This story appears in the June 2025 issue of Utah Business. Subscribe.
I grew up farming potatoes and sugar beets in southern Idaho. The land was known for its rich soil, but what really shaped me was the environment that was rooted in commitment, responsibility and hard work.
Even tougher than the labor was the schedule. I loved playing sports, so all of my time was split between long hours in the fields and hours on the court or in the gym. Looking back, that constant push between physical work and competitive drive instilled a mindset that would eventually transfer to everything I did in business.
While I was at Utah State in the early 1990s, I spent my summers building freeways for a paving company. I operated heavy equipment on massive federal projects. I loved it. But then, everything changed.
One week, a major equipment breakdown brought the job to a standstill. Rather than send me home, the company reassigned me to a small pavement maintenance crew in Twin Falls, Idaho.
That moment, what felt like a step backward, became a life-changing pivot.
I went from building freeways to sealing cracks in a grocery store parking lot. It felt like a downgrade, but something unexpected happened; I started seeing roads differently, not just as something to build but something to preserve. The idea of extending the life of pavement intrigued me.
I began noticing asphalt everywhere — parking lots, subdivisions, arterial roads — and almost all of them were in desperate need of maintenance. No one was taking care of this infrastructure until it was already failing. I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
That week planted a seed; what if the real opportunity wasn’t in construction but in preservation? Certainly, the demand for construction was going to continue. But with the volume of paving and the massive investment associated with it, there was a glaring need to preserve this infrastructure that was not being met.
Betting on myself
A few years later, that same paving company asked me to open a new division in southern Utah. I’d be responsible for building and running the division from the ground up. I was all in.
But two years in, right as the season was ending, they laid me off. “Come back in the spring when the work picks back up,” they said. I had a choice. I could wait around for someone else to dictate my future or take control of it.
I decided to start Holbrook Asphalt Company.
While I didn’t have much money, credit or experience, I did have a vision — and a relentless belief in it. I knew this industry was underserved. The people managing paved surfaces were facing a real challenge with limited options.
In the early days, I did it all: sales, labor, project management, accounting, HR. Eighty-hour weeks were the norm. That experience gave me a valuable perspective. Today, with hundreds of employees, multiple departments and layers of leadership, I still lean on the lessons from that time, which gave me a deep appreciation for and the ability to connect with people in every role in our company.
Back then, my focus was on winning the work, doing the work and always delivering quality. We weren’t the cheapest — but we always delivered the highest ROI. I obsessed over efficiency, productivity and making our clients’ dollars go further. But something still bugged me — the tools we had weren’t good enough.
Most pavement treatments were short-term Band-Aids. They looked good temporarily but didn’t truly preserve anything. I knew we could do better, so I went to the drawing board. I was determined to find a real solution, but I wasn’t an engineer or chemist. I didn’t have a lab or any real experience in manufacturing.
What I did have was vision, grit, curiosity and the willingness to learn.
I dove into raw materials, studying polymers, binders and aggregates. I learned how everything interacted and became educated on emulsions and the emulsification process. I built relationships with the brightest minds in the industry. We started testing new formulations both in the lab and out in the real world.
In 2002, we began placing test applications of what we believed could be a game changer. We tested in multiple climates, including scorching deserts and snow-heavy regions with intense freeze-thaw cycles requiring aggressive snow removal. We were optimistic about our new creation, but we also had to stay focused on running our business.
The breakthrough
Then came 2008. The economy tanked, but the downturn gave us space to look back at our test installations — some now nearing seven years old.
The results were incredible.
In many locations, the roads still looked nearly identical to the day our treatment was applied. It was like the pavement had stopped aging. The difference wasn’t just visible — it was measurable. We had something the industry desperately needed.
Around this time, I also convinced my former college roommate, Mark Beatty, to come on board. Mark is the most talented marketer I’ve ever met and bringing him into the business helped supercharge our messaging, positioning and overall visibility. His strategic mind and creative approach were instrumental in accelerating our growth and connecting our solutions to the pain points our clients were feeling. Holbrook Asphalt wouldn’t be what it is today without his impact.
The next step was validation. We brought in public works officials, engineers and industry experts. The feedback was powerful: “This stops the aging process in its tracks.”
That validation led us to officially launch HA5.
We presented our solution to a respected public works leader. Afterward, he turned to us with an expression of genuine sincerity that I’ll never forget and said: “There’s pent-up demand for this.”
He was right.
Shortly after it hit the market, the leading public works association published a technical specification based on our product, establishing a new standard. That moment didn’t just validate our solution, it created a whole new category in pavement preservation: High Density Mineral Bond (HDMB).
HA5 wasn’t just another product. It was a first-of-its-kind innovation — and a turning point for the entire industry. Since then, the product has grown fast. Even 16 years later, it’s still the only product that meets the HDMB specification. A whitepaper published by the California Department of Transportation’s former chief engineer confirmed that HA5 slows asphalt aging by approximately 67 percent.
That’s not just performance — that’s transformation. We had found a real solution to a real problem, and we built an entire company around what this innovation embodied — “maximum extension of pavement life for every dollar spent,” — our now company motto.
Built like a tech company
We don’t look like a typical tech company, but that’s exactly how we operate. Holbrook Asphalt is driven by innovation and data, always testing and improving. We didn’t just bring a new product to market, we brought a tech-forward mindset to a legacy industry badly in need of fresh thinking.
We saw pain — and we solved it.
We’re consumed with finding better ways to help our clients protect their pavement assets.
Today, over 90 public agencies in Utah — including cities, counties, school districts and UDOT — have trusted us to extend the life of their pavement. HOAs and commercial property owners now rely on us too. Our customers have gotten the better end of each engagement because our solutions deliver real, measurable value.
HA5 provides performance while elevating the look and feel of entire communities. Residents appreciate the clean, uniform finish, and many of our clients report that HA5 positively impacted property values.
Our culture mirrors our origin story: lean, fast, gritty and mission-driven. Our team is full of problem-solvers who take ownership of our work and our outcomes. We don’t pass the buck in the field or in the office.
This mindset comes from my early days wearing every hat. I enjoy fostering an environment where people who work hard, care and think big can thrive. Innovation is part of our DNA but so is accountability. CJ Davis is a powerful example of what happens when someone leans all the way into our culture. He joined Holbrook Asphalt as a part-time assistant to our estimators while still an engineering student — curious, hungry and willing to learn.
What happened next wasn’t a promotion — it was a progression. In our unrestrained environment, CJ didn’t wait to be appointed; he earned his way forward. He identified opportunities, pushed boundaries and took initiative in areas where we could improve.
His impact? Transformational. His value? Irreplaceable. CJ’s insights have made him a trusted resource not just inside our company but among DOT leaders and technical committees nationwide. Over time, he grew into a key leader driving our product innovation, operations and manufacturing efforts. From developing innovative treatments to steering our next-generation product roadmap, CJ’s impact continues to push our company and our industry forward.
What’s next?
What drives us today is the same thing that drove me back in Twin Falls: a vision. But now, that vision has grown. We’re not just solving problems — we’re shaping the future of an industry.
We’re still proud to call Utah home, but our impact is national. HA5 is everywhere, and our commitment to quality, innovation and listening to our clients only grows stronger. Our R&D is in overdrive. And yes, more breakthroughs are coming. We’re just getting started.
Farming, sports, sales, engineering — the journey to build Holbrook Asphalt was shaped by all of them. The values of discipline, ownership, grit and curiosity showed up in every season, and no part of the process was wasted.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that hard things done consistently lead to breakthrough moments. The overnight success myth is just that, a myth. But persistence? That’s where the magic happens.
If you’re reading this and thinking about building something, don’t wait for perfect conditions. Start. Learn. Improve. Be obsessed with solving a real problem. Most of all — have the courage to bet on yourself. You don’t have to be an expert to make a difference, but you do need to be willing to take responsibility for the result. When you do that, the market listens.
We’ve built something special at Holbrook Asphalt, and the next chapter might be the most important one yet.