VAA Hires Two New Directors

Carter comes to VAA from Southern States Cooperative, where she has spent the last nine years as the Manager of Organizational Training and Development, responsible for all of the training and development needs of Southern States’ 4500 employees. Prior to this role, Carter served as Manager of Back Office Operations Training for SunTrust Mortgage, and before that, as a Business Analyst and Instructional Designer for CGI, Inc. (formerly American Management Systems) in its Birmingham, Alabama office.  

 

Carter brings a total of 16 years of organizational training and development experience to VAA, and is looking forward to partnering with our members to build a robust, industry-wide training program that targets personnel from entry to executive level, and will meet state, industry and Association requirements for individual growth and development. Her immediate focus will be partnering with the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and Germanna Community College (GCC) to develop the materials certification and training programs offered through the Virginia Education Center for Asphalt Technology (VECAT). Longer range goals will include the deployment of apprenticeship and associate’s degree programs for asphalt technology, and the ability to maintain and track the development progress of all industry personnel.  

 

Carter holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from The College of William and Mary. She has lived her entire life in Virginia, but left the Richmond area briefly for short stints in Northern Virginia and Alabama. Carter currently resides in Ashland, Virginia on a small farm that she shares with three horses, five dogs and two cats (her property pest management). Free time is spent either competing her Irish Sport Horse in hunter/jumper competitions, or fox hunting in the fall and winter with the Deep Run Hunt Club. Other hobbies include running, reading, re-homing shelter dogs, and traveling when time permits. Her office door will always be open to any members or industry personnel who have ideas and suggestions, or areas of need regarding training and development.  

 

In a career spanning more than 28 years, Mike has dedicated himself to making our roads safer and the way we build them more efficient while helping train the next generation of asphalt technicians.

 

Mike began his career at the Virginia Department of Transportation, where he started as a Construction Inspector and worked his way up to Asphalt Technician, Asphalt Laboratory Manager, and ultimately Asphalt Field Engineer at Virginia Transportation Research Council (VTRC). While at VTRC he helped develop the Superpave Level I Mix Design Course - he was one of the first instructors in the course, and received the 2001 Commissioners Award of Excellence for Superpave Implementation and 2001 AASHTO President’s Transportation Award for Research and Superpave Implementation. After 13 years at VDOT, Mike spent seven years with Branscome Inc., a Colas Company, as the Asphalt Quality Control Manager and Estimator / Project Manager. Since 2008 he has served as the Technical Development Manager for Hi-Tech Asphalt Solutions (HTAS).

 

Mike graduated with an Associate Degree in Applied Science from Patrick Henry Community College. He has been married for 25 years to his wife Stephanie and has two grown children.