NRMCA Committee on Maintenance, and Gary Mullings who retired in 2024 after 50 years of dedicated and instrumental service to NRMCA in the areas of safety, environmental and operations.
Driver of the Year Award – This award was announced in early February. The winner was Michael Welsh of Silvi Materials. Complete details of Mr. Welsh and the runners-up can be found here.