Rob Wallace: Strength in Relationships Helps Grow the Industry

For Rob Wallace, Executive Director for The Concrete Promotion Council of Northern California (CPCNC), it's all about teamwork.

"Teamwork is critical," he explains. "I work closely with Andy Youngs, Technical Consultant with the California Nevada Cement Promotion Council. We would both miss a huge amount of opportunities if we were lone rangers. It only makes sense for our two different associations to work in alliance, because 70 percent of cement goes into ready mix concrete—you can't have one without the other."

CPCNC was formed in 2001 by the members of Northern California's ready mixed concrete industry with the goal of providing the design and construction businesses in California's Central and NorthValley and Greater Bay areas ready access to current, general and technical information on the wide array of ready mixed concrete products available from member companies.

For Wallace, who came to them in early 2003, it's a good fit. He has more than 25 years of experience in the ready mixed concrete industries of the U.S. and Canada, where he has held positions in Quality Assurance, Concrete Sales, Cement Sales and Ready Mix Management. He has also actively participated in the Ready Mix Associations of British Columbia and Oregon.

Wallace's background has enabled him to informatively educate about and promote the applications of the most used construction material in the world. He provides educational presentations, seminars, project specific assistance and technical support on many ready mixed concrete product applications to Universities/Colleges and the members of associations such as AIA, SEAOC, and the League of California Cities. He is also an active member of the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, The North American Concrete Alliance, and the Pacific Southwest Concrete Alliance.

After four years with CPCNC, Wallace observes, "We've done a lot—our main thrust has been to create demand for ready mix products, which involves providing education to designers and government agencies to achieve specifications as well as to educate contractors on such new technologies as pervious concrete. Additionally, with the new Concrete Industry Management Program in its inaugural year at CSU Chico, a growing aspect of our effort is to make sure we provide current and relevant information to the industry leaders and designers of the future."

According to Wallace, one of the aspects that's often overlooked about concrete is the fact that it's a sustainable product. "With the growing emphasis of the construction design community on environmental considerations, our industry is coming to understand how well positioned we are and the huge opportunity this reality represents. Consequently, a lot of our promotion efforts integrate this aspect into our educational presentations for designers and students alike," he adds. "People have to look at the life cycle of a product and not just the initial costs, because concrete pays back better over the long term than other products. It is not widely understood that on average, 10 percent of the cost of a building goes into creating it, and 90 percent goes into maintaining it. And concrete lasts and lasts while being virtually maintenance free."

But there's more work to be done, according to Wallace. "In sales, I could see the missing link in the industry—there was supply and demand, but until recently the industry has historically only majored on reacting to demand by successfully supplying to the marketplace," he notes. "That, of course, is very important and I think we are very good at reacting to demand and supplying products when they're demanded."

One of his goals, however, is to see the reactive nature of the industry shift to a more proactive approach. To that end, Wallace adds, "In the last five to 10 years, through intentional educational and promotional efforts directed at the design community, the industry has been focusing on creating more demand. Like many other industries, we're subject to the swings of the economy and continuous proactive promotion represents a better way to make the high and low times less extreme."

"Promotion is critical to our industry," he continues. "Promotion is still evolving, because the industry is still learning why educating is so important when times are good. If we do that, then when the times are bad, the dips aren't as exaggerated. We're seeing economic statistical evidence that promotion significantly helps to reduce the depth of the boom and bust cycles that are common to the history of the construction industry."

According to Wallace, a great example of creating demand comes from none other than The Milk Board. "After realizing they were having to dump large quantities of unsold product, they came up with the 'Got Milk?' advertising campaign. They spent the money and for every dollar they spent, producers saw a $4 return," he comments.

"Our industry is learning that exposure is key," he adds. "It's a constant challenge to convince those that are concerned about the bottom line, because even if they have the money they don't necessarily want to spend it on promotion, which is difficult to measure in terms of bottom-line results."

But, Wallace says, "It's the cause and effect of creating demand through promotion that will help the industry become more profitable and mitigate boom and bust cycles. It is a function of demand being in a healthy relationship to supply. With the high sustainable value of the wide variety of products we provide, and the general construction industry's growing awareness of those products through education, our industry is definitely grasping how important promotion is as a proactive effort worthy of pursuit."

With Wallace championing the benefits of concrete, as well as collaborating and forming beneficial alliances, the industry will not only get stronger, but also more cohesive—and that will benefit all parties involved.

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