The Rock Products Interview: Ted Baker II, Blue Water Industries

The New NSSGA Chairman Talks About The Strategic Plan, Labor, Digitalization And The Best Business Advice He Ever Received.

By Mark S. Kuhar

Rock Products: As you begin your term as chairman of the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA), what is the number-one thing you would like to accomplish?
We have an incredible opportunity during the first year of this administration and Congress to move the needle on the regulatory front. Michele Stanley and her Government Relations team are already working hard to get in front of congressional leadership and administration decision makers to educate them on our issues and that’s where we will concentrate a lot of our advocacy efforts.  

What are your plans to build on the work of your predecessor and execute the NSSGA Strategic Plan.
When it comes to the Strategic Plan, advocacy is job number one. We have an administration in power that will likely have an open mind about our industry, and our goals are to tell our story about the impact and essential nature of the materials we produce, and to continue improving the image of the aggregates industry.

What did you learn from Jim Nickolas serving as his first vice chair during his tenure as chairperson?
Jim worked really hard behind the scenes to help build consensus among our large and small producers as well as some of the other construction materials associations, and I’d like to continue that throughout my tenure. 

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) will have to be renewed or replaced very soon, how can the industry meet that challenge in uncertain political times.
These are very uncertain times, but we just need to keep our heads down and continue the job of engaging with lawmakers and administration officials about the importance and need for sustainable infrastructure funding. Infrastructure is popular with a lot of Republicans and Democrats, and one of the things we really need to work on as we set the table for the next bill is to advocate for a fair and effective way to fund infrastructure instead of kicking the can down the road with a gas tax that hasn’t changed since the early 1990s.  

Skilled labor is still hard to find these days. How can our industry tackle its labor shortage?
Welders, electricians, diesel mechanics and other skilled laborers have been hard to find for the better part of the last decade, but the good news is that they are now being rewarded for their work at a level that would have been hard to imagine 10 or 20 years ago. That presents a real opportunity to make money if you would like to pursue one of those trades as a career and should steer more and more people into those fields. Our challenge is to attract them into the aggregates business, and that’s why you see a lot of different producers teaming up with local trade schools to try and introduce people to our industry.  

Digitalization, AI and automation are cutting-edge trends. Talk about the role of technology in driving the success of the aggregates industry in the future.
There are a lot of different technology efforts going on right now that I think will make us more effective and efficient as an industry. As we talked about above, it’s getting harder and harder to find good people, and hopefully some of these new technologies will help take some of the pressure off of hiring and recruiting as well as reduce costs and prevent accidents.  

Why is national association membership important to business success?
As a small producer, we don’t have the resources to hire our own government relations team or fund a large PAC, but when we work together with other members, we can pool resources and advocate at the federal level in a much more broad and powerful way.

This year’s NSSGA Convention and AGG1 show were very successful. Talk about the importance of industry conventions, trade shows and events.
Jennifer Dugas and her NSSGA meetings team deserve a lot of credit for putting together some very successful conventions over the past several years. The networking, educational programming, and equipment exhibits are impossible to find anywhere else and they are a lot of fun too. 

What is the best piece of business advice you ever received?
This is a small industry and relationships really matter. If you treat employees, customers and vendors well it will get around and vice versa.

NSSGA – Past Board Chairs