Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/489028
EquipmentWorld.com | April 2015 51 contractor of the year | by Marcia Gruver Doyle | MGruver@randallreilly.com highway contractor | by Chris Hill | ChrisHill@randallreilly.com HOW TWO STATES THEIR HIGHWAY FUNDING INCREASED It's not impossible: Arkansas and Pennsylvania successfully increase funds for highways W hen events are beyond our control on a macro level, it becomes time to refocus and think both smaller in order to accomplish big things. Such is the situation now with the Federal government and the maelstrom/quagmire of events surrounding ef- forts to fund infrastructure in the United States. Will the Highway Trust Fund issue be kicked down the road yet again, or will a permanent solution be realized sooner, rather than later? With such an uncertain envi- ronment, it's incumbent upon states to either put long-term road and bridge building plans aside and hope for the best, or take the bull by the horns and come up with their own solution for fi nancing much needed infrastructure work and repairs. And the latter is just what Arkansas and Pennsylvania have done in recent years. At a presentation of state case studies for highway fund- ing at the National Asphalt Pavement Association's annual meeting in January, Craig Dou- glass, of Craig Douglass Com- munications, offered a look at the successful marketing cam- paign used in getting funding passed in Arkansas. Pennsylva- nia Asphalt Pavement Associa- tion (PAPA) Executive Director Gary Hoffman described that state's efforts. For these two states, the focus was on a unifi ed strat- egy, from start to fi nish, in getting highway construction and maintenance legislation passed. Their respective strate- gies involved research and statistics that backed up their