Pit & Quarry, February 2019

NSSGA ANNUAL CONVENTION 40 people Heavy industrial is going nuts Were seeing major growth around the suburban areas Were seeing warehousing Were seeing large retail chains like Menards and Walmart popping up all over A number of the indicators for aggregate remain positive Boyd adds but the next couple of years may bring unwanted change As we look to where were going the monies are being generated the opportunities are there there are incentives for people to grow the investors are cutting loose a little bit of their purse strings interest is still cheap for a lot of us and capital is available to grow Boyd says But whats going to happen with the presidential election coming up and the turmoil there people are going to get a little more conservative and back up in the next year or two The stock market is going to start driving some things locally With the wounds of the Great Recession still fresh investors only have to look back 10 years for a reminder of what happens when the bottom drops out If you look back to 2008 09 when the recession really hit hard in Indiana a lot of these larger companies and machine shops laid people off Boyd says Some of them closed their doors These companies are trying to retool and build back up but theyre wary Theres a lot of concern and fear out there for the second recession that boom and bust scenario THE NUMBER ONE CHALLENGE The other headache Indianas aggregate producers are dealing with is tied to labor Like producers in other states hiring quality people and retaining them is a challenge thats intensifying The future of the workforce is a concern to our members just like every other industry Lee says The challenge is finding skilled quality workers more so than the numbers Boyd agrees Indiana has a major problem here The worker shortage is even affecting the industrys ability to get construction projects done efficiently The jobs are there but the engineering and installation are not Boyd says The state is trying to hire additional engineers and inspectors Wages are getting high The state of the labor force is cornering producers into tough operational decisions as well Im going to have to force myself into some automation controls and Im using more and more contractors Boyd says The cost goes up Ive got to look at economies of scale Do I get larger trucks and reduce an employee because Im having a hard time getting employees To Lee there isnt one silver bullet solution to this problem within Indiana He is however a proponent of a multi pronged approach I think its important to work this from several different aspects Lee says From the bottom up we would be making those particular candidates aware of our industry and that there are very good careers that can be built here So when youre leaving high school and maybe even before that you think about this industry because theres some opportunity From the top down Lee identifies several sources that can drive people toward the good paying jobs available in the aggregate industry The top down approach is more about making those who guide careers aware Lee says Its legislators and the various folks who can raise the flag and steer particular candidates this way Promoting the opportunity to serve in a leading capacity within our industry is a story worth telling too One of the legacies with my previous association was working with the early to midlevel career managers within the industry to help ensure that we will be strong in the future with our leadership Lee says Somebody recognized the need of that before I came to ICI but I helped nurture that program Were looking to do something very similar with IMAA P Q 30 PIT QUARRY February 2019 pitandquarry com ISTOCK COM ANUBIS9111 Roadwork on I 69 which runs through Indiana represents one of the states major highway projects