Ash Grove Cement's Sunderland Passes

Words: Dan KamysAsh Grove Cement Company's former company chairman and president, James P. Sunderland, died May 27. Sunderland joined the Ash Grove Lime and Portland Cement Co. in 1957 as its corporate secretary in Kansas City. In his 43-year career at Ash Grove Cement, Sunderland held several leadership positions, including serving as the company’s chairman and president. During Sunderland’s tenure, Ash Grove Cement became one of the largest Portland cement producers in the United States.  
National Masonry Associations Arrive to Help Salvage Historic Chimneys For Palisades Fire Memorial
May 2025

Los Angeles, CA – Beginning in the final week of May, an assembly of masonry teams will arrive in the Pacific Palisades to help salvage the historically-significant chimneys identified through House Museum’s disaster recovery initiative, Project Chimney.

The Cost of a Job: An Ever-Moving Target
May 2025

I look at a well-functioning estimating department and think, as I imagine most do, of the age-old question: "What came first – the chicken or the egg?" How do you know how much it costs to do a job before you do it? The truth is that pricing a job is an

MASONRY STRONG Podcast, Episode 21 Recap: Justin Meyer, VP of Sales - The Quikrete Companies
May 2025

For this episode of the MASONRY STRONG Podcast, Justin Meyer joins the MCAA in Indianapolis to talk about where his love for the industry started and what it's like attending the CMHA meetings.

The Evolution and Innovation of Concrete Unit Pavers
May 2025

When concrete unit pavers were first produced in Europe after the second World War, they were used as a replacement for clay brick pavers due to a lack of raw materials needed to produce that product. The primary emphasis was function with little to no co