Well kids, August 2016 is gonzo. In its place are thousands of fresh and weathered “Techies” (Michigan Tech University students), roaming around Houghton. Gone are “quick” trips to Walmart since there seems to be more Techies in Walmart than on campus. Oh, the joys of Back to School in a small college town after a quiet summer! To all of the freshmen who’ve never seen snow: Winter is coming. The Game of Thrones reference is just too relevant not to use. These innocent freshman are about to experience winter on a whole new level. I'll have to fill you in on that situation when the time comes; I'm getting a little ahead of myself... So here's a little bit of what happened at Neuvokas in August.

A growing team: Hey y'all! I’d like to give a warm welcome to our newest team member! Okay, so it sounded a lot more natural when I said it out loud, so I'll spare “you all” and stop with the southern accent. We now have an actual Texan on the GatorBar sales squad! We're happy to welcome Larry Goldberg, PE to the team. From now on, I'll leave the southern drawl to Larry, my Yooper accent suits me just fine anyway.

Larry has an impressive resume, starting his career with Dannenbaum Engineering in 1983, then settling in at Landtech Consultants as Director of Engineering for 17 years. Post Landtech, Larry indulged his inner entrepreneurial spirit helping develop and market an advanced soil compaction technology for Earthwork Solutions, LLC. After six years he moved on to Landev Engineers, where he served as Executive Vice President for three years. He is currently the President Elect of the Texas Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), so kudos to him!

Mr. Larry Goldberg, P.E.

Larry was first introduced to Neuvokas and GatorBar during his time at Landev when Neuvokas VP of Engineering, Matt Kero, stopped by to do a Lunch & Learn presentation in March of 2016.

“I was really intrigued by the fact that GatorBar is a sustainable building material,” said Goldberg. “I see the potential and believe that sustainable building is the future of the industry.”

Larry's experience and recognition in the Houston area will be very beneficial as we expand in Texas and beyond. “From a technical sales standpoint, Larry has all the tools and connections to be successful,” said Erik Kiilunen of Goldberg's move to Neuvokas. “I'm looking forward to the results of his efforts.”

I know that nobody asked me, but I think Larry is a great fit! When he made the trip up to the Neuvokas World Headquarters, he gelled with the team and was eager to get started chasing down the dream with us. Teamwork makes the dream work!

On that note, let’s all do our part to improve this world we share. At Neuvokas, we’re working to change the status quo by providing rebar that will never rust and destroy the concrete around it. We want to see our infrastructure and cities designed to withstand the test of time, reducing waste and saving energy, time and money. That being said, progress requires a few things; the ability to change and think differently, a shared vision, and the courage to act. Larry fits the bill well and we’re excited for him to be a part of the movement!

A new GatorBar application:

We always like to share when we find a new application for GatorBar. In August, we began working with the Keweenaw County Road Commission on a culvert restoration project. Silver Creek passes under Five Mile Point Road near Eagle River Michigan through an old stone culvert. The restoration project will fix the erosion damage happening at the base of the culvert. Some water is currently running underneath the structure instead of through it.

This photo shows some of the erosion damage.

The new side and wing walls of the culvert will be reinforced with GatorBar, replacing epoxy coated steel rebar as a lower cost and corrosion resistant alternative. We are glad we could save them some money while providing a superior product!

GatorBar reinforcement set up at the site.

We’re looking forward to seeing the finished product! The full project gallery will be added to the website soon!

Other featured projects: There are some fresh items in our project gallery since you last checked!

• This summer, the EB Holman School in Liminga, MI saw a lot of upgrades. Included in this were new sidewalks around the building. The crew at MJO Contracting was in charge of the concrete work and decided to use this project as a test for GatorBar. A section of the project was reinforced with steel wire mesh, the other section with GatorGrids. This project will be monitored for years to come; we're looking forward to the results! See photos here.
• The Quincy Street Renovations in Hancock, MI are finally getting close to completion! This is great news for us local folk who have been fighting the traffic all summer. Anyways, I shared photos a while back when GatorBar was used in the curbs on either side of Reservation Street, where they were strictly hand-forming. In August, Bacco Construction got the chance to try GatorBar in a Power Curber slip form machine. It went great! Check out photos from both parts of the project: Quincy Street Renovations Part One & Part Two. 

Exciting up-coming events:

The end of September and early October are going to be busy for the GatorBar crew! Since I don’t want you guys to miss a beat, here is what the schedule is looking like:

September 16th through 30th: Remember when I said we are in Lowe’s Stores in the Houston Area? Well, every so often Lowe's will hold events called "Pro Days" where vendors will set up booths and display their products for Lowe's customers, local contractors, and the like. The events will start on September 16th and run through the end of the month. We are going to try to be at as many events as possible! There are over 25 stores in Houston so we won't be able to hit them all, but we'll give it our best shot. Believe it or not, I will be making my debut appearance in Houston as a GatorGal (corny?) to help out with the effort!   

In addition to the Lowe's Pro Appreciation Events, GatorBar will be showcased at some other shows around Texas and the US.

September 21-23: Our COO, Ken Keranen, and Regional Sales Director, Larry Goldberg, will be working the Texas CECON show in San Marcos, TX, September 21st through 23rd. This event brings together civil engineers and industry leaders from across the state of Texas and beyond. The theme of this years' conference is Leadership in Infrastructure solutions. Come check out Neuvokas' Infrastructure Solution, GatorBar, at Table 1! 

September 28-29: Our CEO, Erik Kiilunen, will be in St. Joseph, MO, at the MINK Local Roads Meeting on September 28th and 29th. taking place at the Stoney Creek Inn. The meeting brings together officials from local road agencies, state DOTs and FHWA divisions in Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas. Erik was asked to give a presentation about GatorBar and FRP rebar to educate the attendees on the product.  The presentation is at the Stoney Creek Inn on the 28th at 1:45 PM!

October 4-7: The 104th Annual Texas Municipal League Conference and Exhibition is taking place in Austin, TX, at the Austin Convention Center on October 4th through 7th. This conference brings together thousands of city officials to learn and share problems and ideas to improve their city. The exhibition hall will be filled with innovators, including GatorBar! Come and visit Larry Goldberg at Booth 121 to learn about GatorBar as a sustianable building material. 

October 10-12: Larry Goldberg will be representing GatorBar at the TXDOT Transportation Shortcourse October 10th through 12th, in College Station, TX. This meeting is a collaboration between TXDOT and Texas A&M Transporation Institute, where they share technical information to improve transporation in Texas. 

Day one, October 10th, will take place at the Brazos County Expo Complex. Larry will be at the Fajita Fiesta from 5:30PM- 9:00PM mingling with attendees. If you give us a heads up, we'd be happy to put you in touch with Larry to make sure you get a chance to meet up and talk over fajitas and drinks!

The second portion of the event will take place on the Texas A&M campus, see the full event schedule here! You'll have to scroll down for all of the details.

ALOK Products, who has been introducing GatorBar to the precast concrete community, will be representing GatorBar at two shows in late September.

• September 24-28: The first being WEFTEC (Water Environment Federation Technical Exhibition and Conference) in New Orleans, LA, September 24th through 28th, at the New Orleans Morial Convention Center. Visit Booth 3909 and ask about GatorBar!
• September 28- October 1: The second is the NPCA (National Precast Concrete Association) 51st Annual Convention in Austin, TX, September 28th through October 1st, at the Renaissance Austin Hotel.

January 17-20, 2017: And we can’t forget about World of Concrete 2017! It’s still a ways out, but this event is HUGE so we’re trying to get the word out early!

As always, the worlds' largest concrete trade show is at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, NV. The GatorBar by Neuvokas Corp booth will be located in the Concrete Reinforcement section of the North Hall, booth number N3245!

WOC is massive, so make sure you mark us on your list of people to see! This will be our debut appearance as an exhibitor so we're super excited to be a part of the action. Book your trip to Vegas for January 17th through the 20th; we can't wait to see you there.

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