4 minute read
PRESIDENT MESSAGE
2020 WAS QUITE THE YEAR
Pandemic
• COVID-19, as I write this article, 52.3 million cases worldwide with 1.29 million deaths
Rioting throughout the Nation
• Race relations • De-fund the police
Presidential Election
• Republican incumbent succumbs to his Democratic challenger
I recently thought back to when I was a kid and realized that as much as things seem to change, history has a way of repeating itself.
1968 WAS ALSO QUITE A YEAR.
Pandemic
• H3N2 Virus
National Rioting
• Death of Martin Luther King, Jr. • Vietnam War
Presidential Election
• Republican former Vice President Richard Nixon defeated Democratic incumbent Vice President Hubert
Humphrey.
Much like our national history, Ajax has a storied history. When I began with Ajax in 2002, Ajax was on a path to lead the Florida Paving Industry in being the number one contractor when it came to quality. How did we do? 2003 was a year that I was quite proud of. We began to hire and build a solid group of Field Quality Control Technicians. On, April 3, 2003, I hired Mark Slomski, who remains the only original member of the Field QC Team. What a solid hire for Ajax. State Construction Engineer for the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) at a District Quarterly Contractor’s Meeting in Ft. Myers made the following statement, “I am tired of listening to all of you Contractor’s say that you cannot figure this QC 2000 thing out. If you want to see how it is done, go spend a day with Ajax.” I am more proud of that statement made by the State Construction Engineer than I am about anything else that has ever happened in my career. He was correct in stating that we had figured it out. In my opinion, we had quickly become the best paving and quality contractor in the State of Florida.
There is an old saying that getting to the top is easier than staying at the top. What an accurate statement. While we remain one of the top-paving contractors in the State, we must be honest with ourselves and admit that we are not at the top of our game. Therefore, what do we do, we repeat history. 2021 is the year for the rebirth of our quality and paving operations.
In 2020, we hired a consultant to train our managers from the foreman level up to be leaders. We brought in an outside consultant to evaluate our paving crews and provide training. Our Quality Control Unit worked diligently in the field to train our operators on smoothness and density. The Maintenance Division progressed through another year of increasing the level of preventive maintenance to have the equipment ready to go when it was go time. We are now rewriting job descriptions to better define roles and responsibilities for our personnel.
We as a company, like our nation, must learn from our past mistakes, unite and move forward. I can promise you that the leaders at Ajax stand together and are united in agreeing that we want to be as strong and proud as we were in 2003.
Why? There are going to be some difficult financial times for our Country, State, Counties, Cities and others as we progress through the next several years, if not longer. Quality and getting it correct the first time are now more important than ever. We must produce a quality mix, lay a quality mat and have no go backs. This also includes our concrete and grade crews. My ask for the future is that we all pull together as a company and as a nation, learn from our past and execute to perfection as we move forward. So Much for the history lesson. How does the future look? 2021 looks to be another solid year. We currently have a healthy backlog with our estimators and sales staff looking to add to it each day. The FDOT Work Program looks to remain strong as we move forward. The state reassures me that the resurfacing program will have additional lane miles in the upcoming FDOT fiscal years.
I would be missing the mark if I did not address safety. We did a few things this year that were controversial to our culture. The big cultural shift was installing cameras and GPS in our vehicles. There was
much hype over this for about a month and then it went away. While the hype went away, the change in driving behavior has stayed. I congratulate and say thank you to every driver for accepting the program and making us a safer organization.
As we make our way through 2021, we need to reduce the number of OSHA reportable incidents. Let us all be cognitive of those working around us and look out for one another. This includes Ajax employees, subcontractors, vendors, consultants and owner representatives.
Lastly, in 2021, we need to make sure that we operate and secure each job site so that it complies with all rules and guidelines so that those passing through our projects can do so without experiencing an incident or accident that can be linked to Ajax. This is a never ending task that takes focus.
In the end, all that we want is for everyone to participate in Boots on, Boots off. This includes those that pass through our work sites. Even the pedestrian or bicyclist deserves to go home safely.
Be safe out there!
Vince Hafeli, President
