Concrete Masonry Promotion Program: Commerce Could Enhance Its Oversight Controls

The Concrete Masonry Checkoff program helps masonry block producers pool fees they collect to support research, education, and promotion they can't do effectively by themselves. An industry board administers the program, and the Commerce Department oversees the board.

From 2023-25, the board collected over $27 million in fees and spent nearly $15 million, mostly on promotion. The board approved 27 performance metrics, each with a 5-year goal. The board reported being on track to meet most metrics, but Commerce hasn't developed written procedures to approve metrics in the future, which would improve oversight.

A mason builds a wall by laying a grey, precast concrete block on a mortared row.

The Concrete Masonry Checkoff (CMC) program is a federally authorized, industry-funded program that supports research, education, and promotion projects intended to strengthen the concrete masonry industry and expand markets for its products. The term checkoff refers to the way similar programs are funded—that is, through assessments. The CMC Board administers the program, which is funded through mandatory assessments on specified concrete masonry units sold. From 2023 through 2025, the board collected over $27 million in assessments and spent nearly $15 million of the funds, primarily on 17 national projects and 69 regional projects.

CMC Program Assessments and Projects, 2023–2025

Source: Concrete Masonry Checkoff (CMC) Board information. | GAO-27-108692