Editor’s Perspective

Brandon Noel, Editor

bNoel@ACBusinessMedia.com 234-600-8983

Allow Me To Introduce Myself

Hello, Asphalt Contractor Readers. This is my first time getting to talk to you directly since I became the editor of the magazine. I take over for Jessica Lombardo, who’s near-decade-long run in the role made lasting impacts through the industry and real personal relationships. I can only hope to follow in her footsteps, and learn everything I can from all the experience she has. That’s what I’ve been doing so far: Learning. At the time of writing, I’m on my tenth day “behind the desk,” and wow—there is so much to learn.

I spent the last 14 years in the heart of the “rust belt,” in the city of Warren, OH, working at a steel factory. I may have studied at Kent State University, but my education on the production floor is what really shaped me as a person, as a laborer. At the start, I had preconceived notions about what “blue collar” work was like, and the people who did that work, mostly based in clichés and ignorance. I didn’t know if I would fit in.

What I quickly learned is that the real “culture” in that world is work ethic. On day one, to be honest, my idea of a good work ethic wasn’t aligned with the reality. Warren has a long industrial history. It’s in same county as the famed Lordstown General Motors plant (no longer under GM operations). My motherin-law even retired from there. Hard work is the ethos of the region—in its people, and in everything they do. Over time, I was shaped into one of those people too.

That ethos isn’t unique to Warren, the state of Ohio, the rust belt, or even the Midwest of America. Everywhere in the world there are men and women bettering their communities.

It’s no secret that the times we live are extraordinary. The world is changing more rapidly every day, and it can sometimes feel like there are more things that divide us. Some want to exaggerate those divisions, some who benefit from well-worn antagonisms, but I believe they are fewer in number than those who work hard every day.

Whether in steel, in asphalt paving, construction, or infrastructure. Whether it be front-line workers, factory workers, burger-lipping workers, sitting-at-a-computertyping magazine workers, and everything else in-between—what we share is the working and why we do it. For our families, our communities and our individual betterment. That’s where we can come together.

Perhaps, you read that and though that it all sounds like a bunch of idealistic nonsense, and, perhaps, you are right. But I am tired of cynicism. I’m exhausted of pessimism. Maybe you are too. Every platform is an opportunity, and that opportunity comes with its own varying range of responsibilities. By that logic, this role—the editor of Asphalt Contractor— comes with a unique set of charges.

Yes, I have the day-to-day responsibilities to bring what you’ve come to expect and rely on from this publication. I plan to fully deliver on those. In addition, I want to honor the reach this platform affords me, and do so for the everyday, foundational, ground-level workers that helped me become who I am today.

I have a lot to learn about this industry. From what I’ve already experienced, it is full of welcoming, smart and open individuals who share a drive to work and live with pride in not only who they are, but what they do. I’m excited to join them, and to do my very best to continue the high standard set before me.

AUGUST 2022 • Vol. 36 No. 6 ASPHALT ASPHALT ASPHALT

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