News Detail

AOE: ACI's Hidden Gem

4/1/2020

Long before ACI adopted our tagline of "Always Advancing," the Institute was called upon to help other industry associations grow and prosper. In the early 1990s, Creative Association Management (CAM) was established as a fully owned subsidiary of ACI to provide association management consulting services to the industry. Some of our industry's associations were just getting their start at this time and turned to CAM for services. Fast-forward to 2020 and our team, rebranded as Advancing Organizational Excellence (AOE), now manages the Post-Tensioning Institute, American Coal Ash Association, Slag Cement Association, and Great Lakes Cement Promotion Council, as well as one nonconcrete organization.

In addition to the associations that AOE manages, the team provides consulting services to about 30 different organizations in the industry. Clients range from other associations such as the American Concrete Pipe Association, American Concrete Pumping Association, and International Grooving and Grinding Association to suppliers, engineers, manufacturers, and contractors in our industry, including Ceco Concrete Construction, CTS Cement, and Doka. Interestingly, ACI is an AOE client, as is our other fully owned subsidiary, the ACI Foundation. Services range from marketing, public relations, crisis communications, and social media consulting to projects related to training, workforce development, Board relations, member engagement, certification, and operations. All clients benefit from working with a team of experts possessing unique qualifications who perform their craft for a wide variety of leaders in the concrete industry.

The benefits are many. The associations gain an advantage from reduced overhead through our shared services model, allowing them access to experts in everything from operations and HR to member relations, training, and marketing, without having to add full-time staff for all functions. Best practices are established and deployed, enabling all AOE clients the benefit of shared expertise. The clients working with AOE on a consulting basis also benefit from working with professional writers, marketers, training professionals, and other experts who know the concrete industry and marketplace.

But how does AOE benefit ACI and you as a member? To begin, AOE and AOE clients pay rent to ACI, which helps reduce overhead costs on everything from utilities and office space to software and training costs. But beyond the financial benefit, arguably the bigger impact is in the top-notch staff ACI is able to hire and retain. Approximately half of ACI's staff wear an AOE hat at some point during their work week, which enables the Institute to have the best experts across all disciplines and provide a broader perspective on the marketplace beyond the ACI lens. It should be noted, however, that AOE operates separately from ACI as it is a for-profit entity, governed by a separate Board of Directors and professional staff.

Because of their model, AOE is able to keep their association management as well as consulting service fees at a lower than standard market rate. Further, because AOE is owned by ACI, not private shareholders, any profit earned at the end of the year is reinvested back into the industry. Not many consulting firms can make the claim that they are keeping rates low and putting their profits right back into supporting their clients and the industry they serve.

In 2019, the AOE Board chose to use its profits to support the ACI Foundation as well as the American Concrete Pipe Association Foundation. In 2020, AOE has already sponsored the ACI Chapter Networking event at World of Concrete. Further, AOE will help offset the Fall ACI Concrete Convention registration cost for Chairs of the Technical, Educational, and Certification Committees. This offering by AOE is designed to contribute to ACI's mission of developing, disseminating, and advancing the adoption of its consensus-based knowledge on concrete and its uses by offsetting costs for technical leadership.

CAM's rebranding in 2018 to AOE was deliberate to showcase the entity's deep commitment to supporting ACI's vision of a world in which everyone has the knowledge needed to use concrete effectively. The AOE team makes its mark through its work throughout the concrete market, which creates a better industry for us all and a stronger ACI. I invite you to learn more about AOE by visiting www.aoeteam.com or by contacting AOE President Kimberly Kayler at kimberly.kayler@aoeteam.com.

Ronald G. Burg

American Concrete Institute