In the spirit of keeping it real - 2020 was an extremely difficult year. Looking at the bigger picture of things everyone experienced - there was COVID-19 (not just the illness, but also the guidelines and cancellations/closures that came along with it), rioting and looting in some areas, record unemployment, a shaky stock market, and it was an election year on top of all that. It was rough, but here we are nearing the end of the year and somehow we survived.
It is important to keep in mind that we do still have so much to be grateful for. For me, I am grateful for the health of my family. We had some scares in 2020, but we are all still here. I have a wonderful son who will turn three in a few months who constantly keeps me on my toes. And there is nothing better than hearing him say: “I love you mommy.” My family is always there for me, and have guided me through an extremely tough year. And I have a wonderful group of friends, some of which I have been friends with for 20 years, who made me laugh in 2020.
I feel grateful to work for a company that has managed to navigate this strange year so well, keeping our team safe and working. I was blessed with the ability to work from home during the statewide stay-at-home orders, and blessed to return to work once orders were lifted. And I am so grateful for those that couldn’t work from home and showed up every day to provide for not only their own family, but ensure that their teammates can provide for their families, too.
I’ve spent the second half of 2020 on a personal journey of discovering who I am again, and who I want to be. Turns out, it’s simple. I just want to be happy and I want my son to be happy. We are, and we will continue to make decisions that keep us that way.
What do you have to be grateful for this year?
- Stephanie McCord, Marketing
Precast Chalk Talk: Episode 19-1
Meet some of our administrative team members and learn how they keep things rolling for our Customers in the latest episode of Precast Chalk Talk.
It's cold outside, but we're still building
While winter weather shuts down some businesses in the construction industry, precast elements are still being made and installed by Mid-States Concrete.
When the temperature drops near freezing, cast-in-place (CIP) concrete is a less viable option on construction sites. However, precast concrete is cast inside a temperature-controlled plant, regardless of the weather outside. We also offer on-site installation, even during the most frigid of temperatures.
While some construction companies and trades must halt their work because of frost, ice, snow, or cold temperatures, Mid-States Concrete operates year-round. In fact, a benefit of utilizing precast is that we can help contractors enclose their buildings, to allow inside trades to work during the colder months. Once on site, precast is installed with ease.
Precast concrete makes it possible to continue working through the inclement winter weather to keep contractors building year-round. Cold weather construction can be completed on time and on budget with the planned use of precast concrete.
The promise of quality products
By Mike Wolff
Vice President of Safety and Quality
Mid-States Concrete is fully committed to quality assurance and control. Safety is above everything else at Mid-States, with quality assurance being a close second. In addition to a litany of concrete tests dictated by PCI and ACI standards, our Quality Department also performs pre-pour and post-pour checks every day on every piece produced by Mid-States. These inspections ensure our products meet and exceed Customer expectations.
Every individual piece is checked to the corresponding individual drawing to ensure the product meets the engineering criteria.
Standard Quality Control inspections include:
All product dimensions such as length, width, thickness, block outs, angles, flange thickness, and notches.
Embed placement of such things as reinforcement, strand, plates, angles, dog bones, coil inserts thin brick, reveals, and any other features required by structural drawings.
Inspect for any cracks, strand slip, chips, and honeycomb defects.
All architectural panels go through an additional management review check for aesthetic features such as comparing the finish to the approved samples.
These checks ensure we exceed our Customer’s requirements and provide our boss - the Customer – with exactly what they want. The Quality Control/Quality Assurance Department is committed to approving only the best products out there and live that mission every day.
Are you interested in learning more about our Quality Control processes? Please contact Mike Wolff at m.wolff@msprecast.com.
Project Partnership Survey
As Mid-States Concrete strives to be the best partner possible on all your projects, we turn to you, our valued partners, to see how we are doing.
If you have recently completed a job with us, you may have received either a paper survey from us, a link to our digital survey, or even a phone call from our marketing team. A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who has completed these surveys for us. It is with your candid feedback that we continue to improve the experience we offer to our customers. Your feedback is reviewed by our team and is an opportunity to recognize the things we are doing well, so we can replicate them for you in the future. It is also reviewed for ways we can improve, to offer you an even better experience in the future.
If you haven’t taken the survey yet, we are certainly anxious for your feedback. Not sure what you did with the paper survey, or digital link buried in your inbox? Same! We have you covered. Follow this link.