Rodney Smith concludes his term as NPCA president and congratulates Nelson Meneley on the start of his term. (NPCA file photo)
- Tell us what the precast industry was like when you got started. There was a small group of precasters that understood that they could accomplish more for their industry if they formed an association than they could working alone. When I joined the association, there were three dozen or more members already working to build NPCA. Without these far-sighted members, the association could not have become what it is today.
- How has precast as a product changed over the years? Precast products have become more sophisticated and therefore meet the needs of a larger base of customers, which in turn allow all precasters to expand their businesses.
- Why did you get involved with NPCA and decide to become chairman? I became involved in NPCA after my first meeting because I realized there were a lot of benefits to having like-minded people in the same business to learn from and to be able to exchange ideas and discuss mutual challenges and how we handled them.
Rodney Smith
- What was the best thing you accomplished as chairman? I brought a higher level of awareness on how to promote (advertise) our business and our products.
- How did the friendships formed via NPCA impact your business and life? Great friendships are important in all aspects of life and NPCA allowed me to have friendships with other precast owners. I found this to be invaluable in my business life.
- What’s your favorite NPCA memory? Traveling around the world with other NPCA members and visiting precast plants in many countries (e.g. England, France, Belgium, Germany, Israel, Japan, Australia and many others). Also, making life-long precaster friends along the way and learning how other cultures used precast has been phenomenal.
- When you first got involved with NPCA, did you envision it becoming what it is today? It took some time to understand the potential of what we were onto. Not too long after the beginning, some of the more far-sighted precast members began to dream what could be for NPCA. I think, as of today, we have exceeded our most hoped for ambitions for our organization.
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