After two years, the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA) gathered the current Young Leaders and alumni to meet in San Diego, California, to celebrate its 30th anniversary.
The meeting, held from May 1-4, attracted a record attendance of more than 325 participants, who heard from industry leaders, participated in community service activities and welcomed their new Committee leadership.
During the Monday general session, NSSGA chair Karen Hubacz greeted guests by sharing her history as a former member and challenged attendees to increase their engagement with NSSGA to further their professional goals.
“The Young Leaders members are known across the industry for their engagement, enthusiasm and collaboration with others, and I love that distinction,” said NSSGA chair Karen Hubacz, Bond Construction Corp. “I want them to always be your best Young Leader self – it doesn’t matter your company’s size or your background. We all come to these meetings for the same reason – to learn from each other, to build up our relationships and to go home energised with a slightly new perspective.”
Other keynotes each shared details of their personal leadership journey. Tuesday’s general session featured a discussion by President and CEO of Summit Materials Anne Noonan, along with a discussion on leadership styles and behaviours. Each day of meetings offered breakout sessions for participants to attend, with topics tailored to specific interests of advocacy, finance and professional development.
In the afternoon, attendees were able to network while participating in community service events, team building activities and a facility tour hosted by Martin Marietta. Additionally, on Tuesday evening, the Mark S. Walsh Award was presented to Jennifer Hise-Trujillo, president of CEMCO.
As the meeting wrapped up on Wednesday with additional group activities and the annual golf tournament, participants saw the gavel exchange from Nick Schack, vice president and general manager with Gulf Coast, a CRH company, to Ericka Baxter, senior environmental director of CRH Americas, who becomes the first female Young Leaders Chair. During her acceptance speech, she stressed the important role that the Young Leaders have as ambassadors in the workplace to connect their companies to new ideas and actively engage in their roles.
“We are not the future leaders. We are the current leaders. Our work and ideas are bringing our companies into the future. We look at things differently, use technology to make things easier, and problem solve with the best of them,” said Baxter. “The rest of the industry needs to see that we know what we are talking about, and the only way they can see that is for us to get out there and engage.”
The 2023 NSSGA Young Leaders will be held on April 23-26, 2023 at the Marriott Harbor Beach Resort in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. For more information on the NSSGA meeting and events, visit www.nssga.org.
