Momentum was unmistakable at this year’s CMHA Annual Meeting, because these meetings are where business gets done!
CMHA provides the platform, but the real engine of the meeting is the business-to-business activity that happens throughout the week. Yes, it was seen and heard in the strategic committee deliberations, but it also extended to The Precast Show floor. There, members connected face to face, explored new products and technologies, strengthened supplier relationships and advanced real opportunities. Conversations quickly turned into commitments. Ideas moved toward execution. The energy was practical, productive and focused on growth.
We kicked off our next strategic planning cycle. Our first three-year plan successfully unified and positioned CMHA for growth. But we are evolving, and so is the environment around us. We introduced a working framework to actively engage committees in building a plan designed to strengthen both the association and our masonry and hardscape market segments for the future.
Hardscape North America was another focal point as we assessed its continued growth heading into its 20th anniversary next year. Discussions centered on how CMHA can further leverage HNA’s brand strength and market influence to deepen support for hardscape contractors and the companies that supply them.
The Concrete Masonry Checkoff brought strong engagement and alignment throughout the week, demonstrating how collaboration across organizations can elevate industry messaging and market impact.
Both Foundations made significant investments in the future. The ICPI Foundation approved what may be its most ambitious initiative yet through the University of California Pavement Research Center. Following the completion of the development of a mechanistic-empirical new design model for interlocking concrete pavements, UC Davis proceeds to its next phase of conducting accelerated pavement tests to validate the method before publishing it for public use and incorporation into design standards. The NCMA Foundation approved nearly $450,000 across eight grants supporting critical research, and education initiatives that will strengthen concrete masonry for years to come. And both Foundations approved the return and expansion of the Block and Hardscapes Promoters Workshop for Spring 2027.
Advocacy targets remained front and center. The Government Affairs Committee reviewed progress made through Ogilvie Strategies to advance resilient construction policies aimed at reducing the impact and cost of natural disasters nationwide. Strategies to encourage more state agencies to specify and use interlocking and permeable pavement also evolved over the course of the week.
As we closed the week, it was clear this meeting produced more than updates. It propelled us forward. We left aligned around priorities and the collective strength of our membership gives us every reason to be confident about what we will accomplish together in the year ahead.