This week, CMHA President Bob Thomas shared significant news about a member of our Senior Leadership Team with the CMHA Board of Directors. Robert Bowers, P. Eng., Vice President of Engineering, Hardscapes, has made the difficult decision to resign his position at CMHA effective December 2026. The decision comes as a result of challenges that require him to shift his focus entirely to his health. Rob plans to transition his responsibilities to other staff over the next six months. While the news of his early retirement is hard for us to process, we fully support him as he prioritizes his health and well-being.
It is difficult to overstate the impact Rob has had on the hardscapes industry. Rob started in the industry working for an SRW licensor even before graduating from university. During this stage of his career, he was active at NCMA as a member of the SRW committees. He worked tirelessly at ICPI, as the Director of Engineering, prior to the unification with NCMA. He has spent the last four years helping to build CMHA and serving the association members in both the US and Canada. He is capping off an extraordinary 35-year career in hardscapes, with 18 years of service to the associations.
Over three decades, Rob has developed countless hardscape related technical resources, overseen and interpreted vital industry research, been a recognized international speaker, authored white papers of significance, and navigated major regulatory changes. His efforts have raised the visibility of segmental concrete pavement and segmental retaining walls as a competitive commercial product. He has dedicated endless hours to the training and development of hardscape installers and technical representatives. His oversight of Hardscape North America during the early years, the ongoing dedication to the HNA Installer Championship and management of the HNA Hardscape House have been instrumental in the growth of the tradeshow. It is impossible to list all the significant contributions he has made, but it is certainly fair to say that Rob’s leadership, institutional knowledge and unwavering commitment has been instrumental in shaping the association and the industry.
CMHA is currently working on the details of the transitions plan. Over the next six months, other technical staff will expand their roles and responsibilities for continuity of CMHA and Foundation projects currently underway. The expertise of staff will allow for the association to be fully equipped to handle day-to-day operations during this period.
Our very best wishes are with him as he focuses on his recovery, and we hope to see him return in a few years.