The History of GAIN
GAIN was the 2010 brain-child of Jim O’Brien, then President of UEPG, as a logical and inspirational extension of the Atlantic Alliance. His vision was that the aggregates industry, despite being an essentially local industry, could share its hard-won experiences internationally and thereby enhance its performance globally. Deliberating with international colleagues, it was decided that we would give this new network the title of the Global Aggregates Information Network, which also gave the very appropriate acronym of GAIN.
The first GAIN meeting in 2010 in Brussels, hosted by UEPG, comprised only five regions, Australia, Brazil, Colombia, USA and Europe, but it opened the doors for an unprecedented level of friendly international exchanges. By the next meeting In Charlotte, North Carolina, hosted by NSSGA, the enthusiastic participation grew to include Canada, China and New Zealand. The enthusiasm continued to grow through the third meeting in Brussels and the fourth meeting in Cape Town, hosted by UEPG and ASPASA respectively, by then adding South Africa.
First GAIN Meeting, hosted by UEPG, Brussels, 2010
Third GAIN Meeting, hosted by UEPG, Brussels, 2014
Second GAIN Meeting, hosted by NSSGA, Charlotte, NC, 2012
Fourth GAIN Meeting, hosted by ASPASA, Cape Town, 2016
The Fifth GAIN Meeting in Barcelona in 2018, kindly hosted by the Spanish Association FdA and the Catalan Association Gremi d’Arids, made a new record by including participation from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Japan, Latin America, New Zealand, South Africa, USA and Europe. Unfortunately the GAIN meeting planned for 2020 in Argentina had to be cancelled due to both the COVID-pandemic and economic turbulence there.
The 6th GAIN Meeting took place in Queenstown in July 2023, kindly hosted by AQA, New Zealand. Nine GAIN regions attended namely China, South Korea, Malaysia, Europe, United States, Canada, Colombia, Argentina and New Zealand. Australia, India, South Africa, Brazil, Mexico and UAE also made valuable inputs to the 48 agenda items. There was an intensive two day program of valuable meeting exchanges, complemented by continued informal exchanges in the associated social program.
The 7th GAIN Meeting is planned to take place in Argentina in November 2024. New and aspiring GAIN members will also be welcomed at this meeting. For further details, please contact Jim O’Brien at jim.obrien.csr@gmail.com.