ACPA Honors Dave Adams with the Lifetime Achievement Award

The ACPA presents Lifetime Achievement awards only in years when an individual or company stands out with utmost distinction. The Lifetime Achievement honors individuals or companies who have fostered and advanced the use of concrete pumping, have improved the conditions under which concrete pumping is performed, shared their knowledge and experiences with others in the industry, and promoted and practiced safe concrete pumping.

Following a 15-year career in the aerospace industry designing controls for engines and planes, Dave Adams began looking for a change. Seeking a smaller, more personal business culture, Dave found his new opportunity at the privately-owned concrete pump manufacturing company, Putzmeister.

In 1996, Putzmeister president Terry Smith hired Dave as director of engineering and production. Under mentors such as Terry Smith, Tom Teubel and Karl Schlecht, among many others at Putzmeister, Dave learned the concrete pump industry. Most importantly, Dave credits his mentors with teaching him the importance of developing relationships with customers and understanding that Putzmeister’s success depends on its customers’ success.

Following Terry’s retirement, Dave was named president and chief executive officer of Putzmeister in January 2000. Dave led Putzmeister according to the principles Terry had taught him:

• Always be innovating;
• Listen and care for the customer; and
• Work hard and play hard.

Dave’s early mentoring by Terry helped prepare him for the challenges of the next 16 years. Dave weathered economic challenges of the 2000 dotcom crash and the housing market meltdown in 2008. But there were also the fun challenges of unprecedented expansion of production capacity and the need to increase staff by more than threefold to meet sales demands.

Under Dave’s leadership, Putzmeister America achieved significant success, including outstanding business growth, greatly expanded facilities in Sturtevant, Wisconsin, several innovative product line additions and new business developments in several countries.

Dave has been an active ACPA Board member and has participated on several committees, including Finance, World of Concrete, and Equipment and Safety Applications. He has also been an active member of the Concrete Pump Manufacturers Association, where he worked with other manufacturers to establish common safety standards for concrete placing equipment.

While currently enjoying retirement, Dave remains dedicated to supporting the ACPA and promoting concrete pumping and equipment safety.

Married for 46 years to his wife Arlene, Dave has two children — Steven and Karin — and four grandchildren, ranging in ages from 7 months to 16 years.

Dave plans to continue attending ACPA meetings and industry shows such as the World of Concrete — as well as maintaining friendships formed over the last 25 years.