Colleen Moore joined the Associated Asphalt family 17 years ago at our Greensboro terminal. Colleen worked in banking for six years before joining the team until she decided it was time to start a new chapter.
Bobbi Mullins’ story begins in Clay County, West Virginia. She worked at a local post office for a couple of years until she made the decision to start a new life in Salisbury, North Carolina. That’s where Bobbi found Associated Asphalt. “I could’ve transferred to the post office in Greensboro, but it wasn’t as fulfilling as I wanted it to be,” she said. What’s more, Bobbi was searching for a place to call her own where she could flourish in her career. She goes on to say, “I joined the team during the Associated Asphalt transition in March of 1997. I was very lucky to be a part of the team and grow with the company.”
Bobbi has been a part of the Associated Asphalt team for 25 years. She began her story as an administrative assistant at the Salisbury, North Carolina terminal, then transitioned from working on supply transportation to becoming a Senior Logistics Manager. “I’ve been here half my life,” Bobbi happily says. “It’s a great company to work for. I have shown my worth so they’ve promoted me within.”
But not only is it the advancement opportunities that have kept Bobbi with Associated Asphalt. “It’s been a career for me. They take very good care of me.” And it’s reciprocal. We strive to do the best we can each day for everyone’s sake. Bobbi says, “We want everyone to go home safe, the way they arrived to work. We never want anyone hurt. We have had some accidents, but we all look out for each other and take care of one another.”
It’s the close bond that Bobbi shares with her teammates that has made working at Associated Asphalt a unique and meaningful experience for her. “We’re just a tight-knit family. I’ve established some of my lifelong friends within this company.” Bobbi used to train all the administrators, so she has become well-acquainted with almost everybody at Associated Asphalt. “It’s the people that make this place the best place to work,” she says.
Her love for her company grew even stronger when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Bobbi and some of her fellow coworkers had to begin working remotely, which was an adjustment. But Bobbi says it showed just how much faith Associated Asphalt has in their employees. “They trust us to work to the best of our abilities and to accomplish what we need to accomplish every day.”
We value each member of our team and believe in showing appreciation for our staff members’ dedication. Bobbi says, “I’m proof of this. If you’re willing to put the hard work in, you have a chance to rise with the company. You can make it a career. I’ve made it a career!”
We are so pleased to call Bobbi a part of the Associated Asphalt family! All of our employees bring a range of skills, values, and experiences to the team! You can read more employee spotlights here. Interested in starting a career at Associated Asphalt? Apply today!
“I’m very proud of my job. I boast about it a lot to people,” says Luther Scales.
Luther began his story with Associated Asphalt almost 20 years ago. As a young man beginning his career with a good work ethic and honest character, Luther said that he did not know a single thing about asphalt prior to joining the Associated Asphalt family. Starting as a rookie on the rail, Luther worked his way up the ladder and is now a Polymer Modified Asphalt Operator at our Greensboro terminal. Over the last two decades, Luther has acquired an array of skills and fallen in love with everything his job offers, “It’s more than a job to me. This is my life and I love it.”
Before Luther joined our team, he spent many years working in warehousing and distribution positions. He was drawn to Associated Asphalt because he was seeking something greater, something with more meaning; a company he could grow with. One of the major things he factored into taking the position at Associated Asphalt was the team, “I love the people that work here, they’re my second family.”
Our company’s core values are aligned with Luther’s personal beliefs. Integrity and safety are very important qualities to everyone on our team. Luther was brought up with the values that Associated Asphalt upholds each day. “If you do a job right and to the best of your abilities, you’ll be rewarded. I like the sense of accomplishment when I do something on my own. I feel good every night when I leave my job knowing I accomplished my goals.” Because of the nature of the work, it is essential to complete tasks at a steady pace rather than rushing through, simply trying to check boxes. “I tell the new hires all the time to ‘just take your time and you’ll eventually get it, and you’ll develop your own way of doing it safely.'” Luther says.
Luther appreciates the camaraderie, character, and overall respect that is given when the team comes together in a crisis. “There was an asphalt spill out on the rails, everybody including our office administrator Colleen, went outside to help stop and contain the spill. I was genuinely amazed seeing her spring into action, lugging sandbags outside even though it wasn’t her job.” He goes on to say, “Even though she didn’t need to come out and help us, she felt that she needed to, and she really did help us. It’s like a well-oiled machine here. When we all work together, it’s beautiful.”
Luther believes that the most valuable thing he’s learned working at Associated Asphalt is how we work as a team. “At my other jobs, it was like everyone was out for themselves. There was no working together,” he says. “At Associated Asphalt, I’m not treated like a robot, I’m treated like a person. I’m producing modified asphalt for a purpose.”
But that’s not the only perk of becoming a part of the Associated Asphalt team, according to Luther. He noted that although we continue to grow, we’re still family-based. At Associated Asphalt, you’ll have the opportunity to constantly learn from the people around you and form strong connections with your team members. “I haven’t seen a person come through here yet that wasn’t liked and given a chance to do what they can do,” Luther says. “You’ll have a home here.”
When Luther isn’t working, he loves spending time with his family. “It’s me and my son, and he has two of the most beautiful grandchildren you’ve ever seen in your life. They’re the reason I keep coming to work.” Being a “country boy” and lover of the great outdoors, you may also find Luther going fishing with his loved ones.
We are so glad to have Luther on our team at Associated Asphalt! All of our employees bring a range of skills, values, and experiences to the team! You can read more employee spotlights here. Interested in starting a career at Associated Asphalt? Apply today!
Roanoke transplant Carrie Conard-Watson joined the Associated Asphalt family in the summer of 2022 as our HRIS & Benefits Administrator. Carrie brings years of experience, an infectiously positive attitude, and a great outlook to the Associated Asphalt team.
When Karen Murphy joined the Associated Asphalt team, she brought with her an extensive amount of expertise and knowledge in the Environmental, Health, and Safety field. As the new (EHS) Manager, Karen is eager to apply her knowledge and passion for safety to ensure that everyone can go home safe at the end of the day.
Roanoke native Wendi Basham joined the Associated Asphalt family in March of 2022 as an Executive Administrator. Coming from a lively background of working with local government, Wendi brings her expertise to her day-to-day life at Associated Asphalt.
Robbie Robinson has a knack for combining his technical knowledge with marketing and sales. “I do a lot of different things as the Sr. Technical Services and Marketing Manager. I market our specialty asphalts and performance products and once I sell a job then I go and support it technically,” he said
Associated Asphalt is overjoyed to celebrate yet another award from the Virginia Trucking Association for best safety record in the tank division for a fleet less than 2,000,000 miles for 2019 and 2020. This will be the fourth year in a row that our transportation department has received an honor from the organization.
Safety has always been a top priority at Associated Asphalt. Visitors at our Roanoke, Va. terminal can expect to see a wall of safety awards we have received over the years. We can attribute much of our recent success in navigating our growth safely to Ernie Hamilton, Sr. Transportation Manager, and his entire team for the hard work that they have done to streamline our systems and keep our drivers safe.
“I cannot even express how proud I am of all the people who made this award possible…” says Ernie, praising everyone from the drivers and mechanics, to the dispatchers and human resource personnel, who all worked together to make it happen.
Ernie Hamilton joined Associated Asphalt in February of 2016 and has played an important role in transforming our transportation systems. In his current role, Ernie oversees all of our terminals that host trucking operations: Martinsburg, Roanoke, Bristol, Hopewell, Columbia, and Tampa. Day-to-day, Ernie oversees a variety of tasks and projects including equipment management and maintenance, systems automation, and emphasizing safety for the drivers.
“When I came on board, we had experienced a lot of growth and our team and processes needed to grow accordingly. Doing everything manually wasn’t working anymore,” Ernie recalls. “Since then, we’ve gone fully automated. We’ve added onboard computers to the trucks and programming set up to streamline communication between the dispatch office and the trucks. It makes our quarterly taxes easier and also helps us make sure our drivers are safer.”
In addition, Ernie worked directly with Associated Asphalt’s IT department to create and program a system that manages fleet maintenance and inventory. This helps the company comply with required maintenance regulations with ease.
“We’ve come a long way,” he says. “Since I’ve joined, we have all worked together to change things around and have started hitting our safety goals and winning awards again.”
In addition to putting systems in place, the team also continued to emphasize a culture of safety-first. The company put a focus on encouraging drivers to slow down and drive cautiously.
“If we’re going to pay them by the hour for safety purposes, we should also encourage them to slow down,” says Ernie. “With the onboard computers, we can now monitor for speed, hard braking, and anything they do that could be a risk.”
To support Ernie’s efforts in a safety-first approach to managing his fleet, he recently acquired his Director of Safety Certificate from the North American Transportation Management Institute, in partnership with the University of Central Florida Division of Continuing Education. While not required by regulations, this Certification serves as another layer of risk mitigation for the company and Ernie’s team.
“Marie, John, and Danny were a great help in helping me get this certification,” he says. “If you need something to be successful and can prove that it will help the company, they’ll provide you with whatever you need.”
Ernie was proud to share a few stats about his team from 2020:
Outside of work, Ernie is spending time with his family outside. They enjoy the great outdoors and just about any activity you can do outside, such as bike riding, skiing, 4-wheeling, and camping when the weather allows it.
The grit of a person or organization is determined by how they respond in times of crisis.
The COVID-19 pandemic has up-ended “business as usual” for many industries in the United States and across the world. In this crisis, we are very humbled that our industry has been deemed essential. While we have always realized the importance of our nation’s infrastructure, we welcomed the opportunity to rise to the occasion during these challenging times.
Amidst all of the uncertainty, we are thankful to have been able to maintain operations at full capacity, while incorporating social distancing guidelines in order to protect our employees, contractors, and carriers. Beneath our humility, we are incredibly proud of each and every one of our employees’ dedication. As James Hill, Chief Operating Officer put it, “You all represent a bright light in an otherwise cloudy situation and for that, you should smile and stand proud.”
The dedication displayed by our team has been paramount in playing our integral role in the infrastructure supply chain. Our customers depended on us. Departments of Transportation depended on us. Municipalities, inspectors, and transportation networks all counted on us to navigate this historic challenge we faced. We’d be remiss if we didn’t thank each department at Associated Asphalt.
“Rest assured, when you reflect on your individual performance you will have much to be honored by as each of you sacrificed for the collective good,” Hill wrote in a letter to the organization. “It is because of your individual actions that we are collectively able to provide an essential service to our nation.”
Not only did our team rise to the occasion to maintain operations, but they did so in alignment with the continually changing Federal and State guidelines. We worked with our customers, carriers, and suppliers to ensure that our safety priorities were not compromised. Communication and collaboration between our departments and partners has been admirable.
As we look toward the future, we will do so with an unwavering commitment to Paving the Way Forward®. We will continue to play our critical role in our nation’s supply chain and will do so with the health and safety of everyone involved as a top priority.
“While no one can say for certain when the COVID-19 pandemic will end; I am certain it will end and when it does we will rise on the other side as a tested and stronger Associated Asphalt,” says Hill in the closing of his letter.
If you’d like to learn more about Associated Asphalt, visit AssociatedAsphalt.com, and be sure to check out our Careers section for our up to date job postings.
In October of 2019, JD Taylor joined the Associated Asphalt team in Tampa, Florida as a Terminal Manager. At this water-accessible terminal, Taylor manages a team of 15 individuals who work together to produce and distribute a variety of Associated Asphalt products.
Coming from Dallas, TX, Taylor has experience in blending and distributing finished lubricants. While much of the operational concepts are similar, he was excited for the opportunity to learn the ins-and-outs of a new industry. He was eager to jump right in and get to know his team. He describes himself as very hands-on and hit the ground running with several end of year projects.
“Working with so many wonderful people with so much industry knowledge has made the last few months fly by,” says Taylor. “The group here did a great job of filling me in on where we were with everything and got it all wrapped up on time.”
Since his time joining the company, the terminal has already gone through a significant electrical upgrade, the installation of a new production tank, and new mixers in two additional production tanks. Throughout these projects and their normal day to day activities, Taylor feels that he and his team have integrated well. He says that he appreciates the tight-knit bond that he’s been able to forge with his team while knowing that he can reach out to anyone at another terminal or at Corporate when needed.
“In addition to the team here locally, Gary Evans, our regional manager, has done a tremendous job at maintaining that family friendly atmosphere while keeping us focused on what is needed to maintain our growth,” says Taylor. “He’s been great to work with.”
In a short letter to his new coworkers at Associated Asphalt at the end of last year, Taylor said: “There is still much work to be done…The team here at Tampa gives me great confidence that we can and will do great things by way of their professionalism, focus on safety, and vision for success.”
JD Taylor adds that his own family also welcomed the relocation to Tampa. His wife is able to spend more time with her family nearby and they’re all able to spend time enjoying the amenities that Florida has to offer.
We couldn’t have summed up the Tampa team better ourselves and are excited to have JD Taylor leading them!
What’s your favorite food?
Mexican food
What’s your favorite musical artist?
Johnny Cash
What’s your favorite thing about living in Tampa?
Being near family
