2017 AEMA Award Winners

Each year, the AEMA President’s Award is presented to an individual who has demonstrated extraordinary commitment to AEMA and the industry.  In 2017, the AEMA President’s Award was posthumously award to Leo McArthur, president, CEO and chairman of the board of the Miller Group, who died January 11, 2017

McArthur dedicated his professional life to the asphalt emulsion industry.  In 1970, McArthur and his partner, the late John Carrick, founded McAsphalt Industries, as supplier of asphalt cement to the road building inudustry.  In 1976, the partners purchased Miller Paving Limited.  McArththure took on thMe management of Miller and over the next 40 years vastly increased the company’s size and reach.  The Miller Group now has 80 branches and subsidiaries and employs more than 4,500 employees across Canada and has a highly successful U.S. operation headquartered in Georgia. 

McArthur’s career was characterized by hard work and rock solid integrity.  His commitment to AEMA and his leadership helped shape AEMA into the organization it is today.  Some would say AEMA and the pavement preservation industry are a family tradition Leo passed on. 

The AEMA Hall of Fame Award is presented to an individual, active or retired, who is or was employed by a member firm, who has made a substantial contribution over the long term to the development of the Association or advancement of the emulsion industry.  In 2017, two individuals were inducted into the AEMA Hall of Fame.

The first recipient, J. Baxter Burns, II, President of Ergon Asphalt & Emulsions, Inc., has for more than 30 years been devoted to the growth and development of the asphalt emulsions industry.

Mark Ishee, Vice President of Pavement Preservation & Specialty Products at Ergon Asphalt & Emusions, Inc., noted, in nominating Burns, “The requirements of this prestigious award are clear; the recipient must have contributed, over the long term, to the development of the association or the advancement of the emulsion industry. Baxter is not an “either or” kind of guy and strongly meets both of these requirements, as many in our industry will attest.”

While molding Ergon Asphalt & Emulsions into a company that could be flexible and responsive to the changing times, he saw the industry needing to move in this direction as well. As one of several industry leaders in making pavement preservation an accepted concept, Baxter spent untold amounts of time, energy and resources to help the industry make that shift.

As an active member of one of AEMA’s largest and most influential industry partners, the Asphalt Institute (AI), Baxter served as Chairman for both the 2003 and the 2012 terms.

In 2010-2011, he served as the second president of what we now recognize as FP², Inc. Baxter also served from 2005 - 2011 on the Advisory Board for the National Center for Pavement Preservation, helping guide that group in the effort to centralize information related to the preservation movement into a mechanism the Federal and State Governments could support.

Burns’ long service to AEMA culminated in his role as AEMA President in 1994-1995.  He continues to mentor many in the asphalt emulsion community and has strongly supported AEMA by encouraging and supporting the involvement of other Ergon employees.  

The second recipient, Jim Towns, was in the Asphalt Emulsion industry for more than 30 years, spending his career with three AEMA member companies.

His son Brett Towns, Account Manager at BASF Corporation, in nominating him, said, “He devoted his life to his family, but through the marketing, promotion, and sales of asphalt emulsion, he took care of his family.”

He joined Hi Way Asphalt Products in 1978, where he was Vice President and part owner, and grew Hi Way’s business by successfully promoting asphalt emulsions for chip seals, slurry, and microsurfacing.  In 1986, Jim moved to Morgan Emultech (now known as VSS Emultech) where as President and General Manager he helped grow the company to include four emulsion plants.  Jim joined Western Emulsion in 2000, serving as the Executive Director of Marketing, and helped grow the company and the PASS brand with great success until his retirement in 2013. 

Jim also promoted other types of asphalt emulsions for pavement preservation throughout his career.  Agencies in Oregon, Nebraska, California and other places relied on Jim’s expertise and knowledge when putting projects together and valued his recommendations. Between 1980-2013, Jim gave more than 30 seminars a year to agencies and other organizations.  These seminars not only helped grow his business over the years, but also grew his competitors’ emulsion business, as well. 

Jim served as a liaison between AEMA and the National Association of County Engineers, as well as serving on the AEMA International Technical Committee. In addition, Jim was one of the original cofounders of the California Chip Seal Association and served as their first Chairman of the Board.  He also received their first Lifetime Achievement award for his leadership in creating the association, and for his efforts to promote chip seals and pavement preservation products in the western states.  Jim also participated in the International Slurry Seal Association, and was a member of the Board of Directors for both the Nebraska and California Chapters of the AGC.