Concrete Pipe Week Highlights Community and Economic Benefits

County Materials is coming off another successful National Concrete Pipe Week. Recognized during the week of August 20-26, the 2017 Concrete Pipe Week gave County Materials the opportunity to raise awareness and education on the crucial function of concrete pipe in keeping communities healthy, safe, and thriving. Governors of Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana, along with the Mayor of Astatula, Florida all signed proclamations declaring the importance of concrete pipe in their own states and community.

In Wisconsin, County Materials held plant tours at our Madison and Green Bay facilities.

Notable attendees at County Materials’ Madison pipe plant tour include Wisconsin State Representative Malissa Sargent, Madison Alder for District 15 Dave Ahrens, and the Wisconsin Concrete Pipe Association Executive Director Clark Wantoch. Attendees at County Materials’ Green Bay pipe plant tour include Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation Dave Ross and State Senator Robert Cowles.

Brian Kolden, a Technical Resource Engineer with County Materials, helped plan and lead both tours. “We held events to raise awareness and discuss the history behind concrete pipe, and discuss the battle with polypropylene pipe on the regulation and legislative front,” said Kolden. “It was a great opportunity to showcase to state representatives how our locally sourced and locally made concrete pipe provides communities with a strong product that doesn’t flex, float, or burn, and can last 100 years.”

County Materials and the concrete pipe industry has a large impact on the U.S. economy. Concrete pipe is a durable product that is used to build storm water utilities and the infrastructure for growing communities, and it contributes to thousands of jobs. County Materials alone employs over 1,500 individuals at more than 40 locations in six states. Although its unseen, concrete pipe is relied on every day as an essential component for water management systems in our communities.

“This was one of the most successful and productive National Concrete Pipe Weeks I’ve been a part of,” said Kolden. “We attracted state level attention and were successful in representing our industry. The events accounted for months of planning, but in the end, we educated our elected officials on the importance of concrete pipe —both events were homeruns.”

Pictured Top: Photograph taken outside of Maxwell IN, Pipe Plant, from left to right is County Materials Location Manager and Vice President of the Indiana-Kentucky-Ohio Concrete Pipe Association (IKO) Jeff Allen, Rinker-Materials General Manager and President of IKO John Susong, State Representative Bob Cherry, County Materials Technical Resource Engineer and IKO State Director Steve Smart, and IKO lobbyist Oliver Barie.

Pictured Left: Photograph taken in the Green Bay Plant show room, from left to right is County Materials COO & CFO Bob Stoehr, County Materials Regional Manager Dennis Somers, County Materials Location Manager Jeff Neinas, Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation Dave Ross, Wisconsin State Senator Robert Cowles, County Material Sales Engineer of 31 years Bill Gardner, County Materials Technical Resource Engineer Brian Kolden, Wisconsin Concrete Pipe Association Executive Director Clark Wantoch.

Pictured Right: Photograph taken outside the Madison Pipe Plant, from left to right is Wisconsin Concrete Pipe Association Executive Director Clark Wantoch, County Materials Location Manager Chad Hoeppner, County Materials Sales Engineer of 31 years Bill Gardner, Alder for District 15 Dave Ahrens, County Materials COO & CFO Bob Stoehr, Wisconsin State Representative Malissa Sargent, County Material Technical Resource Engineer Brian Kolden, County Materials Regional Manager Dennis Somers.