UAPA's incoming President Jeff Collard
This year's Utah Asphalt Pavement Association convention was the largest to date in attendance and exhibitor participation. The conference featured more than 1,100 attendees and 85 exhibitors, and along with an exceptional line-up of speakers and educational sessions, the convention delivered something for everyone.
UAPA incoming president, Jeff Collard, of Hales Sand & Gravel, released the following statement on the recent success and his new opportunity as president.
Statement
I want to thank you for the opportunity to serve as the president of UAPA. UAPA is a great organization with a lot of great members. I have enjoyed serving on the executive committee this past year, as I have developed relationships with the other members of the executive committee and the members of the board of directors. As president and past-president, Jaden Kemp and Scott Fernald have taught me a lot and I look up to them. Reed Ryan does an excellent job leading this fine organization which is becoming one of the best asphalt associations in the country.
The 2020 Asphalt Conference was a huge success. Thank you, Reed, Keri, and the committee members for all your hard work that goes into making the asphalt conference better and better each year. We want to thank all those members and non-members that made it to our conference. The state of Utah was well represented with many attendees coming from the eastern, central and southern portions of Utah. We want to thank you for traveling great distances to attend the conference.
One concern UAPA has had over time was making sure that UAPA is representing all its members and not just the members along the Wasatch Front. Now that I reside in central Utah, I have a better understanding of some of the needs for rural Utah. UAPA has made strides to better represent Utah with the creation of the Southern Utah Regional Leadership Council and the Northern Utah Regional Leadership Council, with plans to once again have a small conference in the Uintah Basin in early spring 2021.
A little over 20 years ago I got into the asphalt business. Although it was not the direction I had planned to go while I was in engineering school, I am glad that I had the opportunity to work for UDOT and get my foot in the door for a career in road construction. For some it is hard to understand how we could love the smell of asphalt or tolerate 300-degree asphalt under our feet on a 100-degree day, but when you look back at the end of the day and you see a high quality, smooth road, parking lot or driveway, you know that you have won that day, and winning fuels the fire for the passion we all have for our asphalt industry. Whether you produce, deliver, preserve, or place fresh asphalt, strive to win each and every day. If we are winning, we are setting the standards high in our asphalt industry and the owners and the public will win as well by receiving a long-lasting asphalt product.
As we progress into the 2020 season remember to keep yourself and your co-workers safe. The most important aspect in our careers is to watch out for one another and make sure we all go home to our families after every shift. I wish you the best of health and a prosperous 2020.
Outgoing President's Message: Jaden Kemp, GeoDyne Transport
After another successful UAPA Conference, and the world pandemic events that have happened since, I am grateful. Grateful that we had the Conference when we did and grateful that we are in an industry that the Governor deems "essential" during this tumultuous and unprecedented economic time. My hope for the world is that we stay healthy and that we are able to get back to work and normal life as quickly as possible.
UAPA's outgoing President Jaden Kemp
My thoughts surrounding the UAPA Conference stem from the theme of "One Industry, One Goal". To me this means that we are one in vision and one in purpose. In order to have a vision for our own lives and our industry that is different than our current circumstances, it involves a decision. Decide today to make a change, to be a little better every day. One of my favorite quotes attributed to Ghandi is "Be the change that you want to see in the world." If we see something that needs to change in the world, in our industry, in our company, we need to decide today to be that change. Criticism is easy and is part of the problem. Owning the problem is harder but is the only way to be a part of the solution.
Bill Parcells, the Coach of the New York Giants for two Super Bowls and mentor to Bill Belichick, had a motto for his Super Bowl Winning teams: "Blame Nobody, Expect Nothing, Do Something." This goes to the heart of taking 100% accountability for our own lives and for the success of our company and industry. Do not look for somebody else to blame, do not expect that anybody is going to gift you anything, and do what you can control to make things better. Bill Belichick later simplified that message for his New England Patriots that have won six Superbowls: "Do your job." Don't spend time worrying about the aggregate sourcing if your job is to run a paving crew. That focus on something that you do not control prevents you from doing your job to the best of your ability. Decide today to focus doing your job. Decide today to control the things you can control and let go of the things that are outside of your control. Right now while many within our companies are working from home, we cannot control when the economy will get back to normal. What we can do is we can focus on implementing systems and processes that will make our company and industry better.
As we seek to make changes, it is easy to become side-tracked or to delay the change. We will all do well to remember the quote "One day or day one. You decide." We can either start today to control the things that we can control or we can perpetually delay. That decision is fully within our control. Decide today to decide today. Let's each be the change that we want to see in the Asphalt Industry.
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