WO M E N O F A S P H A LT
Meet a Woman of Asphalt: Tri-State Emulsions’ Jodi Loud BY SANDY LENDER
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ack in the late 1990s, Jodi Loud had the opportunity to work at CMA, her brother’s construction company, in a variety of roles. She has carried the experience into her new role as president of Tri-State Emulsions Corp., headquartered in Sandgate, Vermont, which is registered as a DBE/WBE doing business in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York and Vermont. Her company performs mostly municipality and city/state work, serving as a subcontractor. She shared that the experience working in the scheduling, bidding, administrative portion of CMA afforded her “a comfort level to jump into the business” and helped her build a mental outline for her own business. “Since I started, I have taken that base to develop a flow and move forward with the learning curve of the nuances of each state, state specific reporting, and of course, connecting to new customers,” Loud shared. She offered how that office environment could be a benefit for women entering the industry today. “For me, I didn’t know every piece of the industry, but I am well organized and have been successful in the past with running businesses in different industries. If you know the general product and industry, it might be worth the try.” Loud took some time to share her story to encourage other women of asphalt.
AsphaltPro: Could you share with readers your career trajectory since high school and what challenges you’ve overcome along the way? Could you share how a nursing degree factored in? Jodi Loud: I grew up in a low-income part of town and my family struggled financially. When I was younger, the only thing I knew was that I wanted to be able to support myself and my family. As for why nursing, when I was in high school, I helped a friend with a splinter, and she told me I should be a nurse. That’s the whole story. I knew I would always have a job and be able to support myself. I put myself through college and got a bachelor’s degree in Nursing by working 40 hours a week (Friday to Sunday) to pay my college bill, attending school full time and graduating in 4 years cum laude. I then passed my boards and got two jobs, one working full time and one part time, so I could afford to live and pay my school loans. I have always been trying out different “side gigs.” I helped my brother with his business, I attempted to start an indoor soccer complex/event venue (this is where I learned about DBE/WBE’s), and I have done consulting work. During all this, I had two young children and was a single mom. When this opportunity came up, I felt like it was a chance to truly own my own business, work in one place only and provide a legacy for my kids to take over when I retire. I have a son who is in engineering 20 | JUNE 2022
Jodi Loud’s daughter is an encouragement and inspiration to her. “I don’t know that I would be able to approach life the way she has,” Loud said.
school and a daughter who is going to school for recreational/occupational therapy. Both of them will have the opportunity to work with me full-time, while they create and grow their dream community outreach programs. My son hopes to mentor young kids in engineering in geographical areas where there is little education and opportunity, and my daughter wants to create recreational opportunities for those with disabilities. I have been working on my CDL for the last 10 months. I originally tried to get it when I bought the business, but COVID hit and all classes were cancelled. In August of 2021, I took my permit test then participated in the classes through my union in New York. Unfortunately, as they were in New York and my driver’s license is from Massachusetts, (and my business is in Vermont) I had to then take private lessons with a Massachusetts school and am pending testing for my license this spring.
AsphaltPro: Starting a business as COVID was interrupting workflows would be a challenge. What other big challenge did you experience as you dove into the industry in 2019? And how did you address it?
