CalCIMA Tours Member Sites with Legislators

• By: admin
• On: 09/12/2024 17:58:38
• In: CalCIMA News

CalCIMA teamed up with Assemblymember Juan Carrillo (D-Palmdale) who initiated a bipartisan tour of facilities in the area surrounding Assembly District 39. In addition to Carrillo, Senator María Elena Durazo (D-Los Angeles) and Assemblymember Tom Lackey (R-Palmdale) attended along with staff from the offices of State Senator Scott Wilk (R-Santa Clarita) and Assemblymember Blanca Rubio (D-Baldwin Park).

“When it comes to investing in California infrastructure, members from both parties agree we need to better understand the challenges our local aggregate companies face and all the ways they're working to contribute to local communities and economies,” said Carrillo. “One of the best ways to expand affordable housing, address civil infrastructure concerns and support local businesses is to better engage industry that is essential to our shared economy.” 

“We are thankful to elected officials who devote so much time and public service to meeting the men and women who produce the essential materials and minerals that build California,” said Barbara Goodrich-Welk, of Vulcan Materials Company. “Our member companies take ancient alluvium deposits and translate those into public works and infrastructure projects upon which our communities, economy and environment depend.”

“It's a great honor to be with public servants who want to learn about our industry and support our local economy,” said Brandon Saeteurn of Granite Construction. “Our operations in Los Angeles County are making possible transportation systems that tens of millions of people rely upon. Our operations are essential to helping California meet its sustainable development and carbonization goals.”

"It's always helpful to have face-to-face interactions with our elected leaders who are eager to learn about our industry, but what made this tour so special was the visits to various sites and walking through a comprehensive view of what we do," said Martin Hansberger of Holliday Rock Co., Inc. "The materials we're producing are used in a wide range of essential products and our industry is committed to building all infrastructure in California.”

“This natural resource from the San Gabriel Mountains is critical to California's shared environment and quality of life and it's our honor to help bring these materials to the region's public works and infrastructure,” said Bill Taylor of Robertson's Ready Mix. “We welcome every opportunity to meet with elected officials as they seek to engage local communities and promote the state's construction and aggregates industry.” 
 

The site tours provided the group with an immersive educational experience. Attendees observed the processing of multiple materials, such as rock, sand, alluvium gravel, asphalt, and concrete from start-to-finish. They also had the opportunity to meet with numerous of the hard working employees who make the production of these materials possible. Attendees witnessed the start-to-finish process, from getting the raw materials to seeing them leave the plant in a truck to go to a different site. They had the opportunity to meet the employees who put the hard work in every day to produce these materials.

“By getting folks out to plants, they can see what it actually takes to not just produce the materials, but see the innovations that are going into these materials to decarbonize them,” said Robert Dugan, President and CEO of CalCIMA. 

The tour also helped attendees understand how critical construction materials are for infrastructure, the environment and geology, our communities, and California's economy. The tour highlighted five themes for lawmakers to consider as they approach a new legislative session in January 2025: 

1. Innovation and sustainability: To best help California meet its net-zero carbon goal by 2045, companies should be incentivized to do even more as they use recycled materials, alternative renewable fuels, and supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs).
2. Distance matters: If materials are local, not only is it going to be more fuel efficient, but it can remove thousands of tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
3. Policies: Policies impact suburban and rural communities and impact the cost of public infrastructure.
4. Mineral availability: Minerals are important and necessary for construction; they are used to build homes, roads, bridges, schools and more.
5. Gas tax: The gas tax will no longer be a viable option for funding surface transportation infrastructure and lawmakers will be debating new solutions in the future for bringing to market these essential building materials.

Getting legislators and CalCIMA together facilitated conversations about the numerous different laws that can affect CalCIMA members from acquiring permits to increasing the costs of business and living in California. 

 “We'll (CalCIMA) be working to get more legislators out on the ground and getting them together so they ask the hard questions,” Dugan said. “We love hearing from them and what their perspectives are, what they're hearing from their constituents about what we're doing. It allows us as an industry to take that into account into our business models and operations.”

CalCIMA member companies produce the essential materials and minerals that build California. Our operations are essential to California's present and future. If it's built, we're in it.

CONTACT: Julia Maldonado, Communications Coordinator, can be reached at jmaldonado@calcima.org.