A Letter From AEMA President Dan Koeninger

It is a privilege to be a member of the AEMA Board of Directors.  It has been an honor to have been the AEMA President since our Annual Meeting at the Wigwam.  I’m proud to report that the Board has been working hard to promote the Asphalt Emulsion Industry on behalf of you and all our member companies.  We are committed to addressing the issues that affect you and our industry.  The Board and the many volunteers that comprise our various committees are focused on providing member value by advancing our strategic plan.

There were many accomplishments made during the last year.  The following are just a few:

• The Leadership Development Team committee’s LEAP Program (Leadership Education for Asphalt Preservation) began at the Annual Meeting in February with a tour of a local aggregate quarry.  The LEAP program is a 12-month immersive program aimed at developing members of the asphalt emulsion industry.  Fifteen employees of member companies have been exposed to other facets of our industry including a visit to an emulsion plant, visiting a refinery, visiting a chemical plant, attending the National Pavement Preservation Conference in Indianapolis, and meeting with elected officials in Washington D.C. as part of the TCC fly in.  This is a great employee development tool exclusively for AEMA members.
• The Sustainability Committee, working with our consultants, has completed two rounds of data gathering with a goal of developing a LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) by year end.    The emulsions were working on are Neat Binder Emulsion, Neat Binder Emulsion with Rejuvenator, Diluted, Neat Binder Emulsion with Rejuvenator, Undiluted, Neat Binder Emulsion with Fuel Oil, Polymer Modified Binder Emulsion, Polymer Modified Binder Emulsion with Rejuvenator, Diluted, Polymer Modified Binder Emulsion with Rejuvenator, Undiluted, and Polymer Modified Binder Emulsion with Fuel Oil.  We’re establishing the PCR committee now and will continue working to finalize these rules which will lead us to final EPDs. Here is a link to a recorded webinar that explains this topic further. 
• The Marketing team is developing new tools to better advertise our products. You’ll see some exciting flyers come out in the coming months.
• The Membership Committee is working to bring students into the association and increase our Manufacturing Member numbers to increase our influence when working with Federal and State Agencies.
• We continue to work with the Asphalt Institute to benchmark the overall use of emulsions.  It appears from the data that asphalt emulsion usage as a percentage of paving AC has increased from 6.9% in 2004 to 10.9% in 2021. This also represents an increase from the 10.5% that was reported in 2020.  We continue to gain traction and hope to eclipse the previous high of 12.3%.
• Roadvocate Training (RoadResource.org website class), was held April 11-13 and coming up this October 24-26.
• The Synergy team has created an Agency Communications Toolkit which is now available on Roadresource.org.
• We now have 83 emulsion plants that have been awarded the AEMA Excellence in Manufacturing award. The inaugural award recipients can now apply for the Silver Level.
• The University of Arkansas classes are an excellent resource for our members to include in their employee training programs.
• We continued our collaboration with FHWA on our very successful webinar series. 
• And, finally, our Technical Response Committee has been re-organized for even better success. They’re focusing on technical issues that need resolution and providing opinions for the AEMA “Ask an Expert” portal.

As always, we thank you for your continued dedication to our industry. We look forward to another successful year and seeing you at the 2024 Annual Meeting, February 19^th - 23^rd , at Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, FL.  For you golfers, this is a chance to chase that little ball around on the course that the pros play, if you dare!  Registration is now open!

Sincerely, 

Dan Koeninger

AEMA President