ASPHALTopics | Summer 2014 | VOL 27 | NO3

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stability machines.
Call, write, fax or email your testing equipment requirements.
We can calibrate and repair everything we sell!
Ultimately reasonableness was found. Deals were
brokered, contracts recalled and the pavers were allowed
to re-bid on jobs based on the new market conditions.
Coming together as OHMPA had succeeded as planned.
Still, the founders soon realized that together, more
could be accomplished. They needed a leader and Eddie
DeToro was an obvious choice. “I was very proud of that,”
he says. “I made the first calls to organize, but all of us
made it happen. It was a group effort.”
Under DeToro’s leadership, training, education, safety
and the sharing of information raised the industry as a
whole to higher levels. The very first Fall Seminar was
a success simply because it was organized and provided
information. “The first Fall Seminar was just a half-day
session,” recalls DeToro. “But everybody loved it and
more wanted to come to the next one. Once the word
got out, everyone in the paving industry wanted to attend.”
Eddie DeToro remained president of OHMPA for four
years through which the organization continued to grow.
He stepped down when he sold his company and moved
on to other endeavours. He did building in Mississauga
and was president and part owner of a sand and gravel
pit in Vaughan, Ontario.
Well-read and curious, DeToro has never really retired,
just changed careers and for the past several years
pursued some of his other interests. A talented and
prolific writer, he has penned and published two novels,
an autobiography, and articles in construction magazines.
Congratulations
to OHMPA
on
40 years of excellence
from the Coco Group
54 OHMPA | ASPHALTOPICS
Even though he has been out of the industry for several
years, DeToro’s ties to OHMPA remain strong. In 1989,
OHMPA’S 25th year in operation, in recognition of
OHMPA’S success and Eddie DeToro’s past effort,
he was given an Honorary Recognition and a Life
Membership Award.
He says he likes to keep up with industry news and
admits that things have changed a lot since the days
of the pick and shovel. “But that’s a good thing,” he
quickly adds. “An industry like this has to keep changing,
keep moving forward. I like what has been happening.
There have been great advancements, especially in the
areas of safety, machinery and improved asphalt mixes.
Things are looking good for the industry.”
And while he is too modest to admit it, the success of the
industry in Ontario owes much to Eddie DeToro and the
founders of OHMPA whose dedication and resolve to get
things done 40 years ago put into place the mechanisms
for continued growth and advancements of the industry.