When it comes to our team, and the teams we work with, our number one priority is safety. We want everyone to go home to their families in the same condition at the end of their shift as they were in when they arrived for that shift.
Prioritizing safety also benefits the work we do for your projects. When team members feel safe, and operate safely, they remain part of the team longer, gaining more experience in producing and installing the highest quality precast concrete components. And when team members keep mind on task and do not get complacent with safety procedures, it helps them to avoid errors and injuries, produce the highest quality products, and ensure delivery deadlines are met. Team members operating safely in the plant and on job sites for installation prevent injuries, keeping projects moving forward.
For Mid-States Concrete Industries, our commitment to safety is above all else. We treat our team members like industrial athletes – ensuring the highest quality safety program to keep them from getting injured, and to eliminate risks wherever we can.
Through things like partnering with Athletico to create a warm-up program designed to stretch and strengthen our team members for the movements required of their jobs, to putting a detailed housekeeping program in place to eliminate hazards, to constantly evaluating our safety procedures, we keep our team members safe.
In 2022, Mid-States Concrete renewed its SHARP designation through OSHA for the third time, making us the only precaster in the United States to have this elite recognition. Mid-States first achieved this Safety & Health Achievement Recognition Program designation in July 2017.
“The safety culture and sustaining it is something we are very proud of,” said Mike Wolff, Vice President of Safety and Quality.
Additionally, the entire Mid-States Concrete Field Crew and all Plant Foremen are OSHA 30-Hour Certified. All team members also annually participate in Safety Days – which serves as a refresher on all of our safety programming through both classroom learning and hands-on activity. Training is run by the Vice President of Safety and Quality, Safety Manager, and all Production Supervisors.
“We flow it through everyone to create ownership over safety,” Wolff said.
In 2022, Mid-States Concrete Industries had just five OSHA recordables. Mid-States Concrete Industries is also a PCI (Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute) Certified Plant and PCI Certified Erector. These certifications provide assurance to owners, architects, engineers, and contractors that precast concrete components will be manufactured and installed according to stringent industry standards.
To ensure we constantly live up to our high safety and quality standards, we have several PCI Certified Field Auditors who go on site to audit the safety and quality procedures of Mid-States Concrete’s work on your projects. They complete a detailed safety and quality inspection specific to precast concrete. Every foreman has at least two project installations per year evaluated.
For Safety Manager Tracy Miller, one of the best things about the safety culture is watching the team embrace it so wholeheartedly.
“The best part is when you see them do the right thing when they think no one is looking,” Miller said.
Miller and Wolff also really appreciate that the entire team takes ownership of safety. In fact, while Miller reports on near misses on a weekly basis, the corrective actions and retraining often come from the person with the near miss. Our team members always bring a solution.
The safety team continues to evaluate, improve, and grow the Mid-States Concrete safety program to ensure the team always operates at the highest level of safety, keeping our team, and your team, as safe as possible.
Not your typical Lunch and Learn
Image by sentavio on Freepik.
One of the things we pride ourselves on at Mid-States Concrete is living up to our World-Changing Behaviors.
Those World-Changing Behaviors include: safety before all else; YES! attitude; be candid; put yourself in someone else’s shoes; practice the four referrability habits, which are show up on time, do what you say you are going to do, finish what you start, and say please and thank you; and be a little weird!
While we practice all of these World-Changing Behaviors, we really (really, really) show up for the “be a little weird!” part. So, it should come as no surprise that we don’t generally offer the typical Lunch and Learn. A typical Lunch and Learn program is a presentation with a catered lunch that takes place at a workplace during lunch. In the digital age, Lunch and Learns are also often offered online as webinars.
While Mid-States has presented the typical Lunch and Learn before, we’ve found another style of Lunch and Learn we think benefits our customers more. Rather than a PowerPoint presentation where we stand at the head of the room with slides full of information behind us and talk AT you while you try to quietly eat Jimmy Chips (good luck, by the way), we’d much rather have a Roundtable where we can talk WITH you.
Much like a typical Lunch and Learn, Roundtables can be scheduled for 60-90 minutes, depending on the needs of your team. Prior to scheduling a Roundtable, a member of our Preconstruction team will have a call with the organizer to discuss the objectives of the Roundtable, including topics, attendees, as well as experience working with precast. From that discussion, we’ll tailor our presentation materials and discussion to your needs.
Within our Preconstruction department, collectively we have more than 140 years’ experience with Mid-States Concrete Industries. Our Preconstruction team includes three salespeople: Jeremy Olivotti, Troy Yaun, and Colin Jones; two estimators: Bill Abel and Ian Lewellin; one preconstruction engineer: Tara Loomis; one support admin: Tracy Christianson; and one marketer: Stephanie Kohl. Presenters will depend on the topics your team desires to discuss. And if the expertise you are looking for lies outside of the Preconstruction realm, Mid-States also has departments and experts dedicated to Engineering and Design, Project Management, Manufacturing, and Installation.
Our goal is to give you the information you need to make the best decision for your upcoming projects. When you partner with Mid-States Concrete for your precast project, we’re with you every step of the way – from preconstruction assessment, design and engineering support through construction and completion. It’s how we’ve done it for almost 77 years.
If you are interested in having Mid-States Concrete host a Roundtable for your team, please contact us at sales@msprecast.com. We’d love to get a date on the calendar.
Precast Chalk Talk: Episode 41
In this episode of Precast Chalk Talk, learn more about Precast Beams and where it all begins - in the Bones Factory - with President Hagen Harker.
Why do I love precast? Let me count the ways.
This five-story multi-family building under construction in Beloit, Wisc. features many precast elements including wall panels, beams, columns, delta beams, and hollowcore.
February has arrived – the month of love. But we’re not talking about mushy love here, we’re talking about strong love, a love of precast concrete. So, why should you love precast? Let us count the ways.
Precast concrete and precast, prestressed concrete excel in strength, sustainability, functionality, and durability. As it integrates easily with other systems and provides versatility, efficiency, and resiliency, it is a clear building choice for high-performance structures.
Aesthetic Versatility
Precast boasts a variety of finishes, custom form liners, graphic concrete, thin brick and more. It also comes in an (almost) unlimited array of colors, forms, textures, and shapes.Speed
Time is money. Precast concrete’s speed through design, fabrication and erection help meet tight deadlines. Precast components are manufactured off-site, reducing the amount of time onsite. And they are ready to be erected with a just-in-time delivery to the jobsite when the general contractor needs it.Early Input
Early design assistance is available to our customers – including layout, design, and value – as early as the schematic design phase, helping customers keep their projects on time, on budget, and on target.Open Floor Plate, Column-Free Space, Shallow Floor Thickness
An open floor plate allows a flexible interior that can accommodate a variety of scenarios. Column-free space allows additional flexibility in floor plans and layouts. Shallow floor thicknesses with fewer beams provide unobstructed ceiling cavities for mechanical and electrical systems.Fire Resistance
Precast concrete provides inherent fire protection and resiliency. Concrete does not combust and therefore helps contain fires in a controlled space. Precast hollowcore has a minimum one-hour fire rating and a structural topping can increase that up to a four-hour rating. When used for separation, precast concrete also helps prevent fire from spreading throughout a building or jumping from building to building.Blast Resistance
For precast concrete components, blast-resistant design is primarily focused on the design of exterior building components and their connections, protecting those on the inside of a building from a blast.Ability to Withstand Severe Weather
Precast concrete provides excellent protection against high winds, storm surge and flying debris, among many other high-performance attributes. It is often used in FEMA shelters, residential, institutional, public, government and other structures providing protection.Safety
Plant casting keeps the site cleaner and eliminates trades from the construction zone, improving logistics and enhancing worker safety.All Weather Construction
Precast concrete is plant-produced and trucked to the jobsite when needed. Unlike other products, precast concrete can be installed in cold weather, eliminating temperature related delays.Sound Attenuation
Precast concrete’s mass provides an economical acoustical barrier to exterior or interior noise penetration. Very little sound is transmitted through precast concrete, making for a quieter, more comfortable living space for occupants.Inedibility & Resistance to Mildew and Rust
Vermin and insects cannot destroy concrete because it is inedible. Concrete is also not susceptible to rust or mildew growth.Strength for Heavy Loads
Reinforced precast concrete can handle heavy amounts of stress, point loads, and weight.Long Service Life and Low Maintenance
Precast is a long-lasting, high performance material that will last decades. Precast facilities also require very low maintenance, which benefits building owners.Locally Sourced
Concrete is a very common building material made of sand, gravel, cement, and water, and can be locally sourced to the precast plant. Transportation efforts produce low emissions, contributing to being an energy-efficient building material. Additionally, concrete plants are generally within a few hundred miles of a building site. This reduces the transportation required to ship heavy loads, as well as the associated energy and emissions.
And there you have it - 14 solid reasons to fall in love with precast this month. Interested in learning more about how precast can be integrated into your next project? Contact our preconstruction team at sales@msprecast.com or 800.236.1072.
Mid-States Concrete Gives Back
Mid-States Concrete recently gave team members an opportunity to give back to the community through the Stateline Community Foundation.
About 10 years ago, Mid-States Concrete Industries started what the Stateline Community Foundation refers to as an Acorn Fund with a $10,000 gift. From the growth in assets of the fund each year, the company earns a dividend/interest amount to be donated to charities of our choice. This year, Mid-States had $600 to disburse and at the last administrative team meeting offered team members a chance to put their name in a drawing for a chance to choose the deserving charities.
“Part of our purpose as a company is to help those who are in need within the Mid-States family, as well as our community-at-large,” said Hagen Harker, President of Mid-States Concrete Industries.
The winners of the drawing were Tracy Christianson, Preconstruction Support, and Tricia Goecks, Payroll Specialist. Each winner was allotted $300 to earmark for a charity of their choice.
“It is always so heartwarming to be able to donate to a charity that is close to your heart,” Tracy said.
Tracy chose to donate to The Wayward Society of Rockford. This organization provides in-home therapy for Autism to Tracy’s grandson.
“I am so grateful for the opportunity to be able to choose the charity,” Tracy said. “This organization only works based on donations and sponsors. They cannot bill insurance companies, so every donation is appreciated so much. They also do not charge the people that they help. They will accept any type of donation, but there is no actual charge ever. They are there to help anyone they are able to.”
Tricia chose to split her donation amount between two organizations: the Charles V. and Lois H. Harker Fund and the Students of Color Scholarship Fund.
“I think it is always important to give back to the community,” Tricia said. “In addition to helping our community, it strengthens our bonds to where we live, work, and play. Through volunteering and charitable giving, we support missions that are greater than ourselves.”
She selected the Harker Fund as a way to show gratitude to the Harker family for what they do for the Mid-States team, as well as for all their charitable giving and what they have done for the Beloit community.
Tricia selected the Students of Color Scholarship Fund because her grandchildren are biracial and she has seen firsthand the education setbacks her grandchildren have had because of the pandemic-related school shutdowns.
“I believe the pandemic had a significantly more detrimental impact on minority students,” Tricia said. “I am concerned that the ripple effect of the school shutdowns will be felt for decades, especially in the minority communities. I wanted to be able to support other minority students who do not have a support system at home like our grandchildren do.”
While previously disbursement of funds had been determined by a select group from leadership and the team’s involvement committee, it was important for Mid-States to open the opportunity to others this year.
“The importance is two-fold,” Hagen said. “We live our purpose statement. We can see it in action and we share the feeling of hard work and ownership.”