APAO elects North Santiam Paving’s Pete Sipos as 2020 board president

STAYTON, OR — The Asphalt Paving Association of Oregon, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, announced its 2020 board members at the annual meeting on Dec. 6. APAO elected Pete Sipos of North Santiam Paving as the 2020 board president. This is the second term Sipos has been elected as board president in his ten years as an APAO board member.

“Pete Sipos is a great person to lead the APAO Board in 2020 because he is experienced, practical and direct,” said John Hickey, the APAO’s executive director. “There are many new faces in the industry — among the agencies, engineering companies and contractors — and we need leaders who know where we came from, but who also know we need to change and grow. Pete brings a great balance of both common sense and willingness to explore new ways of operating, which is critical in dealing with the changing asphalt paving industry landscape.”

According to Hickey, the challenges facing the asphalt and paving industry make it important for those involved in the industry to work together to facilitate change. The newly appointed 2020 APAO board members include leaders with a variety of backgrounds: President Pete Sipos, North Santiam Paving Co.; Vice President Randy High, Oregon Mainline Paving; Treasurer Jason White, Wildish Construction Co.; Immediate Past President Rob Wienert, Road & Driveway Co.; Tim Connelly, McCall Oil Co.; Ron Green, Lakeside Industries, Inc.; Jason Fender, Knife River Northwest; Tony Rictor, RiverBend Materials; Mike Moore, High Desert Aggregate & Paving; and Eric Hill, American Concrete Cutting.

“I am honored to join the APAO board again as president,” said Pete Sipos, Vice President of North Santiam Paving. “I’m looking forward to our annual planning meeting in January, where we’ll get down to work setting our vision for the coming year.”

APAO goals to discuss for the coming year include improving work zone safety standards and practices; providing training to asphalt pavement technicians and crews; improving the quality of asphalt pavements in Oregon; ensuring that the industry improves in combatting mental illness and suicide; working with teachers and local universities to advocate for construction careers among the younger generations; advocating for improved federal funding for our transportation infrastructure; improving efforts to be as sustainable as possible without sacrificing quality; and being a valuable resource for members and the engineering community.