In this special episode of Pave It Black, NAPA leadership reflects on the biggest achievements of 2025 and what those wins mean for the asphalt pavement industry moving forward. Richard Willis and Brad Williams are joined by NAPA President and CEO Audrey Copeland, Director of Government Affairs Mitch Baldwin, and Senior VP of Membership Ester Magorka to unpack both the visible milestones and the behind-the-scenes work that shaped the year. Tune in for a candid and forward-looking discussion on how involvement, advocacy, and leadership continue to advance the asphalt pavement industry.
R: Today, we're reflecting a little bit. We all came into 2025 with expectations, and some of them happened, some of them didn't. There were some highs. There were some potentially lows, I think. One of the challenges and one of the joys of working at an association is there are some things you do that are very visible, and the members, the federal agencies can see what you do. They can get behind it, but there's also a lot that kind of happens sometimes behind the scenes, and what I might call invisible wins, where people don't know what you're doing, but you're grinding every day to try to help the association and help the industry that you work for.
B: Today I am really looking forward to getting some different perspectives on some of those wins, whether they are those visible wins or the ones that are more behind the scenes, and learning about what different staff have seen as some of the bigger accomplishments from this past year.
R: To help us have this conversation, we're bringing in a few different people from the NAPA staff, all of whom have been on our podcast at some point in the past. Audrey Copeland, who's our CEO and President; Mitch Baldwin, who works on our government affairs team; and also Ester Magor, who manages membership for us. Welcome to the podcast. I think we just want to start off by asking a simple question: Looking back over 2025, what's an achievement that NAPA had that you'd like to highlight that our members should be aware of?
AC: Thanks, Richard. There's a lot to be proud of. First of all, this year we have a chairman and a board that care about this association, and they really showed up in terms of helping support us as we navigated some issues this year. I think just the relationship that our staff has with our board and the trust there culminated this year. Although it's not a singular event that happened this year, it's culminated over years and years, but it was just proven out this year that there's just immense trust between our board, our staff, and the work we do. I would really like to highlight that.
We had a run of it with meetings this year. We had Hawaii, which in itself is a huge meeting, and our midyear meeting. Then in the fall, we were like on a race, or I don't know, maybe a marathon is a better way to describe it. We had IMPACT, we had Hill Days, we had The Road Forward, in addition to all the other things we're doing to support the industry, along with the Asphalt Pave Alliance, with our State Asphalt Pavement Association partners, and we executed it all well. Those meetings were great. I think just all we did this year, it proved out in terms of where we're sitting now, and we can look back and say, "Yeah, that was tough, but we did it. We executed on it all".
The final thing I will say is we've had a big year with our PAC, the NAPA Political Action Committee. We have set a lofty goal of raising a quarter of a million, and I'm sure Mitch can add to this. We've had the support of our members behind this. What I would also say in terms of an achievement is the staff has really realized how this permeates through everything they do. Our technical team, we are able to go in and be an authoritative voice thanks to our technical team in terms of the PAC, opening those doors, and then we can go in and talk about whatever issues we have. Our member engagement, again, our members showed up for Hill Days. They showed up for plant tours. I'm probably stealing a little bit of Mitch's thunder, sorry. But I'm just so proud of all the plant tours and all the engagement we have done this year.
We have taken advantage of this government shutdown that we're going through right now. We're recording this in November, and we're out there making the most of it with plant visits. I think that's also an achievement to be proud of.
MB: Thanks, Audrey. Obviously, you highlighted the growth of NAPA PAC, which was great. I think when I started in 2023, we were right around a $40,000 PAC. Now we're upwards of $200,000, and I think we're well on our way to that goal of half a million dollars a cycle, which I think would land NAPA on the map in new ways on Capitol Hill and in DC in general.
One thing you talked about as far as achievements go is keeping our members engaged and how we do that with the PAC. I just wanted to highlight some of the plant tours that we have done, as well as some of the Hill Day activities that we had. Another really great highlight that we had, that we started the year with, was having Chairman Sam Graves at our event in Hawaii. It's a pretty big ask to get a chairman of a committee from Congress 4,000 miles away to the other side of the world, basically, to hang out with us for a couple of days. That's not a coincidence. That is driven by our support for him and his support of the industry. I think that you're going to see that show in the next 12 months as we develop this new surface transportation reauthorization. I think that really started the year out well.
Another highlight that I would really be proud of is the testimony from Fred Smith Company on the Highway Trust Fund and Highway Trust Fund Solvency. They were a really critical voice, and they're from Chairman Rouzer's district, who chairs the Highways and Transit Subcommittee. He actually hand-selected them as his witness. He did so because he went to an asphalt plant, one of their asphalt plants in his district, about six months before that. Again, going back to that engagement and why it's so important for our members to be engaged. Nile and I can talk to him all we want, but when we get the guy from his district up to DC to testify, I think that means a heck of a lot more for him and for the committee and for all the other members to hear directly from a producer on what's going on in their backyard.
To Audrey's point on the highlights of the Hill Day and the plant tours. We've had about 28 plant tours to date. We had Chairman Guthrie out to a plant. I went to Michigan for two different plant tours with TNI members back in August. We just hosted Congressman Wittman from Virginia at Alan Myers' plant down in Southern Virginia. We've really been trying to take advantage of all this time that the members have had at home with the shutdown.
To the point on Hill Days. I think we hit it out of the park. Our members loved the event. I think just our PAC growth and our general engagement on the Hill showed a lot when we have five members of Congress come in to hang out with 60 of our members for an hour of time after they have votes until 6:30 in the evening. That's not a coincidence.
That's just a great show of support because we support them, and they support our industry. Lot of great highlights, but I could go on for probably an hour.
EM: One of the things that I think NAPA's really proud of in 2025 is that the NAPA Research and Education Foundation, its Emergency Benevolent Fund, will now start issuing a larger benefit to families that, if they have a tragic accident in the work site, are able to use immediately. That benefit is increasing from $7,500 a year to $10,000 a year. We hope that nobody ever needs it, but it's something that all of our members should really be aware of.
B: Thank you. I think those were some great highlights, and I think a lot of them pointed to what you'd expect or what you were pointed at in terms of your goals for the year, things that were focused areas. I'm curious if maybe there was something that happened in 2025 that was unexpected that provided a learning lesson or provided a win that maybe wasn't even on the horizon that you came across the year.
MB: I'll do one unexpected thing. Obviously, the shutdown is a little bit crazy. The House recessed for 45 days. That really limits our interaction with members of Congress in DC because they're not here. It also puts NAPA PAC on a little bit of a back burner, at least for that 45 days, because quite frankly, there are no events for us to participate in. I expect there will be a logjam after the shutdown wraps up, and a slew of fundraising will take place between now and the end of the year. That really is just uncharted territory because it was the longest shutdown in history. Thank goodness this doesn't happen every year, but we'll see. We just have to adjust schedules accordingly and react well.
AC: I think I have a couple to talk about too, and I'll start with a completely unexpected one. President Trump made comments about asphalt in a couple of Oval Office meetings or public meetings. The comments were very positive, and were surprising in terms of his understanding of asphalt and the benefits of asphalt, and the value of contractors and how important good contractors are. For the listeners out there, if you have not seen his comments, I encourage you to go Google it.
For us, it became a debate as to whether we acknowledge it and address it, and how do we handle this. You've got the President of the United States saying very positive things about your product and your industry, and he may be a polarizing president, so how do you handle that. We very quickly decided to go ahead and capitalize on that, and put out a blog post highlighting those comments, and then just further reiterating the benefits of asphalt. Although it probably only resonated with folks within our industry, for us as a staff, it was a fun few days to decide how to handle that, pull together a quick blog post that I put together, and then the communications team and the government affairs team supported me in that. To have your product and your industry being talked about at the highest level in a positive manner, where you realize the president understands
I have no idea if there's a connection there, but I'd like to believe that our early connection with Secretary Duffy of the Department of Transportation helped with that. We were one of the first industries to go in and meet with him, and he had an understanding of our industry, and he was open to learning what our issues were. I have to think, or I like to think, that he probably mentioned our industry in his cabinet-level meetings with the president. I'm sure the president as a developer understood as well. Anyway, that was just a fun activity for a week there.
EM: I'm going to chat a little bit about something that your team did here this year, Richard. Feel free to jump in, guys. NAPA, through its contract with the Federal Aviation Administration through its cooperative agreement, was able this year to put down test strips with one of our award-winning contractors out in the New Jersey area. We got to see firsthand the everyday ins and outs that our contractors are dealing with, whether it's changes to mix design or setting up a portable plant, or dealing with our owners out there as well as the traveling public. It was an eye-opening experience for our staff here, and I thought it was something new that I had not experienced in our 20 years.
R: It definitely was a unique experience. It's the first time I've ever had to buy an air permit for anything. But it does help you better understand what they go through on an everyday basis, and it amped it up because it was also a research project. It's not just meet the specs, it's make sure that it's done in a way that we'll be able to learn something from this. It definitely wasn't on my bingo card when I joined NAPA. It was something that we were going to do, but it was definitely a learning experience for all of us.
EM: Kudos to you and your team for getting it done and executing it.
R: Audrey, I'm going to go back to you. You mentioned earlier when you were talking about, we had a slew of meetings this year. I don't even think you mentioned World of Asphalt in there as well, which is another major NAPA event that we partner with AEM and NSSGA on. Looking back over 2025, what was your favorite NAPA meeting? Or you had the fondest memories, and why? Or was there one event or one speaker that made it feel that way for you?
AC: The one that I would highlight would probably be IMPACT. Just because I had not had the opportunity to attend IMPACT in the past couple years, and just the energy. It reaffirms your faith in the organization and the young people that are coming up and the pipeline of leadership. Two things: We had a really nice panel of our leaders, pretty much talking about their experience of coming up in NAPA and giving some tips. I thought that was really great, and there were great questions from the audience around that.
The second one I would highlight would be Marvin, Joels. Marvin gave a presentation about utilizing social media and Instagram and marketing. I've heard other presentations like that, which are typically more generic, but Marvin gave solid, practical guidance on, "Okay, this is what you need to be doing in terms of posts". He gave great examples. I was screenshotting all of his slides. I thought that this is just really practical information that I can use just on my basic LinkedIn account that I use. At the same time, he was inspiring me. I don't know how others feel, but I have a love-hate relationship with social media. There are some days where I'm like, "I'm getting off of this". Then there are other days where I'm like, "Oh, this is great. It connects me with everyone". His presentation left me inspired on how you can use it as a tool and with nice, solid, practical guidance.
That's not to forsake any of the other meetings because all of our meetings this year have been successful. The Road Forward included, we had a great showing. We had over a hundred folks, so there was just great conversation about our industry staying on course in that manner. Finally, it goes without saying, but Hawaii is always a win. The energy at Hawaii this year was just phenomenal. That's definitely a core memory for me as well.
MB: Ditto on Hawaii. That was my first trip to Hawaii, and I don't think it will be my last. It was a beautiful event. I think it was great to see one thing that kind of got my attention, and I've obviously worked at NAPA, this is coming on my two years, how many families were there. That kind of inspired me because that means that it's not just a work trip. You brought your family because you want to spend time with others that are in the industry and other families within the industry. I think that really caught my eye and attention.
What Audrey said about the energy at the meeting was definitely spot on. I think we had 800 people at our legislative meeting with Chairman Graves. That was the most packed we've ever had a legislative meeting. We literally had the entire big meeting room for our legislative meeting, and that was great. We also raised a record number of dollars for NAPA PAC at our event and held a successful fundraiser for Chairman Graves as well, in addition to our PAC event. Unfortunately, he couldn't even make it because he was terribly ill. I talked to him about the other day, and he definitely remembers his trip with NAPA. In all seriousness, I do think that was a great event.
I would say our midyear event in Louisville was honestly really great too. I think the Louisville Slugger Museum that we had for our PAC event was awesome. One of the things that really is a lasting memory for me is there were a lot of our contractor members that were actually on a plaque on the wall in the museum because they donated/helped build the museum, which was really awesome that we got full circle where they're hosting a fundraiser to support our industry. That was really neat.
EM: Like my colleagues, I really also enjoyed the Hawaii meeting. Not only is the location absolutely stunning and beautiful, but I really enjoyed the content there. My favorite was Brad Monte. He really put a lot of information together, with having that childlike sense of wonder about the world and making sure that we're approaching work and our colleagues with a joy and a love that I wish was pervasive all of the time. I had a lot of really fantastic takeaways from his session and hope that other people enjoyed the flutter that is the industry, and I hope that we all carry that forward as we move into 2026.
R: It definitely was a different kind of presentation, but I think it was really inspiring and lifted you up and made you feel like, "Yeah, we can all do this together".
B: We've done a fair amount of reflection, and I think covered a lot of ground, and really appreciate you sharing all those memories. Now I want to switch gears and maybe hear a little bit about what you're looking forward to in 2026.
EM: The first thing that I think is really going to enhance the member experience is work that our communications team has been doing over the past year, the fruits of which they'll begin to see in the first quarter of next year, which is a complete revamp of NAPA's website. There will be new ways for the members to come onto our site to experience what we're doing, improve the navigation, improve the searchability of that, and really make sure that our members are able to see all of the facets of what NAPA does, and to communicate that in a really effective and efficient and high-design way. The team has done a fantastic job, and I'm really excited for it to be unveiled to the full membership in the beginning of the year.
The other thing that I'm really looking forward to next year is our member-to-member live session that we're going to have during the annual meeting. We are going to be learning from our contractor members. They're going to be on stage, they're going to be talking about really personal stories and lessons that they've learned in their life and how that can translate into making all of us better people. I'm excited that we're starting that. Our goal is really to carry that forward into 2027 and beyond. I'd encourage all of our members out there to come and attend and then think deeply about what stories do you have to share and how can you be on the NAPA main stage in the future? We'd love to hear from all of you and learn a little bit more about what makes you.
MB: 2026 is going to be a huge year for us. I think we laid a lot of the groundwork. I didn't talk about, obviously I talked about all these highlights that we had from 2025, but when Nile and I weren't busy with meetings and SAPA events and all of that, we were on the Hill talking with congressional staff about our priorities for the service transportation bill. September 30th, 2026, IIJA expires. We need a new transportation bill to fund our roads and highway programs. We've been talking to congressional staff about a slew of different issues within our industry.
I think a couple of the most notable ones that we've been working on are work zone safety and PFAS. We've also been working on increasing or incentivizing RAP. I think that you're going to see a lot of those things come to fruition this year, I hope. Obviously, the political dynamics with the shutdown and the 2026 elections happening in November, we really want to see a bill out of committee and on the floor.
I would say by March or April in order to get this thing through the finish line and to be successful ahead of the elections. I think that's super important. Nile and I will be spending obviously a ton of our time on Capitol Hill trying to make that happen. I would just say in addition to that, simultaneously we need to keep the foot on the gas for NAPA PAC. Pat Nelson may be, there are a lot of people that you don't want to disappoint in your life. If there was like a top 10, Pat Nelson might be on my top 10 of people that I wouldn't want to disappoint. I really want to hit that goal of $500,000 per cycle.
AC: I think that's an ambitious but doable goal, and I think we have the tools in place to do it. I really do think if we hit $500,000 a cycle, we put NAPA on the map in DC, and I think that will be a great showing for industry. I'll just add to that, I'm looking forward to this bill as well and how this is going to play out. Obviously, we're very optimistic, very hopeful, and we're going to be very focused on that. Agree there. I think too, this transition from Pat Nelson, who has championed the PAC along with Jason Dunnick, and then this transition to Jay Lemmon as our chairman next year, who also has been very active in advocacy. Then you've got Jason Dunnick again supporting as our first vice chair next year. It's just like a little dream team, helping lead our organization in terms of this bill and the future. I'm just very optimistic about 2026.
A couple other things that I would like to talk about that I'm excited about as well is several of our partner organizations have new leadership. Reed Ryan at Asphalt Institute is wrapping up his first year. We've got Mike Skinner at the Asphalt Pavement Alliance, which is a partnership among the SAPAs, Asphalt Institute, as well as NAPA, who's well into his first year of leadership. Then we just learned that Michelle Stanley has been confirmed as the new President and CEO of the National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association. That was after serving as an interim CEO for a year, so I feel like she's got her time under her belt.
I'm just really excited about furthering our collaboration with these partners. We have different specific collaborations we're going to be working on with them into this next year. Really excited to see where that goes, and working with them.
Again, I'm just really proud of what we're willing to do as an organization in terms of what we take on. We don't shy away from the hard issues. 2026 is going to prove out to be an interesting year in terms of legislation wise, in terms of what is NAPA's place in the broader asphalt pavement market along with our partners. We're also going to be doing a deep dive into our meetings and events and World of Asphalt in terms of what is the future. So far, the past 20 years, World of Asphalt has been very successful. Our People, Plants and Paving program that accompanies it, as well as our meetings and events. But what is the future? Now is the time to do that soul searching in terms of what is our purpose, what is our future around this, to make sure that NAPA stays at the forefront of leading the asphalt pavement industry.
R: Audrey, Ester, and Mitch, we really appreciate the time that you've given us today. 2025 was a great year, and we're looking forward to having an even better one in 2026. Thanks.
Thinking back on this conversation, the thing that I would want people to walk away from is realizing that if you're not getting involved, you're missing out. Whether that's through government affairs meetings, some of the projects that we're running, or communications. People need to take advantage of their membership. If you haven't been doing that in 2025, we've shown you some really good reasons why to start in 2026. We hope that you'll be more involved, be more engaged, and get involved with the NAPA staff so that you can fully advance the asphalt industry with us.