Colorado’s WofA Branch Expands Training
BY Sandy Lender
The Colorado Women of Asphalt arranged a robust training academy to educate and encourage
When the Women of Asphalt Colorado (WofA CO) branch officers wished to lead and inspire through education, they not only developed a training program for women and men in the state, they found a way to make this training available free of charge and within the women’s unique schedules. The conversation started in 2021 and by 2022, the training committee had developed its training academy with four full-day sessions for students to attend. Now, the program includes five full-day sessions that culminate in one of two certifications for students.
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Training Program History
Tammera Buck is an officer of the WofA CO branch and introduced the training academy as the brainchild of Nicola Upright. Upright is a founding member of the branch and a construction manager at RockSol Consulting Group, Inc., (RockSol) Loveland, Colorado. Both of these women participate in the training committee and spoke highly of the curriculum their instructor, Andrew Hieber, has assembled.
“The WofA CO Training Academy was the brainchild of Nicki,” Buck said. “Andy is our instructor and chairperson of the training committee. He has done a fantastic job of creating the curriculum for the sessions.”
“The training academy has been around for four years now, and we try to focus on knowledge that will help the ladies (and gentlemen) in their jobs or better their careers,” Upright said. “Andy is a wonderful instructor, and we are lucky to have him.”
Hieber wears a number of hats. During the paving season, he is the fulltime construction manager II for RockSol, where he started in 2014. In this position, he oversees the Northern Colorado materials technicians, including training for certification, day-to-day activities, lab management and materials finals for Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT). Since 2021, he has served as an adjunct professor at Colorado State University. “This past spring I started full time as an instructor for the College of Construction Management, so I am now primarily a professor at CSU,” he explained.
Those hats make him uniquely qualified to serve as the training academy chair and instructor.
Instructor Andrew Hieber leads a class in laboratory essentials as part of the Women of Asphalt Colorado branch’s successful training academy. Photo courtesy of WofA CO
“Nicki Upright came to me as I was finishing my masters (2020-2021) while on a project with her and asked how I would create a way to empower and strengthen women in our industry,” Hieber explained. “And through conversations we came up with the idea of a training academy. Then she asked me to create what those topics would look like. I sat down and reviewed the classes that I had taken in construction management both undergrad and graduate, looked at what field experience would benefit, and the best workers core values. Again, through conversations with Nicki and her experience we tweaked and played around with topics and ideas. Then at the very end, she said, ‘Great, now teach it for me.’”
Not only did the committee take all the training concepts into consideration, but they also thought about timing for the particular audience they’d be teaching. Hieber shared, “We started our first year in 2022, with just four sessions trying to strategically place them during times where families weren’t on vacation and kids were still in school to try and maximize our outreach of ladies in the industry or interested in the industry.”
Those first four topics in 2022 didn’t include certification but did include quality control/quality assurance (QC/QA) and quality control/owner acceptance (QC/OA) training and Colorado Asphalt Paving Association (CAPA) lab training. As future sets of sessions would do, that first year included a site visit with an asphalt plant and equipment tour. The sessions also offered information on career paths; the basics of project planning and preparing projects right down to drainage systems and structures and surface preparation; finance; project phasing and delivery; environmental management; and more.
In preparation for 2022, Hieber wanted to partner with CAPA to allow him to train and sign off on the experience needed to certify a session in LabCAT Level A, which is laydown-specific.
“Why I chose Level A is because it is a great starting point in the asphalt world for Colorado.” It qualifies anyone with the certification for the following:
- Sampling of Aggregates
- Sampling of Asphalt
- Density of Asphalt
- Ability to get Level I or Asphalt Paving Materials Inspector Certification
The committee wanted to accomplish this with no cost to the attendees. “That year we had a golf tournament, so the majority of those proceeds go to the training academy for lunches, and now the cost of the certification as well,” he said.
In 2023, the training academy held four sessions again. One session focused on topics geared toward making attendees better employees or better applicants in the industry. One session took attendees out in the field. Then two sessions were focused on the Level A certification. “We certified seven ladies that year in Level A,” Hieber shared.
“In 2024, we wanted to be more specific with our training topic to provide a better understanding and decided to focus on asphalt binder selection and mix design,” he said. “We certified seven ladies again that year in Level A.”
The training academy includes topics from the ground up. Topics take students into the field as well as the classroom to learn the basics of project planning and preparing projects right down to drainage systems and structures.
Present Day
In preparation for 2025’s training season, Hieber proposed something new again. He suggested the training academy offer Level 1—the Asphalt Pavement Materials Inspector Certification—every other year. This would allow attendees who had achieved their Level A certification one year to achieve the next level of certification the next year, thus providing continuing value for returning trainees.
“This idea turned into why not do both?” he said. “Our golf tournament and wonderful sponsors had been doing so well that we had the funds to offer both certifications with no cost to the attendees. So, we kept the idea of being more specific with our training topics and now offering both certifications.”
They expanded to a five-session format in 2025. And here’s what that looked like this year.
Topics 2025:
- Session 1, held May 17, at the CAPA offices in Centennial: Binder Selection, Mix Design Review 2.0
- Session 2, held June 21, at the CAPA offices: Quantity Takeoff & Estimating, Emerging Technologies
- Session 3, held Aug. 23, at the CAPA offices: LabCAT Level A Training
- Session 4, held Sept. 20, at the CAPA offices: Level A Certification
- Session 5, Oct. 18, at the CAPA offices: Asphalt Paving Materials Inspector Certification
“In the past few years, we have only offered the Level A or the Inspector certification,” Upright confirmed. “This year, we are offering both. All the certifications are paid for through the Women of Asphalt Colorado organization. We hold a golf tournament every year to help pay for all the training. We do offer lunch as well on the days of training to those in attendance.”
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Impacting Asphalt Careers
Currently, the training academy is reaching women and men from all areas of the asphalt industry in Colorado.
“I would say on average we have anywhere from 10-15 attendees per session sign up,” Hieber said. “Maximum we have had is 20+ during a plant tour. We can have a maximum of 25-ish right now, but I am always more than happy to take more.”
Gina Fox, a resident engineer at CDOT is one of the attendees who has found the program beneficial. “The Women of Asphalt CO Training Academy offered me assistance in comprehending the construction documentation that I was required to review and approve as a newly appointed resident engineer with the state. Before attending these training sessions, I was engaging with reading materials and making inquiries; however, the trainings presented practical scenarios and facilitated direct interactions with experienced professionals. These training sessions have enhanced my confidence and expanded my knowledge in this area.”
“I have attended several training classes, not as a student but as a WofA CO officer to show support,” Buck said. “I can say that what I witnessed was great and impactful on the students. Andy is a phenomenal instructor and engages the students with his knowledge and humor. The students feel comfortable to ask questions and be interactive. I’ve had several past students tell me how valuable the training has been to them in their careers, and obtaining a certification at no cost to them or their employers is a huge bonus.”
As future sets of sessions would do, the first year included a site visit with an asphalt plant and equipment tour.
The ability to ask questions in a comfortable environment has extended to guests. In an example that showcased the program’s flexibility for its target audience, Hieber shared one of the rewarding moments for him as an instructor. When one of the attendees for a session ran into a scheduling problem, it turned out to be a great opportunity for everyone in the room. “One attendee asked if they could bring their daughter to a session because they did not have a sitter and we said absolutely,” Hieber shared. “Some of the best questions from that session came from her daughter.”
Other rewarding moments of the training program for Hieber so far have included the outcomes and the opportunities. “Certifying these ladies, to watch them study and prepare for the written and practical aspects of it and to succeed and see the fire and passion in their eyes of ‘hey, I can do this,’” has been a bonus for Hieber. He also mentioned “the network we have created and continued to grow where it isn’t just women but men too. [Men] have a responsibility to make this a welcome and inviting industry and to see everyone come together is amazing to see throughout the year.”
The Future
“It has been amazing to see the progression of the training academy and all of the support from the industry here in Colorado for what we are doing,” Hieber said. While he doesn’t know yet what ideas will be stoked for future years, he said, “I just know it will be better than the year before!”
“Each year the training is a little different at the beginning of the year,” Upright said. “We are hoping to add in a day of training on the Western Slope this coming year for the ladies that can’t make it to Denver. I would also like to get some soft skills like leadership and managing into the academy as well. It is always a work in progress.”