What's New with ISSA Technical Director Bob Jerman- February 2024

Well, the year is off to a great start!  After a tremendous Workshop in Las Vegas, followed by a terrific Annual Meeting with our three associations in Palm Harbor, Florida, everyone is full of hope for the start of a new season.  Every new year brings with it a renewed enthusiasm for new projects, new opportunities, new strategies, and renewed optimism for a record-breaking season.  As I complete my last few months as ISSA’s Technical Director, I look forward to all those things. 

One of the greatest highlights at all Annual Meetings is the opportunity to see so many of the great trailblazers, leaders, and pioneers of our Association and our industry.  It has indeed been my honor to get to know so many of them, to work with them, but even more importantly to call them “friends”.  Those relationships go far beyond any business, Associational, or industry relationships that I’ll ever have with them.  That is why it was so humbling for me to receive the “Phil Tarsovich Lifetime Leadership Award”.

Unlike previous Awards/Recognition Breakfasts, with one exception, there were no award recipient acceptance comments.  As such, I ask you to bear that in mind and allow me to make a few comments here about that great honor. 

Let me begin by saying “Thank You!” to the ISSA Board of Directors and to Slurry Pavers, Inc. (Carter Dabney, Chuck Ingram, and Paul Tarsovich) for this award.  To be honored with an award named after Phil, in memory of the contributions that he made to ISSA and our industry, is quite humbling. 

It certainly has been my privilege to serve the Board, the membership, and our industry for the last 16+ years.  I say that because while the position of Technical Director with ISSA may have had my name attached to for all these years, it truly is a “team position” that requires the commitment, support, and leadership of many, many committee chairs, members, and subject matter experts throughout our membership and industry.

I have been blessed beyond anything I’ll ever deserve with this wonderful opportunity to serve others globally through this Association and this industry.  To be truly successful, you must have a passion for this industry and the people involved in it.  That word, “passion”, is one that I rarely used before beginning to work in this industry.  I was encouraged to hear it used several times in Florida last week.  At first, I thought it was a strange word to associate with what we do but, as time went on, it became evident that all the successful “veterans” of our industry are passionate about what they do and about the people in our Association, their companies, and our industry.

My passion for the industry and all the people involved in it have made it easy to get out of bed throughout my entire career.  Hopefully, that passion has carried over into a desire to continually review/revise ISSA’s technical documents such that we will always provide world class best practice leadership in the pavement preservation space that we occupy.

In closing, be reminded that…….

“Every day is a gift, never take a single one for granted!”

Thank You!

Bob Jerman
ISSA Technical Director