(H) Business Segments

Operating segments are defined as components of an enterprise that engage in business activities that earn revenue, incur expenses, and prepare separate financial information that is evaluated regularly by our chief operating decision maker (CODM), who is our President and Chief Executive Officer, to assist in allocating resources and assessing performance. This assessment is primarily based on segment earnings from operations, as management believes this is the best metric for segment operating performance. The CODM uses segment operating earnings as part of their review of the monthly operating results on a segment basis. The actual monthly results are reviewed against budgeted amounts as well as the current year reforecast and prior year actual amounts. Interest and taxes are managed on a centralized basis, and not included in segment operating information.

Our business is organized into two sectors within which there are four reportable business segments. The Heavy Materials sector includes the Cement and Concrete and Aggregates segments. The Light Materials sector includes the Gypsum Wallboard and Recycled Paperboard segments. The Company's operating segments are the same as the Company's reporting segments.

Our primary products, cement and gypsum wallboard, are essential for building, expanding and repairing roads, highways, and residential, commercial and industrial structures across America. We manufacture and sell our products through a network of more than 70 facilities spanning 21 states. Demand for our products is generally cyclical and seasonal, depending on economic and geographic conditions. Our operations are conducted in the U.S. and include the mining of limestone for the manufacture, production, distribution, and sale of cement (a basic construction material that is the essential binding ingredient in concrete); the grinding and sale of slag; the mining of gypsum for the manufacture and sale of gypsum wallboard; the manufacture and sale of recycled paperboard to the gypsum wallboard industry and other paperboard converters; the sale of readymix concrete; and the mining and sale of aggregates (crushed stone, sand, and gravel).

We operate eight modern cement plants, two slag grinding facilities, and over 30 cement distribution terminals. One cement plant and one slag plant is operated though our joint venture located in Buda, Texas. Our cement companies focus on the U.S. heartland and operate as an integrated network selling product primarily in California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas. We operate over 25 readymix concrete batch plants and seven aggregates processing plants in markets that are complementary to our cement network.

We operate five gypsum wallboard plants and a recycled paperboard mill. We distribute gypsum wallboard and recycled paperboard throughout the continental U.S., with the exception of the Northeast.

We account for intersegment sales at market prices. For segment reporting purposes only, we proportionately consolidate our 50% share of the Joint Venture Revenue and Operating Earnings, consistent with the way management reports the segments within the Company for making operating decisions and assessing performance.