Keeping our options open

Since we are a paving company, I would think that one of our responsibilities is to keep up on the latest technologies in our industry.  So, in the spirit of ingenuity and forward thinking, I've done a bit of research on what else is out there when it comes to applications of asphalt in many different situations.  One of the most interesting things which I've come across is pervious asphalt and what opportunities it offers as a way to mitigate stormwater runoff.  The whole idea behind pervious asphalt is that stormwater is able to drain through the asphalt surface, down through layers of stone and sand which act to filter the water, eventually reaching the water table beneath the installed subgrade, and re-entering the water table as benign, filtered water.  If engineers and planners were to embrace this technology and approve the use of these materials, site developers would be able to forgo the installation of expensive, and sometimes very complicated, detention ponds and other water runoff related structures.  The biggest difference between the installation of pervious asphalt and traditional is in the sub-base.  Pervious asphalt requires a layering of stone, sand and fabric, all of which is required to achieve the filtering necessary to clean the water before it re-enters the water-table.  This does increase the price of installation, though costs are more than offset considering that detention ponds and other runoff related structures do not need to be installed. 

The technology is rather new, and does have its drawbacks.  One of which being that you cannot sealcoat pervious pavement, another being that it requires some maintenance in the form of a special vacuuming in order to keep the top asphalt layer from clogging up.  

The University of New Hampshire has been studying pervious asphalt and has a wealth of information on its website dealing with it.  Check it out here: http://www.unh.edu/erg/cstev/

As well here's a bit more info to take a look at: http://www.pavegreen.com/water_quality.asp

What is our companies purpose?

This is a good question. On our websites home page, our mission statement reads:

"Our mission is to maintain excellent client relationships.  We uphold our mission by providing clients with the best service possible along with superior construction, product quality and providing accurate project deadlines and budget estimates."

I think that is a good start but I am not sure it adequately defines our company purpose as it relates to all of our activities. I plan to revisit this question over and over again in this blog and talk about it in more ways than one. But as a general outline I think a company has different purposes as it relates to it's customers, it's  employees and it's community. To adequately define all that in terms of a mission statement is pretty tough. If we start with our customers which is where I think we need to start then our Mission Statement sets us on the right track. To elaborate on it more I think we hope to produce a superior product but at the same time control costs and maintain efficiencies. I think that is the mark of a good company and what builds confidence with customers. There have been times where that doesn't always work out. Call it the nature of the construction business. That is what really makes the difference though. How you come through it. How well your company is able to react to diversity and get the job done. Perhaps a mistake gets made or we're not getting it done for some reason. Are we accessible? Can we adapt? Can we preserve the relationship and keep the lines of communication open? We can all make alot of claims when it is in a post on a website. So I guess our purpose then is to make our words into reality and deliver what we say when we say it. 

Why do a blog?

When it was suggested that I start a company blog for the website I really couldn't figure out why. The more I thought about it though the more I warmed up to the idea. What better way to give customers insight into our company. Not only from the point of view of who we are and what we do but to add a human face to all of that. We have been in business a long time and I am rightly proud of that. Our roots in the asphalt and construction industry go back to 1925. My 2 brothers and I have been in the business alone for over 30 years and now several of our children are involved. Many of our employees have been with us since the early eighties. We are still operating in Buffalo and now we also operate in Raleigh, NC. Almost 10 families have relocated here with us from Buffalo. For a small company of our size we have achieved a level of sustainable diversification that other companies simply cannot match because of the remarkable level of skill and talent that we possess. In the coming days, weeks, months...etc I hope to talk about many of the aspects of our business and how we make it work for our customer.