The Concrete Industry Management (CIM) program — a business-intensive program that awards students with a four-year Bachelor of Science degree in CIM — is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.

A first-of-its-kind college degree program for concrete construction in the United States, the CIM program ensures the industry has a continuous stream of professionals trained in concrete technology and management.

The National Steering Committee (NSC) of CIM, a national-level, broad-based industry coalition dedicated to the support of CIM institutions, has planned an anniversary celebration, which will take place on Oct. 26 at the Embassy Suites Hotel Nashville in Murfreesboro, Tenn.

First introduced in 1996 with two students, the undergraduate program now includes nearly 500 students at program universities including Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU); California State University, Chico; Texas State University and New Jersey Institute of Technology. On Aug. 31, South Dakota State University's Jerome J. Lohr College of Engineering held a ribbon cutting ceremony to officially announce it is now the fifth university in the country offering a degree in CIM.

To date, more than 1,500 students have graduated from CIM programs with the skill set necessary to meet the growing demands of the progressively changing concrete industry.

"For the last 25 years, CIM has remained strong throughout the many changes in the economic climate," said Eugene Martineau, executive director of CIM's NSC. "I attribute our success to two things — the dedication of the National Steering Committee and the local patron groups. The NSC exemplifies how firmly entrenched the concrete industry is in CIM."

The leadership of NSC's board of directors is comprised of ready-mix suppliers, admixture suppliers, concrete contractors, engineering firms, research organizations and trade associations. Their mission is to develop, support, promote and sustain a network of higher learning educational institutions with programs that produce graduates with degrees in CIM.

The local patron groups are the backbone of the CIM program. These groups provide guest lecturers, sponsor field trips, hire students and graduates and provide financial support that matches or exceeds that of the NSC.

Seeing the need for concrete industry-specific executive education, the NSC launched an Executive MBA program. In the fall of 2012, the first class of students in the CIM MBA program at MTSU began. This unique degree program was the result of many years of close collaboration between MTSU, the NSC and companies in the concrete industry.

The program expands the industry/academic partnership by bringing CIM to the business world through an executive-type MBA and stands alone in its focused curriculum on the concrete production and concrete construction industries. The first cohort graduated in December 2014.

The program now allows for entry in any semester and is combined with the MBA Flex program to keep many options for courses available to students.

For more information, visit www.concretedegree.com.

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