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Closing in on 100 Years of "Progress Through Knowledge" in the Best Uses of Concrete

11/1/2001

"The history of any organization is a reflection of the ideals and activities of individuals and organized groups within it and their influence on the accomplishments of established objectives"—from "A Story of Progress," the Journal of the American Concrete Institute, February, 1954.

In 1904, three men with a concern about the quality of the concrete blocks being manufactured in those days got together to talk about the problem. Their discussion led to an editorial in a local magazine. The magazine story sparked further interest and a second "informal" meeting of dozens of concerned individuals at an engineering congress that fall. That meeting prompted a full-blown convention on concrete problems a few months later.

At that convention, a society known as the National Association of Cement Users was formed. A dozen years later, it changed its name to the American Concrete Institute to incorporate the broader audience of all people working in concrete.

As Paul Harvey would say, "Now you know the rest of the story."

From that modest beginning almost 100 years ago, ACI grew from three trying to fix a problem to 25,000. But the mission is still basically the same—improve the design, construction, and maintenance of anything made with concrete.

Not many companies can boast of being around 100 years. I recently read that more than half of businesses fold after one generation of ownership. Another quarter go bust after two. Less than 10% survive to see the third generation. ACI is in select company as it nears its 11th decade of existence. The reason I believe we are approaching that milestone is because we still hold the same core desire today as we did when those three like-minded individuals got together to find a solution to their concrete problem.

Personally, I think desire is the reason why most businesses don’t make it to the second generation. The fire went out. They don’t have the drive that got them started in the first place. While the names have changed, and ACI has grown from a few in the Midwest to thousands around the world, our core purpose has remained the same—and our desire to accomplish it just as strong.

The ACI Centennial Activities and Fund Raising Task Groups have been working hard to make sure our anniversary is a success. "Concrete—A Century of Innovation" is the theme and will be reflected in everything we do in 2004. We’ll have special events at our two conventions and a commemorative book is in the works to highlight significant innovations in concrete and the role our members have played. We’re considering international conferences and roundtable discussions on the future of the industry, as well as a publicity campaign to blow our horn and tell the world who we are and what we have done for concrete.

Those are all good, and I’m looking forward to being a part of them. But if I have anything to say about it, I want to make sure everybody remembers what got us where we are today. We never took our eyes off the goal of making sure that anything built with concrete is of the best quality possible. There have been a lot of changes and innovations in designing and building in concrete over the last 100 years. However, one constant through all of this is ACI’s unwavering desire to make sure that the latest information is available to assure top-notch quality.

For that reason, I’d like to take my (hard) hat off and salute the past and present generations of ACI members. Without them, we wouldn’t be where we are today. But at the same time, I’m going to throw down my (hard) hat as a challenge to tomorrow’s generation of members to make sure they keep their eye on the goal and their desire to achieve it just as strong as those three men who started it all.

Daniel L. Baker,
President,
American Concrete Institute

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