A Message from ISSA President, Brad Pearce

Dear ISSA members and industry partners,

I hope this letter finds you and your families well.  By now, I’m sure everyone is preparing for another successful construction season.  As we head into another Spring and the start of our “busy” season, I can’t help but think that we don’t really have a “slow” season anymore.  I believe every season is busy now as our industry continues to grow and prosper.  It seems that we are just returning to work from the Christmas and New Year holidays when we start attending industry meetings to train us, discuss how to better market our treatments, and prepare ourselves for the next “busy” season.

In January, we had a very successful Slurry Systems Workshop in Las Vegas thanks to committee chair Jimmy Kendrick, the many hard-working participants on the Slurry Systems Workshop Committee, the ISSA Leadership Development Team, a generous group of industry sponsors, and of course, Ali Mostardo, Rick Church, and their awesome team at CM Services!  This meeting continues to be one of the best training opportunities available in any industry.  This year there were over 440 registered attendees, with a large percentage of those being first timers.  The collaboration and dedication displayed by you, our membership, should be an inspiration to all.  It is that dedication that continues to fuel our growth and progress.

Just a few weeks ago, in February, we had another successful Annual Meeting in Florida with our PPRA partners at AEMA and ARRA.  ISSA Awards were presented in several categories: 

The 2024 ISSA Presidents Awards for Excellence, now being presented in 2 categories for large and small projects, were presented to VSS International, Inc. and Vestal Asphalt.

The 2024 ISSA Excellence in Pavement Preservation Award was presented to the Ada County Highway District.

The 2024 ISSA International Award for Excellence was presented to C.I. Manufacturas y Procesos Industriales Limitada (MPI). 

The 2024 ISSA Agency Pavement Preservation & Sustainability Program Award was presented to the City of Elk Grove, California.

The 2024 Phil Tarsovich Lifetime Leadership Award was presented to Bob Jerman.

Congratulations to all these award winners! Award winning projects like these along with your dedication and commitment to our pavement preservation disciplines continue to feed growth in our industry and show others that pavement preservation is the right path to success.

I would like to extend special thanks to Bob Jerman, recipient of the 2024 Phil Tarsovich Lifetime Leadership Award.  Bob has served as the ISSA Technical Director for 16+ years.  If you have a chance to read Bob’s recent article in Surfacing Today, you will see he mentions a “passion” for the industry. Bob is one of the best examples of that “passion” that I have ever seen.  Bob has been an inspiration to our industry both as a pavement preservation professional and as a person.  I can think of no one more deserving of this award!  Bob, thanks for all you have done and all you continue to do!  I will be sad to see you retire from your position as Technical Director, but I will always appreciate and admire you for the example you set for us all!

Our 2024 ISSA Board of Directors was announced with 1 member retiring and 1 new member joining the board. 

Our new 2024 Board of Directors is as follows:

President – Brad Pearce                                                                 Director – Jimmy Kendrick

Vice President – Jeff Roberts                                                       Director – Dave Kiser

Secretary – Chris Oakes                                                                 Director – Fabio Mendez

Treasurer – Justin Guiles                                                               Director – Rolando Perez

Immediate Past President – Dave Welborn                                 Director – Stan Williams

Director – Tim Harrawood                                                             Director – Matt May

As Chuck Ingram retires from the ISSA Board of Directors, I would like to thank Chuck for his many years of hard work and dedication to both the ISSA Board of Directors and our industry in general.  Chuck has worked hard and served with distinction on the ISSA Board of Directors, on many committees, and in many roles throughout the industry. 

Dave Welborn will assume the role of immediate Past President and continue to “stir the pot” and keep us all on track and on time through this years’ coming board meetings.  Thanks to Dave for his dedicated leadership throughout the past year.  These gentlemen and all our past presidents have been an inspiration I hope I can live up to in my role as president for 2024. 

Welcome to our newest board member, Matt May with Slurry Pavers, Inc.  Matt has served on several committees in the last few years and has a lot of marketing experience in addition to his time and experience in the pavement preservation industry.  He will bring a wealth of knowledge to our group in the coming years.  He is already “making his mark” and I appreciate his willingness to speak out and share his experience with us in our board and committee meetings.

To all the returning board members, THANK YOU for your continuing support for the industry and your willingness to put in the extra time and effort required to serve on the board.  The money your companies spend and the hard work and time you put in to help direct the association and further the industry is a credit to you and our membership.

Here are a few highlights of what is to come in 2024 and beyond:

We are continuing efforts to develop Product Category Rules (PCR’s), Life Cycle Assessments (LCA’s), and an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) tool for our treatments to meet the coming demands of the future and highlight the sustainability benefits of our treatments.  The potential expense for developing these is high, but ISSA, AEMA, and ARRA, with the help of CM Services, have applied jointly for a grant that could help fund a lot of these efforts for several years to come.  We hope to hear more about the grant and what it can do for us later in the Summer and Fall of 2024.

Technical bulletin updates and reviews are continuing, so we can make sure that the technical information we publish is consistent with current practices.  New technical bulletins are being developed and reviewed.  New test procedures such as full gradation WTAT’s are being explored.  Our recommended guidelines are being reviewed and updated.

The ISSA Design and Inspection Manual, thanks to a lot of hard work by Justin Guiles and Ali Mostardo, has been converted to a web based mobile application that is searchable and more easily accessible to field personnel and members throughout the industry via their smartphones, tablets, and laptop computers.  The Mobile App is currently being tested by some field workers. Look out for announcements coming soon from ISSA with more information. Access will be available to all ISSA members by logging in with the same information you currently use to log into the ISSA website, www.slurry.org.  If you need help setting up access for additional people within your organization, please contact Ali and she can help guide you through the process.  I highly recommend everyone take advantage of this tool and get it into the hands of your field personnel and inspection teams as soon as it becomes available.           

I would encourage everyone to get involved in any way possible with ISSA’s efforts and committees.  Your involvement is what keeps the association moving forward and provides direction for the future of our industry.  The Leadership Development Team is a good place to get plugged into what is happening and where help is needed and believe me, we need it everywhere! Please reach out to any of our board or committee members and see where you can help and how you can get involved.  Any willing volunteers will be welcomed with open arms and very much appreciated.

This summer, the board will participate in another strategic planning session to review and determine ISSA’s mission, goals, and direction for the coming years.  I would invite all members to share your opinions on what is happening and what new initiatives are needed with the current Board of Directors members, so we can better represent you in our plans for the future.  The best way to get the most value out of your ISSA membership is to be more active and engaged!  I think everyone who has served on the board and participated in ISSA activities throughout the years will agree that the return on your membership investment is multiplied by your increased participation and involvement.

In closing, I would like to thank everyone for the opportunity to serve you as our association president for 2024.  Our membership is one of the finest groups of industry professionals and partners in the world.  I have not seen any other industry where a group of competitors are more willing and dedicated to working together and helping each other improve for the betterment of the industry as a whole.

I hope you all have a safe and successful start to your 2024 season, and I look forward to meeting and working with all of you in the coming year!!!

Brad Pearce
ISSA President