James R. Carter Paving, a family-owned business established 70 years ago, has earned a stellar reputation in southwestern Virginia for their quality asphalt and paving services. Owner Jimmy Carter’s hands-on approach and commitment to using top-notch equipment like LeeBoy machines have solidified the company as a go-to choice for projects big and small in the area. Their dedication to customer satisfaction and attention to detail sets them apart in the competitive industry.
CEG photo
(L-R) are Tyler, Jimmy and Paul Carter, all of James R. Carter Paving.
A recent spring day found Jimmy Carter and his paving crew working at the site of a townhome construction project in Christiansburg, Va., in the mountains southwest of Roanoke.
The project was another in a long series of similar jobs that James R. Carter Paving in Blue Ridge, Va., has carried out over the past seven decades since Carter's late father, James Sr., first began operating the company 70 years ago.
Today, Carter Paving is not only highly regarded throughout its home region of southwestern Virginia — including Roanoke, Smith Mountain Lake and the New River Valley — but statewide for offering the best in asphalt and paving services.
Along the way, it has built a reputation for quality workmanship and customer satisfaction. Its skilled team specializes in delivering durable and aesthetically pleasing solutions for driveways, parking lots and roads.
"Dad started it in 1955 when he came back from Korea," Carter said. "He was in the construction business and built houses, but he couldn't find anybody to pay enough to satisfy him, so he bought his own equipment and decided to do it himself."
Among the first types of jobs that Carter Paving performed were residential driveways, he added. As time went by, though, the elder Carter began working on larger projects like parking lots and roads and, eventually, subdivisions for new homes, Jimmy said.
"And later, I came into the paving business with him," said Carter, who first began hanging around Carter Paving as an eight-year-old. "I have liked the equipment part of the business ever since I was young."
Carter added that he also was drawn to the business because of his father's driving work ethic and the satisfaction he got from a job well done. Jimmy was taught from an early age just what had to be done to achieve success in the business, and those lessons, in turn, were passed down to his sons Tyler and Paul.
Unlike many folks in other professions, owner-operators like Carter, who work out in the dirt, are able to immediately see the fruits of their labor on a daily basis.
"I have always enjoyed that sense of accomplishment," he said. "Before we begin on a job, we know what the ultimate goal of the work is from start to finish, and when it is finished, we can look back and think, ‘Wow, you know, we did that.' It's that feeling that keeps me loving this work."
When asked to name some of the projects Carter Paving has completed over the years, he was momentarily stumped by the question — not because the number was small; rather, there were too many for him to pick out just a few.
Eventually, he said, "We did a paving for a local boat shop down near Smith Mountain Lake, a pretty good sized place called Rock Outdoors. In addition, we paved the new American Electric Power [AEP] station building in Roanoke and have worked a lot for Shelor Motor Mile, a car dealership in Christiansburg."
Carter Paving's recent surface project at Roanoke's new Amazon distribution warehouse, he said, was not only a joy to do because of his interactions with the mega-company's Virginia personnel, but "it sure turned us on to a lot of bigger projects because the work force needed for these larger companies is just so hard for us to find. "
Still, he said, he and his crews are "totally blessed because we stay busy all the time. We do our residential driveways and smaller parking lots as well as handle the big construction projects like this [townhome development]."
In describing Carter Paving's latest work at the Christiansburg site, he said, "This project has a 600-ton base, which is the first phase of the asphalt for traffic coming in and out. Right now, we're just doing the initial base asphalt until we get the rest of the construction in."
Carter is very emphatic about the equipment brands he prefers to operate in his paving business. When asked what was at the top of his list, he answered without pausing to think about it.
"LeeBoy all the way because it is the best thing on the market," he said about the Lincolnton, N.C.-based manufacturer. "In my opinion, LeeBoy machines are more durable and reliable and have virtually no breakdowns, compared to the other machines on the market,"
And, Carter added, there is only one dealer that he turns to for providing him with the LeeBoys and other machines he runs on his job sites: Richmond Machinery & Equipment in Rockville, Va., northwest of Richmond.
"They have the same basic family principles that we're founded on," he said. "My dad bought equipment from Mike Colley's daddy and now I buy them from Mike, who I've known forever and is like family to me."
Colley is Richmond Machinery's CEO and president.
"Its maintenance technicians and parts people will get me anything I require," Carter said. "If I need to call them, I can always reach a person rather than an answering service or some dispatch place that says it will ship parts to me in about two weeks.
"Instead, their service techs are very prompt if I have an issue on site and will get somebody out there right away. Their parts availability is immediate, and I get no delays with LeeBoy either."
After working with Colley and the other professionals at Richmond Machinery for more than 30 years himself, Carter said he has learned to put his faith in Colley's word.
"He has always been 100 percent behind me on every purchase, and we've never had any issues. I would never buy a piece of equipment from anyone other than Richmond Machinery."
Carter also is a big fan of the Volvo line of compaction products he buys from the dealership.
"Oh, I like my Volvo stuff a lot," he said, adding that he is very discerning about the equipment brands he uses. "I've been running them for years after having switched from another brand.
"I just have niche pieces of equipment that I like, and I've kept a close eye on how equipment has changed over the years," Carter added. "It used to be, back in the 1970s, you had the old Galion rollers and the Blaw-Knox pavers, which was kind of the elite paver at the time, but all that has changed. Many of the machines today are not as durable and dependable as those made by LeeBoy, a family business that manufactures detailed and quality products. I look for attention to detail, just like in my asphalt. That emphasis on detail in the LeeBoy brand is unbelievable and makes their pavers so much better than those machines used by some of my competition, that's for certain."
Carter Paving itself is held in high regard by many clients and other larger contractors in Virginia, which often leads them to choose the contracting company over most other area paving firms. Carter said that is due to a couple factors — one of which is he serves as the company's owner-operator, meaning he is always out on the job site.
"Another is availability; in other words, you'd be able to pick up the phone and not talk to just anyone in the office, but directly to me," he said. "If nothing else, you can certainly get one of us at any time." CEG
(All photographs in this article are Copyright 2025 Construction Equipment Guide. All Rights Reserved.)
Eric Olson
A writer and contributing editor for CEG since 2008, Eric Olson has worked in the news-gathering business for 45 years.
Olson grew up in the small town of Lenoir, N.C. in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, where he began covering sports for the local newspaper at age 18. He continued to do that for several other dailies in the area while in college at Appalachian State University. Following his graduation, he worked for, among other companies, the Winston-Salem Journal, where he wrote and edited the newspaper's real estate and special features sections for 10 years. Since 1999 he has worked as a corporate media liaison and freelance writer, in addition to his time at CEG.
He and his wife, Tara, have been happily married for almost 40 years and are the parents of two grown and successful daughters. He currently is in the employ of two dogs and three cats, a job that he dearly loves.
Read more from Eric Olson here.
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