News Detail

Thank You for the Opportunity of a Lifetime

3/1/2002

It has truly been an honor to serve as your President during this past year. When my term began, I said I felt like I was riding in on the shoulders of giants. Now that my year of service is coming to a close, I can tell you from firsthand experience that my predecessors were not only giants in the industry, but also excellent role models who set wonderful examples for me and future ACI Presidents to follow. I am privileged to have served in this honorable line.

My basic philosophy as President has been to capitalize upon our inherent strengths and resources to improve our Institute, our industry, and ourselves. ACI’s new strategic plan reflects such a philosophy, and I’m pleased to have been part of the process, headed up by my predecessor Jim Jirsa, that led to Strategy 2001. During my term, I have worked hard to spread the word about the meaning and importance of each of the five strategic goals in Strategy 2001:

Goal #1: Knowledge Generation

I gained a new appreciation for ACI’s incredible committee organization and the outstanding individuals who make it work. I have always been amazed at the long hours put in by the members of TAC, EAC, CPC, and all of our technical, educational, certification, and administrative committees— completely voluntarily—to generate the great storehouse of knowledge that has made ACI what it is today. The results speak for themselves: ACI programs and documents are the benchmarks of our industry. This is best seen with our main building code requirements document, ACI 318. This flagship document is improved with each edition, but the 2002 version has the most significant improvements since the 1950s. It’s no wonder that every credible building code organization in the U.S. references ACI 318, and each year we find more countries working to base their structural concrete building codes on ACI 318.

Future ACI documents will see the positive influence of important investments we’re making today, such as increasing international involvement on our committees, taking surveys of document users to gain valuable perspective, and developing searchable electronic documents.

Goal #2: Knowledge Promulgation

I saw the tremendous thirst for knowledge and information everywhere I went, particularly outside the U.S. People really want and need what ACI has, and we need to continue expanding the programs to deliver knowledge on concrete where it is most needed. I also saw ACI documents and heard about ACI programs wherever I went. ACI’s knowledge "footprints: are all over the world!

Closer to home, we began tapping organizations in the industry for their perspectives on industry knowledge needs. The Strategic Development Council, part of the ACI Concrete Research and Education Foundation (ConREF), hosted a workshop of industry leaders to develop "Roadmap 2030," a compilation of industry research and development needs based on its highly successful "Vision 2030." This effort has received attention across the globe, from South America to Singapore. We also established a Sustaining Member Council to give ACI’s most active organizational supporters a clearer voice in setting the direction of the Institute.

I believe that a key responsibility of an industry-leading organization like ACI is not only to continually "raise the bar" of quality and performance, but also to help individuals and organizations get over that bar. We have a great responsibility to share the wealth of knowledge developed by our members with the concrete community at large. The seeds of ACI’s extensive knowledge need to be spread and planted in order to do the most good.

Goal #3: Knowledge Community

Continuing the process of building relationships all over the world was an incredibly rewarding experience. Everywhere I went, I saw the tremendous energy, activity, and interaction of ACI chapters, individual ACI members, and other participants. The cultures and individuals varied tremendously, but the common thread was the importance of ACI in their professional lives. I visited more than a dozen ACI chapters, and I came away feeling that we are only scratching the surface of what we can do to connect people together, all over the world. The Internet can help, and it is one of the resources we need to capitalize upon.

But to me, face-to-face communication, cooperation, and collaboration will always be essential to success. A great example of this was the partnering workshop held last year by the ACI Greater Miami Valley Chapter, which I was pleased to be involved with. It was a very diverse group of concrete professionals under one roof: engineers, architects, contractors, and inspectors working together on common issues. This workshop was a win-win, for the participants and for ACI.

Any community can be made stronger through diversity, and the concrete community is no exception. We must continue to work hard to open the Institute to involvement from all types of concrete professionals, worldwide. For my part, I tried to help contractors see the benefits of participating in ACI, as I did.

Another effort at connecting two distinct professions within the industry is our Design-Build Task Group, led by Ken Hover. This group is looking to help ACI spread the concept, long advocated by Charlie Pankow, that a working partnership between designer and constructor is the most efficient way to build.

Goal #4: Competent Workforce

I am extremely proud to say that, for the first time in its history, ACI has a strategic goal relating to our industry’s human capital. As we focus on the complexities of ACI’s technical work, we never want to forget that we need top- quality people to do that work, today and tomorrow.

You may recall that I wanted to serve as your "Education" President. I cannot stress enough the importance of seeding our ranks today with the young talent who will be the future giants of our industry. The ACI Student Fellowship Program, which is overseen by ConREF, is a legacy we can all invest in now to help guarantee the reality of such a vision. This program adds a unique dimension to the traditional scholarship concept by including mentoring and internships. These features provide the student with real-world experience and a true understanding and appreciation of our industry.

If the Student Fellowship Program helps build the professional workforce of the future, then ACI’s education and certification programs will be essential to maintaining it. This past year, we launched new educational seminars on Supplementary Cementitious Materials and Specifications for Structural Concrete. Also, our seminar on ACI 318 is being completely restructured to cover the many improvements in our main building code document. On the certification side, we launched new programs for Shotcrete Nozzleman and Tilt-Up Supervisor, as well as Spanish-language versions of our Flatwork Finisher, Field Test Technician, and Wet-Mix Shotcrete Nozzleman programs.

In order to attract the best and brightest to our industry, we need to invest our dollars as well as our time and talent. For the Student Fellowship Program to continue into the foreseeable future, a perpetual funding system must be in place. With help from the leading individuals and organizations in the industry, we have launched the "Cornerstone for Leadership" campaign, the goal of which is to establish a $5-million endowment fund to support the Student Fellowship Program. As a businessman, I believe that this is the single most important thing I can do to assure a solid future for the concrete industry, and I will continue to work after my term has ended to help ACI build this endowment. So although I may be leaving office, you may not have heard the last of me yet!

Goal #5: Member Value

If we can achieve the four previous goals, this last goal will be the logical outcome. For the professionals in the concrete industry to truly value ACI, ACI must be truly valuable to the industry. This will require us to keep in touch with the changing needs of the industry, and develop programs that address those needs. During the past year, ACI has made great progress toward establishing the needed market research and communication capabilities necessary to do this.

I started in the concrete business as a very young man, with just my two brothers, our strong backs, and a pickup truck. Back then I never dreamed that I would even be part of the world’s leading technical organization for concrete, much less serve as its President. What I’ve learned since those days is that you can achieve anything if you are willing to keep learning what you can, and sharing what you learn. I will be forever grateful to the folks who first introduced me to ACI and those who encouraged my expanding participation. To the Institute and all of you, thank you for the opportunity of a lifetime—an incredible journey during this past year.

When Jim Jirsa passed the gavel to me, I gave him a hard hat as a token of my appreciation to be honored as one of the few "men of the tools" to hold this position. I now look forward to passing the gavel, as well as a hard hat, to your next President, Terry Holland. I extend my best wishes to him and hope he finds the experience as enlightening as I did.

Daniel L. Baker,
President,
American Concrete Institute

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