GemSeal Acquires Professional Pavement Products Branch Operations
GemSeal Pavement Products, Charlotte, NC, has acquired the branch operations and other assets of Professional Pavement Products (PPP), Jacksonville, FL, a distributor of asphalt pavement maintenance products.
GemSeal services the eastern half of the U.S. from nine company-owned manufacturing plants and the western U.S. through strategic manufacturing agreements. GemSeal also operates 11 One Stop Shop stores where it sells more than 1,000 items for pavement maintenance contractors.
The PPP stores GemSeal acquired are located in Jacksonville and Orlando, FL; Charlotte and Cary, NC; Houston, TX; and Tulsa, OK.
“The six branches of PPP will be an excellent fit with GemSeal’s existing store and plant network and our outstanding distributors who sell GemSeal products,” said Jeff Lax, GemSeal president and CEO. “This acquisition is an important part of our strategy of national growth for our company and will provide opportunities to expand the product lines at both GemSeal One Stop Shops and the former PPP stores.”
Lax said GemSeal will continue to sell the Prostripe paint line and Medallion additives, including Zoomflex.
Leading the combined distribution business for GemSeal will be Lee Lowis, a 40-year industry veteran with experience in manufacturing and distribution. He will also oversee the integration of the operations and personnel into GemSeal.
“GemSeal has been a leading sealcoat manufacturer since 1957, and we are fortunate to acquire another leading company and great employees with such a successful track record and solid reputation in the industry,” Lowis said. “Customers of PPP will continue to receive the great service to which they have been accustomed as we bring together two outstanding companies that are leaders in the pavement maintenance industry.”
Greg Driskell, PPP president, said PPP has been selling GemSeal products since 1996.
“GemSeal is a perfect fit for our six branches and our people, who will see new opportunities for growth in a larger company. I am excited that our former employees will be joining a company that shares a focus on integrity, quality, customer service and technical innovation,” Driskell said. “This sale will also enable the remaining PPP company to focus on development and sales of innovative traffic safety products that will save lives.”
PPP LaneAlert 2x Marking Receives ATTSA Honor
Professional Pavement Products (PPP), Jacksonville, FL, has won The American Traffic Safety Services Association (ATSSA) 2018 Most Innovative Product award for its LaneAlert 2x, a bi-directional pavement marking that displays two distinct messages.
LaneAlert 2x is a flexible, continuous polymeric structure with a “multi-angular profile pattern” that produces bidirectional visibility with unidirectional messaging. Available 6 in. wide and 36 in. long, the markings attach to the pavement with a pressure-sensitive, high-performance butyl elastomer adhesive and are top coated with glass beads.
“Motorists recognize lines on the road to guide their path. These lines are paint or thermoplastic,” said Greg Driskell, PPP president. “The LaneAlert 2x is a polyurethane marking that can appear as a normal white or yellow line like motorists are used to. However, if you approach from the opposite angle -- for example if a driver tries to enter an offramp from the wrong direction -- the line itself will appear red, or have arrows that indicate to the driver that they are going the wrong way. It looks magical.”
The company has also developed directional messages that say “Do Not Enter” and “Wrong Way”.
“We love this technology and think it will transform the roadway safety industry. We view the LaneAlert 2x as a platform product that has many different applications. Thousands of divided highways, one-way streets, and offramps are in need if the LandeAlert2x pavement markings. It will make our streets safer.” Driskell confidently says.
According to the National Transportation Safety Board, wrong way collisions, kill or injure hundreds of people each year. Perhaps more disturbing is that the incident rate has remained relatively unchanged over the last decade despite improvements in vehicle safety. Wrong way collisions remain as the most horrific of all traffic collisions because most occurrences happen head-on.
For Driskell, the issue is personal. “We had one of our employees mistakenly enter a roadway going in the wrong direction and unfortunately, a police officer was killed. Everyone involved was devastated. I decided right then that I was going to work on a solution” he says.
PPP has launched a pilot program and more than 20 Department of Transportation (DOT) agencies have expressed interest in installing. Full scale production of the LaneAlert 2x is expected in the second quarter of 2018.
Parker named 2018 NAPA Chairman
At the 63rd annual meeting of the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA), Craig Parker was named 2018 NAPA chairman. Parker is executive vice president of Silver Star Construction, based in Moore, OK.
Other national officers for the 2018 the NAPA Board of Directors are:
- John Harper, president of Wiregrass Construction Co., Dothan, AL, is first vice-chairman
- James Winford Jr., president of Prairie Contractors Inc., Opelousas, LA, is second vice-chairman
- James Mitchell, president of Superior Paving Corp., Gainesville, VA, is third vice-chairman
- Brady Meldrem, president of Norris Asphalt Paving, Ottumwa, IA, is secretary
- Timothy Lee, CEO of Lakeside Industries Inc., Issaquah, WA, is treasurer
Industry Appointments
At CASE Construction Equipment, Racine, WI, Michel Marchand is vice president for North America. He succeeds Scott Harris, who is vice president -- North America at CASE IH... At Bomag Americas, Ridgeway, SC, Matt Cadnum is vice president of sales and marketing.
At Bergkamp Inc, Salina, KS, Todd Bigler as sales manager for the Government Business Unit.... Michael Day as the new president of Falcon Asphalt Repair Equipment, Midland, MI.
Justin Rupar is vice president of sales and marketing for ASV Holdings Inc., Grand Rapids, MN... Jason Yantus is quality assurance manager at J&J Truck Bodies & Trailers and J&J Truck Equipment, divisions of Somerset Welding & Steel, Somerset, PA.
