Tag Archive for: working at associated

Associated Asphalt employee Scooter Kennedy in front of computer monitors.

Employee Spotlight: Scooter Kennedy

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If you’ve ever visited Associated Asphalt’s Corporate Headquarters in Roanoke, VA, you may have spotted some beautiful photos of our terminals and rail sidings in the lobby, courtesy of Scooter Kennedy, Senior Marketing Coordinator. Kennedy joined the Associated Asphalt team as Sales & Technical Manager in October of 2006 with a background in the asphalt paving industry.

“I sold PG Asphalt out of  the Inman and Salisbury terminals,” he recalls. “I knew most of the customers in the area because of my work in the industry prior to joining Associated, so I was able to hit the ground running.”

Since Kennedy first joined in 2006, Associated Asphalt has seen a lot of growth and changes. The company went from 4 terminals to 33. His experiences in that growth make him a great asset to the Sales & Marketing team as the Senior Marketing Coordinator. He monitors and manages association memberships, creates comprehensive sales reports, plans outside sales events, aids the sales department with customer’s technical data and material requests, and anything else thrown his away.

“I’ve done some marketing materials, really just a little bit of everything,” he says. “I really enjoy that I am available to help everyone out as needed and also enjoy my hobby, which is taking pictures.”

To this day, Kennedy says Associated Asphalt feels like a family rather than a company.

“I feel like they care about Scooter, the person, not just Scooter the employee,” says Kennedy.

While marketing  and sales may sometimes sounds like a job for a person who craves to be social, sometimes he finds some of his happiest moments in solitude.  Outside of the Inman office, Kennedy enjoys solo hiking and solo backpacking. He enjoys going out on the trail, spending the night camping, and taking some photos along the way.

Jim Harren, Associated Asphalt Senior VP of Supply & Marketing

Employee Spotlight: Jim Harren, Senior VP Supply & Marketing

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When it comes to predicting and managing trends in supply and demand for a global commodity like asphalt, Associated Asphalt wants top experts like Jim Harren on the job.

An Extensive Background in Commodities Trading

Harren joined the Associated Asphalt leadership team in August of 2019 as Senior Vice President of Supply and Marketing after a long, successful career in oil trading. During his time at global oil companies like Shell Oil and LUKOIL’s LITASCO, he acquired a deep knowledge in a wide variety of skills that will prove to be an asset for the growth Associated Asphalt continues to experience.

At Shell Oil, he began his journey working in the distribution and supply chain logistics in Chicago before leveraging his Master’s in Applied Statistics for the risk management team in Houston. Here, he gained experience in options trading on energy futures. He later used this analytical knowledge to help run and manage inputs for an algorithm that optimized the Deer Park refinery supply system.

“I learned the refinery process during that time so it really came full circle for me,” says Harren. “I went from understanding logistics and how to move everything, and after learning the financial side of trading the materials, I was now understanding how to make it all.”

He took a short leave from the oil business to grow an industrial warehouse company, tripling it in size. He soon returned to trading for a variety of materials in the oil industry on a global scale. It was clear to the leadership at Associated Asphalt that Harren’s vast experience in commodity supply, demand, and trading would be a great fit for the company.

A Perfect Fit

With Bill Kirk’s background working for Shell Oil Company in his early career, there was an instant camaraderie between he and Harren, but the whole leadership team was really what convinced Harren to come on board:

“What appealed to me about Associated Asphalt was the leadership team,” says Harren. “When I first met John, Bill, Steve, and James they were very professional, knowledgeable guys who wanted to grow this company and do what’s best.”

Since joining in August, Harren has been most excited about the level of expertise and professionalism that he’s experienced with every single department of the organization. He instantly recognized the company-wide drive to work with integrity and excellency. Despite the true size of the company, he feels that Associated Asphalt has been able to maintain the family owned company feel.

“Right now I’m getting up to speed on the supply side of things that supports our network along the East Coast,” says Harren. “In January, I’ll start working with the marketing team to dive into the sales side.”

Harren adds that he looks forward to applying his background to make a big impact on the way the Supply & Marketing team. Through his understanding of global markets and changing regulations, he will be able to predict how those markets will perform.

Outside of Work

Though Harren is often traveling for work, when he is home he spends time with his wife getting to know Roanoke and the surrounding Blue Ridge Mountain region. As a recent grandfather, he takes every chance he can to visit his daughter and her growing family in Raleigh or watching his son coach the University of Michigan lacrosse team to victories.

Kevin Cardwell, Associated Asphalt E&I Coordinator.

Employee Spotlight: Kevin Cardwell

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At Associated Asphalt, we believe in the essence of opportunity, for our business, for our customers, and for our employees. We seek to provide opportunities for growth in all facets of our business. Kevin Cardwell, E&I Coordinator, has experienced the strength of this culture first hand during his 11 years working here.

After growing up in Covington, Kevin pursued an Associates Degree in Electronics at Dabney S. Lancaster Community College and later completed coursework at ECPI University to receive an Associates Degree in Information Technology. It was his education in these two closely related subjects that brought him to where he is today, at Associated Asphalt.

When Kevin joined the IT team at Associated Asphalt in 2008, he provided help desk support to employees and managed internal networks, servers, VPN connections and more. No two days were the same and that’s what Kevin liked about it.

Seizing Opportunities for Growth

As Associated Asphalt continued to grow, so did the opportunities for employees. After a major growth and acquisition period, our Operations team undertook a major upgrade project for all terminals. Kevin began working with the Electronics and Instrumentation (E&I) Manager to install terminal automation upgrades for all terminal locations. As a naturally curious person, he was immediately fascinated by the technology and process, asking a lot of questions along the way. After shadowing in E&I for a year, he was presented with the opportunity to join the Operations team to be responsible for maintaining the automated technologies they installed.

Today as the E&I Administrator, Kevin is able to fuse his two degrees in Electronics and Information Technology to make sure that the technology assisting drivers in loading and unloading materials is running accurately and efficiently. By streamlining this process, we are able to make sure that the transport of vital materials is on-time and in the right quantities. Paperwork is then generated automatically, reducing the time it takes to fully process a transport.

“I’m very happy for the opportunity. They could have easily gone outside of the company to find someone with more experience,” says Kevin. “They knew my work history and my work ethic and gave me this opportunity to prove myself.”

What’s Next for Kevin?

As an eager learner and someone who seeks to excel at his job, Kevin feels like he still has a lot to learn in his role as E&I Administrator. He looks forward to continuing to grow into his role, discovering more about technology automation, and traveling to work with terminal employees face to face.

Daniel Palmer, Associated Asphalt Roanoke Terminal Manager in front of an Associated Asphalt sign.

Employee Spotlight: Daniel Palmer, Roanoke Terminal Manager

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At Associated Asphalt, we’re proud of our humble beginnings. We’ve gone from being a 3 terminal oil company to being the largest liquid asphalt reseller in the country with 33 terminals along the Eastern United States. Daniel Palmer, Manager at our terminal in Roanoke, shares the same humble beginnings from his time as an Associated Asphalt employee.

Starting out as a groundskeeper cutting grass and weed-eating in his youth, Daniel’s growth in skills and expertise has mirrored the growth of our company. In his twentieth year as an employee, he now leads a team of 12 in the day-to-day operations of our Paving Grade service and supply for a large footprint in Southwest Virginia. This includes coordinating with our fleet of drivers, dispatchers, and Emulsions team.

Daniel’s Day-to-Day

For Daniel, coming to work is just another day working alongside his family.

“It really wasn’t work – it was just pure enjoyment,” reflects Daniel.

His only challenge at his job is learning to manage people. This is when his humility shows the most. His proudest moments are when he sees his team go from being strangers to acting like family and spending time together hanging out on the weekends.

“I don’t like titles. I’m just a regular guy,” says Daniel humbly. “I get down in the ditches with the guys and I’ll take the trash out. I’m no better than them. You learn a lot more respect through leading by example.”

Safety is another important part of Daniel’s role at the Terminal. With continued training and a friendly reminder each morning to stay present and be safe, his team takes their work and their safety seriously.

Personal and Professional Growth

Daniel’s growth as a result of working with Associated Asphalt hasn’t just come with the passing of time. At Associated Asphalt, we believe in investing in our employees. He was able to acquire additional training and licensure in metallurgy and welding with the company’s support. Although Daniel departed from the team for a short period of time to explore welding in his own business, after 3 years he rejoined the team.

“I was on the road a lot and wanted to slow down a little to spend more time with my son,” says Daniel. “I missed the people, too.”