RMMI News & Events

Words: Ann WolterThe Rocky Mountain Masonry Institute (RMMI) recently held its annual bricklaying contest for high school juniors and seniors at Warren Tech in Lakewood, Colo. Separated into class divisions, students competed for awards and prizes by building a wall using blueprints. Judges from RMMI member companies, such as Berich Masonry, scored the participants on level, plumb, square and range, and measurements. Threewit-Cooper Cement Company and Colorado Scaffolding and Equipment Company donated cash prizes and masons tools for the top competitors. Also, 12 students graduating from the school's masonry program were evaluated for entry-level positions with RMMI member companies.

Linda Riney was recently selected to serve as the RMMI Member Services director. In that capacity, Riney will visit member companies, arrange member networking evenings, organize certification courses and Lunch-n-Learn seminars, lead the Work Safe and workers' compensation programs, and attend to the professional needs of more than 100 member companies.

Riney's background includes more than 20 years experience in management, finance, real estate, insurance and mutual funds. She developed her management skills by participating in programs such as Six Sigma with GE Capital. Riney established an automobile credit division with GE Capital and launched the first Land Home division in Colorado with Green Tree Financial Services Inc., allowing manufactured housing to be affixed to real property.

The inaugural RMMI Clays for Masonry event will be held at Kiowa Creek, near Bennett, Colo., on July 14. The sporting clays event is expected to be a popular fundraiser for the promotion and education programs RMMI offers. Tickets are $100. Contact Executive Director Larisa LaBrant at larisa@rmmi.org or (303) 893-3838 if you would like to participate.

The RMMI Lunch-n-Learn free monthly brown bag seminars continue to increase in popularity. This year, RMMI is offering two new seminars for municipal planners and elected officials, as well as the usual crowd of architects and engineers. The June and December Lunch-n-Learns will address Total Masonry Construction and the 2003 International Building Code. All RMMI events are listed on the website at www.rmmi.org.

The Enduring Power of Structural Masonry
July 2025

Masonry has been holding its ground for millennia — literally. And thanks to the simple brilliance of arching action, it continues to do so with strength, style, and surprising efficiency. In an era of advanced modeling and fast-moving schedules, one time

Outreach Outlook: Momentum in Motion
July 2025

As we move into the heart of summer, the masonry industry continues to thrive—fueled by innovation, partnership, and a growing commitment to excellence in education and workforce advancement. June has been a remarkable month, marked by events that not onl

Building More: Slow, Fast, or Consistent. What is Tempo?
July 2025

It was a drizzly midweek day when I rolled up to the project we were working on just outside of town. The foreman paced the scaffolding, rain hood half-zipped, barking at two laborers who were sprinting bricks like they were late for a flight. Forty feet

Marvelous Masonry: Belém Tower
July 2025

The Belém Tower in Lisbon, Portugal, stands as a testament to stone construction's enduring artistry and technical prowess. Erected between 1514 and 1519, this iconic structure served as a defensive bastion at the mouth of the Tagus River and as a ceremon