From The Top: Lights, Camera, Asphalt!

This joint column appears in the Spring 2025 print edition of NAPA Quarterly. Subscribe here.

In the entertainment industry, spring is awards season, full of glitz and glamour. In pop culture, we celebrate the people, films, and music that move us to cry or laugh or just feel good.

But when we talk about being moved, there’s just one way people and products truly get from here to there, whether it’s the last mile or the whole journey: asphalt pavement. (After all, we cover some 94% of road surfaces.)

Our industry’s performance stands the physical tests of time: weather and traffic. Our reward is the good, meaningful work of keeping America moving.

Yet, we do take time to celebrate our industry: the people who propel our companies, the projects that shine among the very best. That’s plenty of reason to celebrate!

In this issue, we share celebrations from our recent 2025 Annual Meeting in Maui, where Lindy Paving scored its record sixth Sheldon G. Hayes Award for the best highway pavement just after inducting our 2025 Chairman. Our recognition of excellence didn’t end there, so be sure to peruse this entire issue to celebrate other award winners – and get your submissions for Diamond Commendations in on the new timeframe.

Recognizing excellence in our industry and the role we play in the nation’s economy bring into focus what lies ahead: the expiration of the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act (IIJA). Although IIJA doesn’t officially expire until September 2026, our work has already begun to lay the foundation for its successor.

Part of that work is bringing every NAPA member into the important conversations we have with lawmakers. Our collective voice is strong – and absolutely necessary – to help Members of Congress and the Administration appreciate our commitments to communities across America.

Last year, we launched Pavement, Policy + Politics to keep interested members updated on advocacy events and legislative activities as they happen. We also scored a record-breaking year for the PAC. But we aren’t stopping there.

Amplifying our voice to Congress and the Administration is too critical for our companies, our workers, our infrastructure, and American families. We’re asking each of you to get involved.

NAPA member company employees should sign up for the no-cost Political Advocacy Member Council (PAMC) to receive Pavement, Policy + Politics along with other advocacy alerts and, especially, the opportunity to participate in critical conversations. Your input informs our advocacy efforts, including NAPA PAC. We each have a stake in this work – please make your voice heard.

Besides predictable funding, we’re also calling on lawmakers and regulators to do more to protect workers. We made headway in IIJA with the inclusion of Work Zone Safety Contingency Funds. But rolling out those dollars to states has been slow. We still have work to do to impress upon decision-makers the important contributions our workers make and why we must invest in protecting them. Your contributions matter here, too, starting with our annual Watch For Us campaign alongside National Work Zone Awareness Week.

People are the heart of the asphalt pavement industry. Let’s celebrate and protect them, and their futures.