The CBSCA Educational Foundation is now accepting applications for the 2026 Scholarship Program. This program provides financial assistance to students who are employees of CBSCA member companies, children of employees or students enrolled in undergraduate industrial distribution degree programs.

Applications are due March 2, 2026. CBSCA encourages you to share this opportunity with your employees and their families!

Learn more and apply at copper-brass.org/scholarships.

CBSCA welcomes Bison Metals Technologies, LLC to the association as a provider company. 

Bison Metals is a copper tube manufacturer with more than 50 years of experience serving the industrial, HVAC, plumbing, refrigeration and technical markets. Operating from its Shawnee, Oklahoma facility, the company is known for high-quality products, shorter lead times, strong customer partnerships and a customer-first philosophy centered on “Exceed Customer Expectations.” Through experienced leadership, ongoing R&D and best-in-class service, Bison Metals delivers reliable solutions today and for decades to come.

As the end of the year approaches, most businesses shift into planning mode. Budgets come together, strategies get reviewed and thinking shifts to what the next year will look like. It is a familiar rhythm and a useful one — the calendar offers structure and a natural moment to reassess. But, as helpful as that rhythm is, the calendar can’t tell you everything.

To make the smartest year-end decisions, it’s just as important to know where you are in the business cycle. The calendar may tell you that it’s time to plan, but your position in the business cycle can tell you how.

Amazon’s push to build massive artificial-intelligence data centers is now extending into Arizona, where a recently restarted copper mine is supplying industrial metal seen as increasingly critical to powering Big Tech’s AI infrastructure.

On Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon Web Services (AWS) signed a two-year agreement with mining giant Rio Tinto’s Nuton venture to secure copper supplies tied to its expanding AI data centers.

The Arizona mine outside Tucson — the Johnson Camp mine using Rio Tinto’s Nuton bioleaching technology — became one of the first new U.S. copper production sources in more than a decade when it resumed operations last year. The agreement covers approximately 14,000 metric tons of copper cathode over four years.