CIM Faculty/Staff

CIM Faculty/Staff Member

Tim Hostettler, South Dakota State University

School: South Dakota State University

What is unique about the graduates of the CIM program?

I like to think of our graduates as being uniquely marketable. They will not graduate knowing everything there is to know, but they will have a skill set that will enable them to continue learning and succeed in the industry by quickly becoming valuable employees. As an individual who has grown up in the concrete industry, I can honestly say that our graduates leave school with knowledge that it took me twenty years to obtain; all they need is experience.

In 2021, the global concrete market reached over $800 billion and is growing. This means CIM graduates continue to have their choice of high paid, in demand career opportunities related to business management, environmental sciences, operations, logistics, HR, marketing, sales, technology, IT, etc. As the concrete industry continues to grow, the education and skills acquired in the CIM program will continue to be relevant, able to support families, build communities, and scale our future world.

What interesting projects have your students been involved with during this last school year?

Our students have travelled to many wonderful industry events including World of Concrete, the CONEXPO-CON/AGG show, Command-Alkon’s customer training conference, and many others. Students also participate in many local field trips, like visiting Lehigh Cement’s Redding plant.

Why should incoming students consider CIM as a major course of study?

Students who graduate from the CIM program have tremendous opportunities to work in a field that will always be relevant. Concrete is the cornerstone of nearly all construction and our students come out of school with a skill set that allows them to become valuable to an employer in a relatively short period of time. In addition, the contacts students make while enrolled in this program facilitate finding a job after graduation.

Can you describe the different career paths that graduates of the CIM program can take?

The field is wide open; students can find careers with ready-mix producers in a variety of capacities (sales, operations, quality control, etc.), concrete construction and repair companies, aggregate or cement companies, admixture companies, precast companies, or industry consulting firms, just to name a few.