UAPA recently sat down with Jeff Collard, the outgoing UAPA President, to talk about his experiences with UAPA, including his time as president and his thoughts about UAPA and the industry. We appreciate him and everything he has done for the association, and we look forward to our continued friendship with him as he steps away from this particular leadership role. He has done a great job. Thank you, Jeff! 

How were you involved in UAPA before you became President?

When UAPA was formed, the Technical Committee was formed as well. It had five members from various companies. I was one of the Technical Committee’s first members, and I served on it for roughly ten years, right up until I became President-Elect.

Was your previous experience helpful?

Definitely. I built many relationships while I was on the Technical Committee, and I met many new colleagues from different companies, including company owners, consultants, and public agency representatives. That helped me when I became the UAPA President because I could continue those relationships and build on them.

What would have helped you be better prepared?

Because I was on the Technical Committee, I was so focused on specifications and the group that I never really made it to any board meetings or learned about the Executive Committee. It was new to me to be part of those two things. I had never had an experience like that before, but I had some great mentors on the Executive Committee to help me be prepared and give me good ideas. Jaden Kemp and Reed Ryan were probably my greatest mentors. They both helped to coach me along.

Please tell us about a memorable experience — good or bad — that took place during your tenure. Why was it memorable?

The most memorable experience for me was the 2020 Utah Asphalt Conference. It was such a great success, and close to 1,200 people attended. What made it special for me was the day I was moderating. I introduced Governor Spencer Cox, who was the Lieutenant Governor then, and Mark Eaton. Mark Eaton’s wife was there, too, and I was able to meet and talk with all of them. It was a great experience.

What are your biggest accomplishments as President?

Everything is a team effort in UAPA. It’s not about individual accomplishments.

In the last couple of years, we have been able to work with UDOT, APWA, and the Utah City Engineers Association. I was on a couple of small task teams. We worked together on a couple of specifications that have pushed the industry forward by building trust with the owners and expressing our interest in truly developing better specifications for longer-lasting asphalt pavements. The UDOT specification was the MOI Section 960, Superpave Volumetric Mix Design and Verification, and the specification for the city and counties was the APWA Asphalt Specification. The specifications have done a lot for the asphalt industry, cities, and counties.

Why is UAPA membership important?

Being a member of UAPA gives us all one voice in the industry. Having a single voice helps to foster the relationships we have built as we continue to build trust with the owners. Just being part of the organization improves individuals, but membership also improves the industry. So much educational material is presented that being a member of UAPA allows you to learn a lot. In the long run, applying what we learn makes our asphalt pavements and roads last a lot longer. That saves taxpayer money and makes roads safer.

Everybody drives on our roads. No one wants to hit a pothole on the road that will damage their car. People who use the roads to visit their extended families or drive home after work want to focus on where they are going, not road quality.
Membership in UAPA helps members make better roads for everyone to use.

How will the infrastructure bill impact the asphalt industry during the years to come?

From what I understand, a large part of the bill will go toward roads, bridges, and other highway projects. It will be great for our industry. We will use the money to build and preserve roads. This involves many companies and people that perform pavement preservation treatments, asphalt overlays, cold in-place recycling, milling, liquid asphalt suppliers, and equipment suppliers. The infrastructure bill will help to continue to build the economy.

What is the most important issue or problem the asphalt industry faces?

Labor and supply shortages are a problem for all of us because there is a lot of construction in Utah right now. People are constructing roads and building houses. It takes a lot of labor force to run all these construction companies and a lot of equipment to perform the work. Since finding and retaining qualified employees is a struggle for us in the asphalt industry, UAPA is focused on this problem.

We need to bring more women and more diversity into our industry. Women of Asphalt is a national organization, but it has a local Utah branch. We want to see them grow more and more because their success is vital to the success of the asphalt industry. Organizations like Women of Asphalt that support and encourage industry diversity can help alleviate labor shortages.

I am not savvy enough to completely understand what is causing the supply chain shortages, but I am certain many people must be working on it behind the scenes to solve that problem. With their help, I am hoping it will work itself out. The pandemic seems to have shown us the problems with long, brittle supply chains. The inland port might be part of the solution because it would bring more of the supply chain right next to us.

What are your thoughts about the direction UAPA is headed?

UAPA is going to continue to grow. It’s exciting to see.

We are just in the early stages of the Utah Eastern Council, but its addition gives us councils through the entire state of Utah. We already have a Southern Council and a Northern Council. The Eastern Council covers the central and eastern parts of the state. I’m in the central part of the state, so the Eastern Council covers my area.

Part of where UAPA will continue to grow is with Women of Asphalt. They are gaining momentum. We are also always looking at our carbon footprint and seeing what we can do to reduce it. We want to sustain the environment. We already recycle asphalt, but now we are trying to lower the asphalt mix temperatures to burn less energy, have fewer emissions and reduce our carbon footprint.

Do you have any advice for the incoming President?

Not really. Doug Watson has been around the last couple of years as President-Elect and has been on the Executive Committee. He knows what to expect and has already filled in when I could not meet with people. Doug is going to be great. He has a lot of vision and experience behind him, and he will push UAPA forward and help it grow.

Any last words?

I just want to thank people for the support I’ve had over the last couple of years. Working with UAPA’s internal leaders and members has been a great experience. It has been even better to meet new people the last couple of years of my presidency. Keri Dumont and Reed Ryan, thank you for all you do. I am excited to see where UAPA goes in the future.