WOMEN IN CONSTRUCTION – CONCRETE PUMPING INDUSTRY
ACPA executive director Christi Collins
discovers opportunities and professionalism
in the concrete pumping community
Florida Construction News special feature
O ver more than 20 years with
the American Concrete Pump-
ing Association (ACPA), Christi
Collins has grown from a part time
assistant to the association’s
current executive director. She
has helped grow and evolve the
association and its focus, and
committed to a new level of pro-
fessionalism for both the associa-
tion and the industry.

Collins says her expertise in ac-
counting, operations and systems
initially led her to work for the as-
sociation’s former executive direc-
tor at a time when ACPA was just
getting started. “We were very
lean, didn’t have many programs,
few members and a small budget.

My role was to implement sys-
tems and processes, to get book-
keeping and so on set up. As we got
organized, I started taking on more
roles. The executive director at the
time was semi-retired and said that if
I was interested in taking over one
day, he would help me along.”
She says he proved an excellent
mentor, teaching her all about the in-
dustry and its people. Gradually, mem-
bership and programs doubled, the
budget grew five-fold and in 2001,
Collins took the helm as executive di-
rector. Collins’ take over coincided with
other changes that were happening
within the association and she says it
was both a challenging and exciting
time. While she was concerned ini-
tially about her relative inexperience
with the industry, she said the board
was confident in her ability to learn
and even more so in her ability to run
the association which was key.

“We took that opportunity to bring
in some new people, to elevate the
level of our magazine and to focus on
20 – SPRING 2017 — Florida Construction News
increasing the level of professionalism
within the national office, and the in-
dustry as a whole.”
She also took the opportunity to
begin attending events at other asso-
ciations, increasing ACPA’s presence.

Collins says she initially felt she
had to work to earn the confidence
of her peers, but says this was
more about inexperience in the in-
dustry than her gender. “I have al-
ways found the industry to be
respectful. There are places for
people with such diverse interests
and skills, whether they be in mar-
keting, technology, organizing….

The industry is open to us all.”
The diversity of opportunities
and within each day’s work pro-
vides opportunities for everyone to
find their niche and to grow from
one role into others, she said. “I
would encourage anyone inter-
ested in an exciting and rewarding
career to consider the construction
industry. Don’t let old labels get in
your way.”
She says the concrete pumping
sector in her experience is a small,
cohesive group representing a mix
of all ages, levels of experience and
genders, which welcomes newcom-
ers. For more information
about ACPA, visit
http://www.concretepumpers.com. 2XU5HQWDO
3XPSV //& 
'FBUVSJOH
4DIXJOH
1VU[NFJTUFS
BOE
-JFCIFSS
$PODSFUF
1VNQT

1VU[NFJTUFS
5FMFCFMUT
BOE
)JHI
1SFTTVSF
5SBJMFS
1VNQT

%JFTFM
BOE
&MFDUSJD


"MM
PG
0VS
0QFSBUPST
BSF
4BGFUZ
$FSUJGJFE
CZ
UIF
"$1"

%FBMFS
PG
$POGPSNhT
*OD
'SJU[1BL
$PODSFUF
"ENJYUVSF
,FODP

"UUBDINFOUT
(BSCSP
.BOVGBDUVSJOH
$P 
"MMFO
#MWE
'BSNJOHEBMF
/:



 TBNBOUIBSVUUVSB!PVSSFOUBMQVNQTMMDDPN