Cementing a Legacy
Beltway Paving Company honors Mickey Williams’ commitment to service
When Ervin Williams founded Beltway Paving Company, he had been working in the asphalt industry for more than 20 years, ever since the end of World War II. In 1966, with the support of his wife, Evelyn, he made the move to open his own asphalt paving company. Today, more than half a century after it was established, the family- owned business is still humming.
Headquartered in Waldorf, Maryland, Beltway Paving offers a suite of services, including asphalt repair and resurfacing; industrial concrete slabs and paving; concrete curbs, gutters and sidewalks; and erosion control, excavation and grading. While the company’s focus began with paving small parking lots, it now manages both small and large projects for residential, industrial, government and large commercial customers across Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.
“We provide a variety of services for a complete site package that’s all done in-house,” says Kirk Barber, Project Manager. “Everything—from asphalt to demolition, excavation, concrete and striping—is all done here.”
Providing turnkey services is the aim, according to the company’s leadership. The desire to meet additional construction needs inspired Beltway Paving to open its newest division, Beltway Striping and Traffic Control, which also includes Beltway Graphics and Signs.
This new division handles any type of parking lot or road striping, provides temporary traffic control during road construction, and fabricates signage such as stop signs or handicapped parking signs.
Growing the Company
During his years of running the business, Ervin taught his son, Michael (known to all as Mickey), the trade. In 1989, Ervin officially passed the torch to Mickey, which was a turning point for the business. Through Mickey’s leadership and vision, the company grew by leaps and bounds.
At the time when Mickey took the helm, Beltway Paving had been limited by smaller and older equipment. Mickey modernized and expanded the company by buying newer equipment and bidding larger jobs. What began as a small family business with just six employees during its first year has grown in both size and scope.
In 2013, Mickey passed the reins to his daughter, Christine, who currently serves as President, and Tim Moore, Vice President. Mickey’s youngest son, Charlie, has also joined the family operation. The third generation of the Williams family has continued to build on Mickey’s vision of expansion by adding to Beltway Paving’s repertoire of services, all while keeping his commitment to customer service at the forefront of the business.
Sadly, Mickey passed away in February of this year. While the Beltway Paving team mourns his loss, they are proud to honor his legacy, cemented in the continual growth and success of the company.
It had always been Mickey’s vision to provide road striping and traffic control in-house. To make Mickey’s dream a reality, Beltway Paving strategically recruited people with expertise in these areas.
One of those team members is Jimmy Johnson, Head of Operations for both Beltway Striping and Traffic Control and Beltway Graphics and Signs, whose career in the industry has spanned 17 years. Jimmy is also a certified flagger instructor who trains others in traffic flagging. He estimates that 90% of Beltway Striping and Traffic Control employees are certified either as flaggers or traffic control managers.
In addition to Beltway Striping and Traffic Control, the firm also recently expanded its Utilities division, under the leadership of Adam Mandes, Project Manager. This division allows Beltway Paving to offer water, sewer and storm drain services for its clients, in addition to earthwork, sediment and erosion control.
“We are a one-stop shop,” Jimmy says. “If a general contractor wants to get a [site work or paving] job done from start to finish, we can hand them the whole deal with just our one company.”
As Tim explains, each of these added divisions are all part of the same goal: to provide the services that customers need.
Commitment to Service
“The Beltway Paving brand is built on offering quality services,” Tim says. “We’re going to do a great job, and we’re going to deliver the project on time.”
Dave Norwood, Project Manager for seven years, echoes that sentiment. Recalling when he first interviewed for his position at Beltway Paving, Dave asked what sets the company apart from its competitors. “The first words out of Mickey’s mouth were ‘customer satisfaction,’ ” he says.
Beltway Paving’s work on the Steamfitters Local 602 training facility in Landover, Maryland, is just one example of how the team goes above and beyond to deliver a job on time. The facility was expanded to triple its size, and the project was a full turnkey job with an entire site package. The work included adding a new parking lot and redoing the existing parking lot, as well as interior concrete work, erosion control and all the storm drain work. The project started late due to permit issues, but the Beltway Paving team made sure it didn’t impact the facility opening on time. Team members worked 12-hour days, seven days a week to deliver the job as originally scheduled.
“We were still paving at 10 p.m. the night before so they could open up the next day,” says David Specht, Project Manager for the job.
Team Effort
Beltway Paving’s commitment to service can also be seen in the way its team members work together to meet customers’ needs.
Each area of the business, whether asphalt or concrete, has its own point person. For instance, Kirk is the go-to person for concrete, whereas asphalt is a specialty for both Dave and David. This creates a culture of collaboration, where team members rely on each other.
“We feed off each other’s experience and expertise,” Dave explains. “If I have a project that includes site concrete work, I’m going to go to Kirk and ask for his opinion.”
“No one person does it all,” Jimmy adds. “Everybody works together, and it is definitely a team effort. You can reach out to anybody at any level, and everybody is right there to take that task on with you.”
The team-centric culture at Beltway Paving is one thing that stood out to Jimmy when he first joined the company. “Personally, I’ve never met a better group of people in all my life. Everybody here seems to be very happy to come to work, which says something about a company. They treat everyone as if they’re family, and they go the extra mile for people,” he says.
“Every contractor knows that it’s your people who make you,” Tim adds. “The Beltway Paving team is made up of great people. They’re hard workers who treat the customer with respect. They’re honest, they do the best job they can, and they do it on time.”