A Letter From President Bob Huitt

Dear Members,

A few weeks ago, we held our first ever Virtual Annual Meeting along with our other PPRA organizations, ARRA and ISSA.  Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic we made the difficult, but correct decision to hold the 2021 AGM as a virtual meeting with a theme focusing on Engagement.  A virtual meeting required us to adapt our meeting agenda significantly.  We conducted the meeting over 4 days instead of 3.  This allowed us to eliminate overlapping sessions so that everyone had the opportunity to attend each and every presentation, business meeting and committee meeting. Attendees had the opportunity to meet with our sponsors in the Virtual Exhibit Hall. We also were able to have 4 virtual networking sessions which included a magic show and a Kahoot! Trivia game.  The presentations and other meeting details are located in the Members Only section on www.aema.org.

Highlights of the General Session included:

• Our keynote speaker, Mark Breslin, Breslin Strategies, inspired us to promote engagement from our colleagues, employees and others in the new culture defined by the latest generation.
• We heard a great story from Whitney Brady, Russell Standard, of how the town of Limrick, PA uses pavement preservation to improve their road network.
• Andrew Braham, University of Arkansas updated us on the efforts of the Sustainability Committee to provide PPRA members with the tools necessary be successful in the new more environmentally sensitive business climate we find ourselves in. 
• FHWA rep, LaToya Johnson, updated us on their strategic plan.
• Tracy Taylor, Alignment Government Strategies, informed us on how to engage our elected officials and promote pavement preservation.
• Judith Corley-Lay, NCPP, provided an update on their efforts
• Buzz Powell, NCAT, shared an update on the NCAT Test Track
• Vario Consulting conducted another stimulating session on using RoadResource.Org and how it’s improving the industry.

At this year’s Business Meeting:

• We welcomed Dan Koeninger, Terry Asphalt Materials, as our new Vice President and Matt Kennedy, McAsphalt Industries Limited, as our new Secretary/Treasurer.  We welcomed our newest board member, Scott Watson, Paragon Technical Services, Inc.
• We reviewed our 2021 – 2024 Strategic Plan:

Strategy 1: Grow the overall market for Asphalt Emulsions.

1. Annually Implement AEMA Awards Program
2. Annually implement AEMA plant certification program.Achieve 90% renewal rate and add at least five plants annually
3. Support roadresource.org with leadership from AEMA participants and funding as appropriate.
4. Develop a LCA for Asphalt Emulsions by 2022
5. Develop PCRs for Asphalt Emulsions by 2022
6. Develop EPDs or an EPD development methodology for AEMA members and their customers by 2023

Strategy 2: Develop educational programs and webinars anyone can access at nominal costs

1. Promote AEMA online certificate courses through University of Arkansas.Goal is to achieve a minimum of 50 people annually taking each course
2. Develop content for the PPRA Annual Meeting program that is valuable to members annually.
3. Achieve a minimum of 50 AEMA members participating in AEMA content and achieve satisfaction rating of 9 out of 10 for all AEMA sessions.
4. Develop topics for and deliver and promote 3-4 webinars annually for FHWA audiences.
5. In 2021, work with ARRA and ISSA leadership to develop and provide emulsion content for their educational and promotional materials.
6.  Produce ISAET every four years.

Strategy 3: Promote membership outreach and participation in AEMA.

1. Conduct personal contacts with each member at least once annually to touch base and remind members about meetings and other AEMA membership benefits.
2. Increase membership by 10% by 2024.
3. Publish Emulsion Notes Bi-monthly. Include committee updates in each issue of Emulsion Notes
4. Report on work of committees to members regularly through newsletters, website, direct emails

This year’s Awards Presentations included:

• Effingham County Roads Department and Board of Commissioners, Ergon Asphalt and Emulsions, Inc., Hudson Construction Company, EOM Operations, and Ranger Construction Industries were awarded the Past Presidents Award for the Indigo Road Project.
• The AEMA Excellence in Manufacturing Award was achieved by 18 new facilities in its third year and 50 locations renewed their certification.  To receive the award, the operations are required to meet a comprehensive list of manufacturing, safety, quality control and operating requirements.  It certainly promotes the Engagement theme of this year’s meeting.
• The AEMA Recognition of Achievement Award was presented to Ralph Maddux, with Hudson Materials Company.  This award is presented to an individual, active or retired, who has made a significant contribution to emulsion technology or the advancement of the emulsion industry. 

We held several committee meetings and AEMA presentations. The ITC met and I am pleased to inform you that our new ITC Chair for 2021 - 2023 is Brian Cancio, Russell Standard.  I also want to thank Joe Brandenburg, Nouryon, for his service as ITC Chair from 2019 – 2021.  We also heard from Aaron Walker, Ingevity, about the Leadership Development Team (LDT) and the exciting LEAP program to kick off at next year’s AGM.  The LDT also held a panel session with industry leaders on career paths in our industry, Sallie Houston, VSSI, enlightened us with a presentation on Women of Asphalt (Emulsions) and the exciting opportunities for women in the asphalt emulsion industry. Gaylon Baumgardner, Paragon Technical Services, Inc provided us with update on IBEF, and lastly, Stormy Brewster, Marathon Petroleum, provided attendees with a technical presentation on predicting asphalt emulsion performance from asphalt chemistry.  I promise to provide updates on the various committee activities and progress periodically.

We had a total of 231 registered attendees which is considerably less than in previous years. However, considering we had to conduct this year’s AGM virtually, we made the best of an unusually difficult situation. Our next two annual meetings will be in La Jolla, CA followed by Scottsdale, AZ and I am really looking forward to seeing you all live and in-person at both events.

In closing, I thank you for your membership and participation in AEMA.  The simple truth is that with most, if not all Industry Associations, we have our hand out.  We ask for our members to be engaged; to make suggestions, fill out our surveys, volunteer hours of service to our committees, provide sponsorship for our meeting and publications, pay membership dues.  My promise is that we will take these inputs and create valuable products and services for our members that will promote pavement preservation and asphalt emulsions so that all of our members can be more successful.  Please feel free to reach out to me, the board, committee members, or CM Services with any questions or suggestions.  

Thank You,
Bob Huitt
AEMA President