CHAIR’s CORNER | Investing in our industry’s future

By: Dominic Crupi | OAPC Chair

I find myself as the sitting chair of the Ontario Asphalt Pavement Council after being involved in the industry through my family’s business for over 27 years. I still feel as proud to be a part of it today as I was the first day I looked back at a beautiful smooth black paved road and saw what the results of an extraordinary effort of a dedicated team and quality product can produce.

The past several years have been difficult for every industry and demographic, and the circumstances around dealing with a global pandemic have created new and problematic challenges for the road building industry. In my opinion, it has never been easy to build a team of eager individuals who are keen to put in whatever work needs to be done to complete a goal and grow a workforce, but it has been possible with a great deal of effort. Now with the events of the last few years, it seems our industry especially struggles with finding these dedicated people for any role from head to toe of an organization.

One of the mandates in our strategic plan as a council is to improve and further develop our involvement in promoting our industry through scholarship programs as well as outreach to educational institutions. We hope this is where we can appeal to younger people within our communities to consider the idea of joining the road building industry and more specifically, the asphalt industry, as a rewarding and fulfilling career.

I take this mandate in particular very seriously as I think the more young people we can reach, regardless of where they come from and what their background or gender are, the

more we can improve our sustained growth and strength with youth driving us. We absolutely need the wisdom and experience of those well established within our industry, but without anyone to pass that on to, we will never be able to move forward in a positive direction.

Asphalt paving has always been seen as a hot and dirty job, because in a lot of ways it is. That does not mean, however, that it can’t be presented to young people as a rewarding direction they can head toward. Most things in life that are worthwhile are difficult and this industry is no different.

Every single position you can possibly hold in our industry has changed drastically since I joined it. If you are working at an asphalt plant, the specifications related to the material we produce, as well as the technology involved to make it, have become more challenging and technical. The men and women involved in the paving of the material we produce are required to think more than ever about quality and the specifications of the finished product. Everything they do affects the end product. The team that administers the projects on the contractor’s behalf needs to be knowledgeable and involved from bid stage to completion in order to protect the company’s interests as well as ensure issues don’t linger and create long-term problems.

As stewards of this industry, we all need to do our part to attract more young people to consider a well paying, fulfilling career option in road building and paving to sustain our growth and ensure asphalt remains the best choice for every municipality and owner looking to maintain and improve their infrastructure.