2023 Corporate Profiles Supplement
BY AsphaltPro Staff
Editor’s Note: The staff of AsphaltPro magazine is not responsible for the opinions expressed in the Corporate Profiles supplement. Statements made have not been verified, thus producers/contractors are still encouraged to use best practices when implementing new advice or making purchasing decisions.
Since 2021, the staff at AsphaltPro magazine has brought this annual overview of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to the asphalt audience. This supplement to AsphaltPro magazine gives OEMs and service providers a chance to speak their missions directly to asphalt professionals. We posed specific questions to the partners who support us, thus your operations, and left their answers raw and real. This special section to the July edition represents an inside look at the OEMs who want to help you make the most of your business, improve your overall asphalt quality and succeed in your march toward industry net zero goals.
Forward-Thinking Technology
One of the asphalt industry’s many strengths is its ability to predict and prepare for the road ahead. Look at the innovations in fume extraction on paving equipment and silica dust reduction around milling equipment as two examples of our industry working in partnership to solve issues before they became mandates from on high. Look at the paperless ticketing kiosks companies such as Libra Systems—now under the Command Alkon umbrella—developed before a COVID-19 outbreak made them all-the-rage. Look at various cooling devices and systems employers have developed and shared long before the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) put its national emphasis program (NEP) in place.
These and other examples prove our industry has a track record of forward-thinking technology. What’s coming next? The companies participating in this year’s supplement will tell you. They’ve shared how they’re helping you step out in front of your competition in your markets with advanced designs, equipment, technologies or techniques.
Keep in mind, AsphaltPro offers more than a monthly report in this realm. Yes, we continue to bring the magazine in print 11 times per year, as the industry demands of us. We also offer the publication in digital format online, which you can receive via your email address when you subscribe online. We also provide a free toolbox topic once a week, which you can receive via your email address when you sign up for the Monday Morning Toolbox Tip. We also provide an online training course titled Asphalt Paving 101 for your new hires. I’ll let you explore TheAsphaltPro.com for more.
As we prepare to dive into our version of contract season, we introduce more robust online interactions for our partners. The digital-plus-online packages we’ve developed for partners are designed to put proactive equipment manufacturers who care about the producer’s bottom line directly in front of an engaged and educated audience. We’re not the kind of media outlet that splatters equipment releases across a page and calls it a day. We’re known for digging more deeply and sharing the nuts-and-bolts, how-to, technical information for how the advanced equipment and forward-thinking intellectual property will enhance the user’s bottom line.
Sustainability with Asphalt
You’ll see one of the areas in which we invited OEMs to share philosophies was that of asphalt sustainability. OEMs are invested in helping contractors and producers reach the net zero goals of the National Asphalt Pavement Association’s The Road Forward initiative. It’s natural to think of the strides made toward zero emissions at the asphalt plant and paving zone, but manufacturers and contractors alike are looking out for the industry’s best practices when it comes to sustaining the workforce as well.
One of the methods for sustaining a workforce into the future is to encourage newcomers. AsphaltPro Magazine offers the children’s activity book, Asphalt Lane, in bulk quantities magazine so you can distribute it to schools, scout troops and other groups where kids need to learn about the positive environmental and useful message of asphalt roadbuilding.
This activity book is only one way to engage the imagination of the next generation. You could host a local classroom field trip to your facility or take materials to a local library for a mid-summer display. Don’t forget about career day at middle and high school programs. It’s up to us to remind the communities where we operate that a career in asphalt roadbuilding is lucrative and rewarding.
I want to applaud those entities who are participating in the push toward implementing a culture of caring throughout the construction industry. Improving the mental health wellness of our workforce will not only attract a larger pool of mindful employees for one and all, but it will also increase presenteeism among those already in our ranks. By improving mental health wellness, we improve workplace safety and employee retention. We improve overall.
I encourage readers to explore the Suicide Prevention page at TheAsphaltPro.com as a launching point for mental health wellness resources and ideas. And I invite you to thumb through the profiles included herein for a look inside the companies bringing new and exciting business options to you. Let them know you saw them in the pages of AsphaltPro!
Corporate Profiles: Blue Smoke Control®, Division of Butler-Justice Inc.