ASPHALTopics | Fall 2015 | VOL 28 | NO 3

PRESIDENTIAL
POINTS
by Steve Smith
President, OHMPA
Continual improvement matters too!
As we roll into the fall once again, it’s hard to believe how
quickly time flies. This year has been full of challenges
for OHMPA, and I can tell you that we are tackling each
and every one head on. From the challenges faced by
the Quality of Asphalt Pavement Task Force and our
other committees, to our own internal challenges here
at OHMPA, we are now moving forward as efficiently
and effectively as we can with the guiding principle of
continual improvement.
Over the recent past, it became necessary to make a
change to our Executive Director’s position and I am
very pleased to have Vince Aurilio re-join OHMPA as our
new Executive Director after a lengthy “sabbatical”. Vince
brings with him a wealth of experience in our industry
coupled with strong credentials and an extensive resume.
I truly look forward to working closely with Vince to move
this association forward in the right direction. Vince is
a valuable addition and has hit the ground running
thanks to his wealth of experience in our industry.
All our volunteers on our committees need to be
commended for the tireless and sometimes unrewarding
work that they do. Our committees are part of the
backbone of this association and without the good
work they do, continual improvement and the quest
for excellence in asphalt pavements would not be
achievable. Many thanks to all those involved, and
I know our new Executive Director, Vince Aurilio,
will be a valuable asset to all those committees.
I wanted to take a few moments to outline the progress
of one of our most challenging initiatives this year, and
that is the formation of and the work that the Quality of
Asphalt Pavement Task Force is doing. In my last column
in the summer issue of Asphaltopics, I talked at length
about the specific details of work that the committee
had done so far, this being identifying and outlining
the three major issues we believe can contribute to the
premature cracking of asphalt pavements. The work on
these issues is far from complete, and we are pleased to
have very recently expanded our Task Force to include
five municipal members with the gracious assistance from
the Ontario Good Roads Association, and most likely one
member from the Ministry of Transportation. We are very
enthusiastic to have these additions to the Task Force.
Now we can get down into the details of the problems
municipalities and MTO are experiencing and develop
practical and realistic solutions together, arm in arm, for
the betterment of asphalt pavements and all stakeholders
of our industry. We have a lot of work left to do and
believe me, we are on it!
As in any business and in daily life, there are always bumps
along the way. It is no secret we have experienced some
of those bumps this year at OHMPA and we have learned
from them. We have reloaded and are going in the right
direction, tackling any and all issues head on. We are
poised to become stronger, more efficient and more
effective every day. I am inspired about the direction
of this association and look forward to continuing on
with the good work that we do. Subsequent to the
theme of my last column, not only does quality matter,
but continual improvement does too!
Steve Smith is the president of OHMPA for 2015 and Vice-
President, Paving and Construction, for the Miller Group.
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