Geosynthetics August/September 2019 - 45

and Infrastructure Newly Expanded
(IMAGINE) Act, industry-led marketing efforts, state and local outreach, and
education initiatives. A listing of executive
council members can be found by visiting
www.gmanow.com.
On May 22, GMA conducted 29 meetings on Capitol Hill, 19 with offices of members of the House of Representatives and 10
with offices of members of the United States
Senate. The prospect of a $2 trillion infrastructure package was top of mind during
all morning meetings, but the mood soured
in the afternoon when word spread that an
infrastructure meeting between President
Donald Trump and Speaker Nancy Pelosi
imploded, effectively dooming the prospects of a bill in the near future. That said,
there is a silver lining; members of Congress
and their staffs were quick to point to the
good work being done at the state level to
fund new investment in infrastructure,
and the majority of offices seemed very
focused on renewing the Fixing America's
Surface Transportation (FAST) Act in
2020, to shore up the Highway Trust Fund.
Through the tireless efforts of our member
advocates, GMA continues to position itself
well to take advantage of legislation that can
fund growth in our industry and increase
the adoption of geosynthetic products.

Thank you, Andy Durham
Second vice chair of the GMA executive
council, Andy Durham, recently became
president of Suncoast Geosystems Inc. in
Tallahassee, Fla. As a result of taking on
this exciting new role, Durham informed
me he would have to conclude his term
on the council. Durham has been an
invaluable member of the GMA executive council since joining the group in
2016 as Owens Corning's representative.

In addition to serving as GMA's second
vice chair, Durham served as the chair
of the association's environmental focus
group and leader of our education task
force. Durham helped strengthen GMA's
relationship with state and federal regulatory agencies and helped expand GMA's
webinar program by developing partnerships with external groups and state agencies. On behalf of GMA, I would like to
say thank you to Durham for his time on
the council and his commitment to GMA's
mission. We all wish him the best of luck. G
>> For more, search GMA at
www.GeosyntheticsMagazine.com.

GMA's executive council chair Fred Chuck (left)
presents Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse with the
GMA Leader of Year Award.

Unanswered
questions can
stop your project
in its tracks.
The GMA Techline puts
you back in the fast lane.
GMA Techline is your resource for technical
questions about geosynthetics provided by
IFAI's Geosynthetic Materials Association.

Don't second guess, get expert advice.
E-mail GMAtechline@ifai.com for fast, free and
direct answers to your technical questions.

GMAtechline@ifai.com
Geosynthetic
Materials Association

www.GeosyntheticsMagazine.com

http://www.gmanow.com http://www.GeosyntheticsMagazine.com http://www.GeosyntheticsMagazine.com

Geosynthetics August/September 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Geosynthetics August/September 2019