Rock Products

AUG 2016

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8 • ROCK products • August 2016 www.rockproducts.com I N D U S T RY N E W S IN THE KNOW The aggregates industry is contin- uously challenged by a shortage of qualified people to work on rock crushers. To remedy this situation, Mellott Co. of Warfords- burg, Pa., has developed Mellott University. Mellott University offers a program that prepares students for ser- vice-technician and plant-operator careers in the aggregates industry. Three to four students from Fulton County, Pa., Vo-Tech are joined with new full-time employees of Mellott Co. to partic- ipate in a nine-month, two-semester program. They attend classes for two hours a day and spend two to six hours per day in hands-on learning opportunities in the service and fabrication shops. Tony Valente recently joined Mellott Co. as training manager of Mellott University. Valente will be building and leading the instruction of this university-style curriculum as well as managing continuing education for Mellott Co. employees. His passion for education matched with his experience in industry will serve to dynamically build a qualified aggregate industry workforce for the future. NSSGA: Bring Congress to Quarries This Summer FAST FACT There is nothing more impactful with mem- bers of Congress than visits with constitu- ents when they are home during congres- sional recesses. Last summer, aggregates operations around the country brought members of Congress to their quarries in record numbers. The industry's heightened participation in "Driving It Home 2015" was a critical component in spurring Congress to pass the FAST Act. Despite surface transportation fund- ing increase in the FAST Act, Congress failed to address long-term funding of the system. There is no sustainable funding mechanism to support future highway infrastructure investments and the Highway Trust Fund will face revenue shortfalls by 2021 despite the roughly $70 billion FAST Act infusion. So we must continue driving home the value of aggregates and investing in our transportation infrastructure. The National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association (NSSGA) is urging its mem- bers to meet with their Congressional representatives at operations all over the country. The House of Represen- tatives will have a seven-week recess running from July 16 through Labor Day encompassing the traditional August district work period as well as both par- ties' national nominating conventions. There is nothing more impactful with members of Congress than visits with constituents when they are home during congressional recesses. These are opportunities to show elected offi- cials up close and personally how you extract and process aggregates that are essential to roads and highways. Visits to local operations also allow law- makers to meet large numbers of their constituents, which is something they always welcome and that builds legis- lative goodwill. Attending a local congressional town hall meeting, meeting with them in their home district office or scheduling a bus tour of major highway projects in your area allows lawmakers to see how trans- portation issues affect their constituents. Mellott University Expands; Now Headed by Valente REMA TIP TOP/North America, Inc. Industry Leader in Conveyor Belts, Service, & Wear Protection Phone: 800.334.REMA (7362) www.rematiptop.com

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