The ACPA's 40th Anniversary Celebration

Back to where it all began…

Forty years ago this past March, a group of Southern California concrete pumpers led by Bill Drake had the idea to form a national association which would represent the interests of the concrete pumping industry. They rallied together concrete pumpers, manufacturers and distributors from all areas of the country and officially met aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California on March 1, 1974.

During this meeting, they elected officers and hired a professional management team, Trade Association Consultants, to oversee its operations. Elected as the first officers were: Bill Drake, president; Arthur DiNatale, vice president; Dick Stone, secretary; and Dick Henry, treasurer. Pump directors included Bill Cross, Frank Sambol, Ron Bailey, LaForest Twitchel and George Neel. Distributor director was Frank Barradas and manufacturer directors were Bruce MacLellan and Tom Hollerbach.

On March 18, 1974 the ACPA was officially incorporated as a State of California non-profit corporation. And so it began.

There were many ups and downs over the years, especially during the first 20. Not only were there several changes in executive directors, but there was even a time when there was no executive director at all. It went broke not once, but several times, with many members asked to donate money from their own pockets to keep the association afloat. But with the heart and sweat from many of its members, the ACPA endured. Today, the ACPA is a healthy, thriving and respected organization within the entire concrete construction community.

On May 2‒3, 2014 the ACPA traveled back to California to hold its spring board meeting and pay homage to its founding members with a 40th anniversary dinner celebration once again, aboard the famed Queen Mary.

ACPA40years
Those founding members recognized included:
Harvey Hoyer, Original Concrete Pumping, Bensenville, Illinois; Pete Horner, O’Brien Concrete Pumping, Phoenix, Arizona; Gunther Merli, Merli Concrete Pumping, Gardena, California; Tom Hollerbach (retired), Hollerbach Equipment Co.; Bob Weatherton, The Concrete Pump Store, Claremont, California; Dale Bone, Sr. (retired), Brundage-Bone Concrete Pumping, Seattle, Washington; Richard O’Brien, O’Brien Companies, Inc., Denver, Colorado; Duane Perrin, American Standard Concrete Pumping, Gardena, California; Roger Phares (retired), Schwing America, Mesa, Arizona; and Donald Taylor (retired), Construction Forms and past ACPA executive director, Port Charlotte, Florida.

This historic event was followed with special entertainment by comedian/magician, Chipper Lowell.

Navigate to the link below for a slide show of photos from the board meeting and the Queen Mary Celebration.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/acpapumpers/sets/72157644182558108/show/