[Image above] Bricks coming out of a kiln at Belden Brick Plant 8 during Wednesday’s plant tours. Credit: ACerS
More than 150 attendees gathered in Canton, Ohio, on June 8–10, 2026, to take part in the combined meeting of the ACerS Structural Clay Products Division (SCPD), ACerS Southwest (SW) Section, and Clemson University’s National Brick Research Center (NBRC).
The three-day meeting began with a partial day of independent networking, followed by a full day of informative talks along with the NBRC meeting. On the final day of the conference, the attendees toured three local brick manufacturing plants owned by Beldon Brick. The meeting wrapped up with an awards banquet on Wednesday night.
2026 company sponsors
ACerS SCPD Chair Mike Rixner, area production manager at General Shale Brick, says, “I sincerely want to thank everyone for their hard work and dedication to this year’s meeting. I feel that this meeting really brings together the many people that make our industry unique; it does really feel more like a family reunion than a business meeting. I also think that it continues to have value among both the brick manufacturers and their supporting vendor companies. I think that all the events this year went very well, and I look forward to another good meeting in 2027. As always, if you wish to help our organization grow by taking a leadership role, please do not hesitate to contact myself or any other Division members.”
Highlights from the 2026 Structural Clay Products combined meeting are given below.
National Brick Research Center meeting
The meeting began with the NBRC’s Spring Executive Committee Meeting on Tuesday morning. The session included a report on the Center’s status as well as several research presentations on various topics such as drying and permeability, solar reflectance and thermal emittance, test methods for coating durability, and back texture and concrete pullout testing. The research presentations were recorded and will be posted on the NBRC website. The NBRC also announced their upcoming 72nd Clemson Brick Plant Operator’s Forum, which will take place Sept. 28–29, 2026, in Anderson, S.C.
Technical program
On Tuesday afternoon, 10 industry experts educated attendees on a variety of topics, including plant upgrades, decoration lines, materials exploration, and more. View the full program in the screenshot below.
2026 technical program
Robert T. Belden delivers his presentation exploring the history of Belden Brick, which was the host for Wednesday’s plant tours. Credit: ACerS
Plant tours
On Wednesday, Beldon Brick hosted the SCPD attendees for three separate plant tours. Attendees visited Beldon plants 3, 4, and 8 to learn about the unique manufacturing processes and equipment used at each one. Attendees also enjoyed a networking lunch hosted at Dutch Valley Restaurant in Sugarcreek, Ohio.
SCPD and ACerS SW Section leadership presented Belden Brick employees with certificates of appreciation for hosting the 2026 SCPD plant tours. Credit: ACerS
Networking and awards
Networking events were held each evening to help attendees reconnect with friends from past meetings and meet new ones along the way. Kicking off the networking events was the Suppliers’ Mixer reception on Tuesday, which was hosted at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It was followed by the awards banquet on Wednesday evening at the DoubleTree Inn.
Rixner kicked off the banquet by delivering a brief speech thanking everyone for attending. He gave special acknowledgements to those who delivered a presentation on Tuesday and to the employees who assisted with the brick plant tours on Wednesday.
Several awards were given during the banquet. The 2025 SCPD Best Paper award was presented to Scott Herndon of Cornerstone Safety LLC for his presentation titled “Don’t Look at the Scoreboard.” Rixner and Charles McNeil were presented with certificates of appreciation for their hard work and dedication to their roles as the SCPD chair and ACerS’ SW Section chair, respectively.
SCPD Trustee Bryce Switzer, blue shirt, presents Rixner (black shirt, left photo) and McNeil (green shirt, right photo) with certificates of appreciation for their time as chairs of SCPD and ACerS SW Section, respectively. Credit: ACerS
View more pictures from the meeting on ACerS Flickr page. Details about next year’s meeting will be posted soon on the ACerS events page.
