To honor hardworking crews in the construction industry, World of Concrete created the "Crews That Rock" contest sponsored by BASF for WOC 2012. Crews submitted stories and photos of their amazing and inspiring projects from the past year for a chance to win a trip to the show, hotel stays, seminars and other exciting prizes.
After World of Concrete narrowed the finalists down to the top 45 entries, online voting to determine the top three winners began on Nov. 23, 2011 and ended on Dec. 16, 2011. The contest garnered more than 13,000 total votes and tremendous interest throughout social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter.
World of Concrete announced the top three winners on Dec. 19, 2011. First Place was awarded to Southwest Tech Bricklaying & Masonry program for the Memory Walk at the Grant Regional Health Center Foundation. The Southwest Tech crew will receive an airline credit, room nights in a Las Vegas hotel during WOC 2012, complimentary seminars, a bag of free WOC swag and an original painting of the winning project by Brad Burns Construction Fine Art.
The crew from Southwest Tech donated time by laying and sealing engraved bricks within the hospital's Memory Walk, which was designed to form a sidewalk and patio area surrounding the Healing Garden — an outdoor space for patients, family, and friends to reflect, relax and enjoy a quiet conversation. The Memory Walk was also created to provide a tribute to someone through the purchase of an engraved brick or paver. The proceeds are used to provide scholarship support for nursing students and professional development training for current nurses.
Second Place was awarded to Stark Excavating Inc. for the company's pour project at the Kirby Hospital Medical Center and Carle Clinic. The second place winners will receive an airline credit, room nights in a Las Vegas hotel during WOC 2012, complimentary seminars and a bag of free WOC swag.
The Stark Concrete Crew led by Chris Ryan cover the central Illinois region in a wide variety of work from paving, building, bridges, vertical and decorative concrete for both public and private sectors. Stark Excavating Inc.'s Concrete Crew for Life completed the last pour for the Kirby Hospital Medical Center and Carle Clinic located in Monticello, Ill. Even though the weather conditions were extremely windy, the crew was done by 3:30 p.m. After the crew stripped, sawed and cleaned up, they were happy to report that there was not a broken stake on the job.
Impressions Concrete was named the Third Place winner for the company's assistance to families that were victims of fraudulent contractors. The third place winner will receive an airline credit, room nights in a Las Vegas hotel during WOC 2012, complimentary seminars and a bag of free WOC swag.
Impressions Concrete recently helped three families who were scammed by a con artist out of thousands of dollars and then walked away from their projects. Impressions Concrete helped these victims by completing their projects at a discounted rate and helped them to file reports with the police to pursue criminal charges for fraud. In addition, Impressions Concrete has helped connect others who have been scammed by the same company.
After the top three winners were chosen, Honorable Mentions were awarded to Team Pain's Skate Park project, Concrete Mystique Engraving's Nashville Dinner Theater project and Sawcutters NW's Cowlits Dam project.
"We are thrilled with the results and excitement surrounding the first 'Crews That Rock' contest. World of Concrete and BASF look forward to welcoming the winning crews to the 2012 WOC show in January," said Jackie James, WOC show director. "We believe that the excitement surrounding this year's contest will build to an even greater competition in 2013!"
