During my first year in the asphalt industry, I’ve found that my favorite part of the job lies in my initial conversations with people who are also in the industry. More often than not, people ask me “how did you end up in asphalt?” When I relay my story, I’m met with a similar story from their end – a person who started their career somewhere else and by some happenstance, ended up here, a bunch of square pegs in round holes who found a home in asphalt. When I was asked to contribute to this new section in Asphalt Contractor magazine, I knew that was what I wanted to focus on: Why is the asphalt industry comprised of a lot of people who came from other industries, and how does that benefit it?
I don’t believe it’s an uncommon feeling to be well into your selected career, looking around and asking yourself, “is this for me?” Personally, this took me around seven years to realize. After graduating with a civil engineering degree in 2015 and beginning a career in the construction industry, I knew something was missing. Working on the same project for years on end is tedious; arguing over change orders and delay claims is contentious; and, in the heavy civil construction industry, the end product looks pretty much exactly as you found it from the surface. There may be a new sewer or a new water main or a new drainage system, but at the end of the day, the neighborhood you were working in only knows that you’ve disrupted their lives for three to four years, just to have their block turn out looking the same – maybe with a few less trees.
I had convinced myself for seven years to stick it out. I was working for a wonderful company, C.A.C. Industries, where I felt supported, got along with my coworkers, and had the flexibility to live life outside of work in a way that didn’t feel constricting. I was doing what I had studied in school, so I convinced myself that I couldn’t let go of all those positives about my job. And even if the day-to-day of managing an infrastructure project wasn’t morally satisfying, I was holding out hope that finishing the job would bring me the fulfillment I needed to keep getting up to that 5 a.m. alarm each morning. But each day I tried, the less hope I felt for that to be true, and finally in May of 2022 I decided I needed to make a change.
With a patented technology to increase recycled content to 100%, Green Asphalt’s goal is to have all asphalt across the world be green asphalt.Green Asphalt
A New Idea
I took a few months to sit back and reflect on what it was that I needed out of a career to match my personality, my goals, and my overall concept of what it means to contribute to society. I was on the hunt for something that would excite me, where every day I felt I could go home feeling fulfilled and was working toward something larger. I realized how important it was to me to feel like I was making a positive impact on the world, specifically in an environmental and sustainable way. I wanted to work as a team, not just within my company, but within an industry where a common goal was at the forefront – and limit the contentious interactions I’d be subject to. It wouldn’t hurt if the new career I was looking for lent itself to my background in engineering.
After spinning my wheels for a few months, I ended up with a unique proposition that I thought had the potential to meet all my needs. C.A.C. is an affiliate company with an asphalt plant, Green Asphalt. With a patented technology to increase recycled content to 100%, Green Asphalt’s goal is to have all asphalt across the world be green asphalt. This lowers carbon emissions significantly, is more cost-effective to both the producer and the end user, and can be adapted by any asphalt producer. I loved the idea of taking on the industry of asphalt, which has been around for longer than I’ve been alive, and bringing to it a fresh perspective, a new technology, and most importantly, the environmental benefits that, if adopted far and wide, could make a real and significant impact on global carbon emissions.
While I was excited to start, I was also nervous. It’s no secret that asphalt pavement has been used for hundreds of years, and has been produced in generally the same process for that entire time. Introducing a new way to make it felt like Steve Jobs introducing the iPhone 1. I decided that the mountain to climb would be worth the view if we were successful, so I went for it.
Asphalt workers bring varied perspectives from their pasts in various industries, that the industry can act as a bit of a lab-grown experiment for diversified views.@Gajus - adobe.stock.com
First Steps
My first step for Green Asphalt was to join NAPA, and while I had heard great things about the organization, I was immediately met with an email with references specific to Green Asphalt’s goals to help us move the needle. I was both impressed and surprised at the immediate helpfulness, but the surprises kept coming.
As we became more involved in NAPA, I learned of the “Road Forward” initiative to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, a lofty goal that felt similar to Green Asphalt’s – to make a huge dent in the industry in a relatively short amount of time. We attended our first annual meeting and were introduced to a number of people who were interested in our technology, who wanted to talk about recycling asphalt, who had questions and curiosities about what we were doing. It was clear that this industry was not afraid of change – and even those who were afraid of change knew that the train was headed that way, and there was no stopping it, so they might as well hop on board.
In attending the NAPA meetings and getting introduced to new faces, I’ve come across many “square pegs in round holes,” and I believe this can be attributed to why the industry is setting aggressive goals and getting serious about achieving them. There is something so enticing about looking at an almost ancient technology and thinking, "How can we make this better?" There’s also something satisfying about what seems like such an insurmountable challenge – asphalt is everywhere, and to make a change in one region can end up affecting change in many other regions. I believe that’s not only what draws people to the asphalt industry, but also what keeps them here.
Shared Goals
And once they arrive, they bring such varied perspectives from their pasts in chemistry, in steel working, in construction, in teaching, in government relations, that the industry can act as a bit of a lab-grown experiment for diversified views. Where else have you ever experienced sitting a room with 200 other people with differing backgrounds, differing challenges, and differing opinions, and have them all work toward a single sustainable goal?
Because varied experiences, views, and opinions seem to only bring positives to the asphalt industry, it opens the doors for opportunities to hire from places you may not think of. At Green Asphalt, we partner with organizations that provide career services for underprivileged communities and have found success in hiring plant workers from them. In addition, one of our plant operators came from the microtunneling industry, which has helped him in navigating the immense amount of controls that the plant comes with. On the office side, we’ve also hired a supply chain planner to take a detailed look at our operations to identify and address inefficiencies in all of our systems – from plant operations to payroll to sales. It is these individuals filling these unique roles that pushes our organization from good to great, and I can’t reinforce enough how impactful it can be to look outside of the normal avenues to find exceptional employees that fit this industry perfectly.
I think the asphalt industry serves as a home for many people who want to make a positive impact on the world. I have high hopes for the direction of the industry as long as we keep recruiting more “square pegs in round holes” to join us. As you review your staffing needs for the year, keep in mind that often the best of us have come from other backgrounds. Asphalt is an industry where everyone can learn to thrive, grow, and create change, no matter where they come from.
