GemSeal Hosts Tampa Plant Grand Opening
GemSeal a hosted a full house of contractors and suppliers at the Sept. 27 grand opening of its newest plant in Tampa, FL. The event featured barbecue dinner, entertainment, tours and lab demonstrations. Under the direction of Chris Mariani, the plant is the ninth in the U.S. producing GemSeal materials including its Guardian asphalt emulsion sealers, and its refined coal tar GemSeal line that includes Poly-Tar, Pro-Blend and Sand Mix. The plant, which produces material in 20,000-gal. batches, was designed with room for expansion.
Pavement Advisory Board Names New Members
Four contractors join the 21-year-old Pavement Advisory Board, succeeding members who have provided 27 combined years of guidance and expertise to Pavement Maintenance & Reconstruction magazine and National Pavement Expo through their years on the board.
The four new members are Tom Eosso, Eosso Brothers Paving, Hazlet, NJ; Connie Lorenz, Asphalt Restoration Technology Systems, Orlando, FL; Ken Lindsey, Commercial Power Sweep Inc., Napa, CA (incoming president of North American Power Sweeping Association); and Gary Rabine, Rabine Group, Schaumburg, IL.
They succeed Bob Paradise, Paradise Asphalt Maintenance, Lee’s Summit, MO; Bill Vann, Asphalt Solutions of Alabama, Bessemer, AL; Dave Worthington, Worthington Paving, Visalia, CA; Kevin Kroeger, DSS Sweeping Service, Dayton, OH, and Jim Larko, Katsam Enterprises, St. Louis (outgoing NAPSA president).
Tom Eosso, Eosso Brothers Paving
A featured speaker on infrared pavement repair at National Pavement Expo and its West Coast sister shows, Tom is chief estimator and vice president of Eosso Brothers Paving. He brings more than 25 years of construction experience to the Eosso Team, which includes brothers Gary, president, and Anthony, estimator/field supervisor.
Started in 1992 and covering the entire state of New Jersey (the company slogan is “Paving New Jersey one community at a time”), Eosso Brothers is a full-service paving and pavement maintenance contractor from milling and reconstruction to patching including infrared, crack repair, sealcoating and striping. It’s also one of the first contractors in the country to offer complete door-to-door service with its “Eosso Courtesy Cart” – a golf cart driven on jobsites to help the public maneuver around paving and repair work on any job where the public must park away from their destination, be it home or a commercial enterprise.
Ken Lindsey, Commercial Power Sweep Inc.
Ken Lindsey, who will assume the presidency of the North American Power Sweeping Association (NAPSA) at the 2013 National Pavement Expo, joins the board representing NAPSA. Lindsey is co-owner with his wife, Teresa, of Commercial Power Sweep Inc. (CPSI) a second-generation sweeping service company founded in 1965 and serving Northern California and the San Francisco Bay Area.
The company employs 17 people and runs 22 sweepers in its fleet, which provides construction sweeping, municipal sweeping, parking lot and warehouse sweeping, mill and prep sweeping, and commercial and industrial sweeping. Commercial Power Sweep promotes “Service with Integrity” and in addition to sweeping offers large item removal, day portering, catch basin cleaning, as well as sweeper sales and leasing. We currently have about 20 sweepers in our sales and leasing fleet.
Commercial Power Sweeping has been a NAPSA member since 2008 and was recognized as a NAPSA Certified Sweeping Company in 2010.
Connie Lorenz, Asphalt Restoration Technology Systems (AR Tech)
President of AR Tech, Connie Lorenz joined the company in 1999 as office manager. Promoted to supervisor of operations in 2000, she focused on job quality control and streamlined office and administrative procedures and also helped make a name for the company through a concerted effort to educate customers and the general public. In 2004 Lorenz was named president, and she acquired the company in 2007.
A focus of her efforts has been industry and public education and she has made numerous presentations to boards, corporate department heads, government engineers, management companies, theme parks and management organizations regarding proper asphalt maintenance. She developed and certified two asphalt maintenance courses, “ABC's of Road Resurfacing” and “Asphalt Maintenance 101” and is a regular contributor to the Florida Community Association Journal. She has developed and is presenting a new session, “Mastering the Business of Asphalt” How to Become Your Market’s Asphalt Pro” at the 2013 National Pavement Expo in Nashville.
AR Tech is a full service asphalt maintenance company that specializes in rejuvenation and is the proprietary distributor for Pavement Dressing Conditioner (PDC) in Florida.
Gary Rabine, The Rabine Group
Since 1981 when Gary Rabine started paving driveways at age 18 with a few thousand dollars, he has slowly transformed a small residential paving business into a conglomerate of construction companies that today includes Rabine Paving America one of the nation’s top paving companies.
Gary's passion is focused on continually innovating and growing the local and national pavement construction & maintenance companies while the Rabine Group encompasses roofing construction and maintenance, fuel and oil distribution, snow and ice management and pipeline televising and employs more than 350 people. Over the last seven years the Rabine Group under his direction has expanded onto the national stage, resulting in growth of more than 2000% and total annual revenues of about $200 million annually.
Rabine’s goal is to be world class, delivering the best, most progressive and innovative solutions in the industry. To that end he believes in surrounding himself with the highest quality people, and pushing to differentiate the Rabine Group from its competition
An active member of numerous industry associations, Rabine currently serves on the board of the Young Presidents’ Organization. He and his wife, Cheryl, oversee the Rabine Group Foundation, a non-profit organization designed to enrich the lives of children, elderly and underprivileged and to support medical research locally and nationally.
Schwarze Industries unveils new logo
Schwarze Industries, Huntsville, AL, a member of the Alamo Group, has unveiled a new logo as part of a new branding campaign, according to Greg Heyer, vice president of sales, marketing and customer service.
“The revamped corporate logo and tag line represent an update of the former branding with a new commitment to customer service and product quality,” Heyer said. “Schwarze has been the leader in the sweeping business for over 30 years. This rebranding campaign is just an outward symbol of our commitment to our customers and trusted dealers.”
Industry Appointments
At Allstates Coatings Co., Gladewater, TX, Jorge Salazaran is International Sales Director….Bill Grevas is sales manager at Bergkamp Inc., Salina, KS…. At Schwarze Industries, Huntsville, AL, Troy Butler is human resources manager and Dale Glubrecht is design engineering manager.
Mike Lancaster joins Blastrac as service engineer at the new Greenville, SC, location providing service support to Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, South and North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Ricky Norkett joins Blastrac as the area sales manager for South and North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
Federal Signal deploys EcoInfused Technology initiative
Federal Signal Corp.’s Environmental Solutions Group has announced an effort to develop environmentally sustainable products that have the potential to increase energy efficiency and enhance air and water quality in communities around the world.
Termed its EcoInfused Technology initiative, the Environmental Solutions Group will develop green, energy-efficient and low-emissions technology solutions for Elgin Sweeper street sweepers and Vactor Manufacturing sewer and catch basin cleaners.
“Over the years, the Environmental Solutions Group has led the charge in advancing the use of cleaner, safer, and more efficient technologies for sweeping roads and streets and cleaning sewer lines and catch basins,” said Mark Weber, president of Federal Signal Corporation's Environmental Solutions Group. “The technological innovations developed as part of the EcoInfused Technology initiative will provide the powerful performance, fuel economy and overall value our municipal and contractor customers demand.”
Weber highlighted a new configuration of Elgin’s Crosswind regenerative air sweeper that features a patent-pending Shared Power system that allows power to be transferred from the chassis to the auxiliary engine as an example of the new EcoInfused Technology. He said the power can come from the chassis engine or from vehicle momentum as regenerative braking. The power normally lost to heat by braking can be directed to the auxiliary engine, resulting in improved performance and reduced fuel consumption.
Midwest Rake Acquires Seymour Mfg.
Midwest Rake Co., Warsaw, IN, has purchased Seymour Manufacturing Co., Seymour, IN. Both companies reportedly will continue to operate independently with existing management in place, according to Bill Henthorn, president and CEO of Midwest Rake Co.
Seymour Manufacturing began its history in Seymour in 1872 -- three years before the first telephone – as a manufacturer of wagon wheel spokes. Today Seymour markets more than 2400 lawn and garden tools, fireplace equipment and accessories. Midwest Rake Co. is a 22-year-old, family-owned-and-operated manufacturer and supplier of long-handled tools used in a variety of markets and work environments.
“Both Midwest Rake and Seymour are healthy and progressive companies,” Henthorn said. “We have great respect for the 140-year history of Seymour, the commitment to quality and integrity which underscores the Seymour heritage, and for the dedication and skills of Seymour employees in satisfying the needs of the customer. We are committed to protecting and building upon the many strengths of Seymour, with customer satisfaction being our top priority. We look forward to working with our employees, business partners and customers alike as we begin this new and exciting era.”
