Maryland Women of Asphalt Launches “Paving & Pastries” Series
BY Sandy Lender
Maryland Women of Asphalt branch networks with Paving & Pastries events
During the spring 2025 paving conference of the Maryland Asphalt Association (MAA) in March and again during an April 2025 lunch and learn event, the Maryland Women of Asphalt (MD WofA) branch introduced a new program called Paving & Pastries (P&P). The program officially kicked off with its first event, hosted at the Allan Myers Inc., Fallston office on May 13, with a second event in July at M Luis Construction Co., headquartered in Curtis Bay, Maryland.
As part of the Paving & Pastries visit, all the women in attendance receive a Potty Pack, which is a bag of hygienic items for use when out on the job site.
The branch doesn’t yet have an outreach committee, so efforts like the P&P initiative help connect women across MAA’s member companies, offering more women, who might not otherwise have the chance, to learn of the MD WofA mission.
“While we do have numerous events throughout the year, we are not able to touch everyone with these events,” Chairwoman Amy Eckert explained. When it comes to connecting with the ladies when they’re in the field, timing can be difficult. Instead, the branch can set up a P&P visit at the member company’s site when it’s most convenient for workers. “When we are coordinating these events, we do them at whatever time is most beneficial to accommodate everyone’s schedule. We hold them at whatever location works best for that company. Some of our members have different facilities from their corporate office to their asphalt plants so we let them determine what space works best for them and we hold it there.”
Amy Eckert gave a presentation during the first Paving & Pastries visit. She shared that having a warm welcome from the ladies at Allan Myers and getting to meet so many of their female team members made the event a memorable success for her. “We had a great turn out. I was nervous since it was the first one that we had done. I had gone over everything that I wanted say in my head but it’s a lot different when you are now in a room full of people but the team was so nice and engaging that it made my nerves simmer down and allowed a lot of connections to be made and great conversations.”
After the MAA paving conference and lunch and learn event in the spring, women from Allan Myers and M Luis reached out to participate in the new initiative. Eckert coordinated the dates and times that worked for the companies and members of the MD WofA council who could join in. “It is a team effort,” Eckert explained. “But I generally am the main point person, coordinator with the company, and do the majority of the presentation during the event.”
The events include more than a presentation from the WofA branch—they offer networking and community.
“We bring doughnuts, coffee and water for the ladies to enjoy,” Eckert shared. “We start out introducing ourselves, who we are with MD WofA as well as what our actual job is, how long we have been in the industry and a little bit of our journey. We then go around the room and have all of the ladies that are in attendance introduce themselves. I then tell them all about WofA as a whole, how we got started nationally, what our mission is, the current standings regarding all of the branches we have now and when our branch got started. From there it’s explaining all of the events that we do, what is in the works for our branch, and I open it up to any questions or comments that anyone has. We are still growing as a branch and it’s important to be beneficial to our members so we value the opportunity to hear the thoughts and ideas that the ladies have to see if we can adapt and continue to grow.”
As part of the morning event, there are, of course, pastries.
“The first one that we did with Allan Myers was at 6 a.m. so that we could meet with the ladies before they had to get their day started. Which is also where the pastries come in. It’s always good to have some breakfast before they get their days started.”
Eckert also spoke of the inclusivity of the visits.
“It’s important to be able to connect with every woman that we can no matter their position or their length of time in the industry so they know that we exist, we welcome anyone to join us and are a valuable resource to help empowering women in the asphalt industry by mentorship, education and networking.”
Companies reach out to the MD WofA and Eckert coordinates the details with them to see what works best for their staff regarding date, time and location for a Paving & Pastries visit. Here the women of M Luis Construction Co join together for a group photo before the day begins.
The MD WofA come bearing gifts as well as encouragement.
“Another thing that we do for these events is give all of the ladies Potty Packs. We had zipper pouches made with our logo on it, and we filled them with necessities that women need when using the restroom. For the ladies in the field a lot of them rely on using a porta potty, which can be very hit or miss with the conditions of it. So in these bags we put packs of tissues (not enough room to fit rolls of toilet paper so this was the next best option), hand sanitizer, tampons and individually wrapped on the go flushable wipes so that they can carry these packs with them at all times and when they need to use the bathroom they can just grab them and take them with them so they have all that they need and not have to worry about going into a porta potty that might be out of toilet paper or hand sanitizer.”
Some of this may sound similar to the South Carolina WofA’s Building Community with Biscuits program outlined in the July issue, and there’s a reason for that. The WofA share ideas to help branches grow.
“Our past chairwoman, Stefani Martella, is a board officer for the WofA National and she had heard what South Carolina did and brought the idea to us so we could adapt our version of it in Maryland. I am the current chairwoman, so I have become more of the leader when it comes to speaking engagements and it’s something that I am passionate about, so it’s been easy to help lead this initiative when your heart is behind it.”
Albertina Luis (in the driver’s seat) and her husband, Manuel Luis, founded M Luis in 1985. Their daughters, Cidalia Luis-Akbar and Natalia Luis, now own and run the company. Natalia picked up her parents, so they were able to join everyone for the P&P event. “As a female owned company, they are very supportive of our mission,” Eckert shared.
Others have seen the value and passion behind the project as well. Andrea Imhoff with M Luis is the woman who reached out to host a visit at the company.
“I was passionate about organizing the Paving & Pastries event for the ladies of M Luis to introduce them to the valuable resources available through the Maryland Women of Asphalt. It’s important to me that our female employees feel supported, empowered and equipped with opportunities for both personal and professional growth within our industry.
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“In a traditionally male-dominated industry, having an organization like Maryland Women of Asphalt is truly invaluable,” Imhoff continued. “It offers a safe space for women to connect, ask questions, share experiences, learn and give back to the community—something that is essential for building confidence and long-term success!”
And that success is open to anyone who wants to attend. Eckert explained that any female that is employed by the company is welcome to attend a P&P event. “Executives, office personnel, drivers, ladies that work in the field or at the asphalt plant, it does not matter to us what their position is, our mission is to be able to connect with as many ladies as possible.”
So far, that mission of connection is off to a great start with the MD WofA P&P initiative. Any companies in Maryland that wish to participate can reach out to Eckert and other WofA branches who are interested in a similar program have two shining examples to follow.