Happy New Year and Welcome to the All New Format of FocusOn Aggregates & Road Construction Thanks to all subscribers and manufacturers that participated in the "New Look Advisory Group". This is not just a new look for the e-publication but also an opportunity to provide you and your industry with more information that will be of interest to you. This information will be updated often throughout the month as important news breaks so be sure to check in regularly! We will continue to provide you with our industry leading product reviews along with videos and brochures on the latest equipment and in the February edition we will launch the new sections: Tricks of the Trade — Technical Assistance from Industry Insiders. Stories from the pit — from around the world; some odd, some funny, some fascinating general — but all interesting. Construction of the transportation infrastructure — Past, present and future. General interest news and application stories... and here's one of those now... ...2012 is starting off with a slugfest between two of the heavy hitters in the aggregates industry with Martin Marietta Materials' $4.6 billion hostile takeover bid for Vulcan Materials. Vulcan's board immediately rejected the bid and strongly recommended its shareholders do the same. To keep up with the story, you need to be looking at the press releases coming out of both camps as the line in the sand keeps moving. One thing is for sure, there are several lawyers that will get rich regardless of the outcome. If you want to (try) to keep up to speed on this most interesting drama, I suggest you check in regularly here at FocusOn Aggregates & Road Construction as we will post the latest developments immediately. I am always interested in hearing from you on any suggestions you may have to improve our e-mag or if there are specific stories you would like to see in future editions. Feel free to email me at editor@thefocusongroup.com. I do respond to all emails. Rick Vandekieft FocusOn Group Inc Publisher