SCAPA 2026 Winter Conference & Trade Show: February 11-12, 2026

Wednesday, February 11, 2026 at 7:00 AM (EST) to Thursday, February 12, 2026 at 7:00 PM (EST)

Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center

1101 Lincoln Street
Columbia, SC 29201-3133
United States

Event Sold Out

1.28.26 UPDATE: Winter Conference has very limited tickets available! Thank you for your interest in and support of SCAPA. If the event is sold out, please register for a Wait List Ticket and we'll let you know as soon as one becomes available.

Tickets are available for:
Welcome Reception $49
Women of Asphalt Dinner $99 includes dinner and drinks at City Grit

The SCAPA Winter Conference & Trade Show is the premier networking and educational event for the asphalt industry in South Carolina. SCAPA members, SCDOT engineers and inspectors, state, county and municipal government, contractors, engineers, suppliers, and other asphalt industry professionals will come together, to network, share best practices, learn new skills or refine old ones.

Why? Because as the SC Asphalt Pavement Association, we believe, "Together We Know More."

Agenda

February 11
8:30 AM - 9:30 AM	Equipment Move In
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM	Exhibitor Move In
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM	Emerging Leaders Institute Educational Session
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM	Registration Open (Convention Center Lower Level)
1:00 PM - 3:00 PM	Pre-Conference Session for QC Managers (By Invite)
2:00 PM - 7:00 PM	Visit the Be Pro Be Proud Mobile Workshop, featuring a new paving simulator sponsored by SCAPA and its members Learn more about the Be Pro Be Proud program: https://sc.beprobeproud.org/
3:00 PM - 4:30 PM	Product Demo Showcase (Main Stage in Exhibit Hall) Companies confirmed: Blanchard CAT Dobbs Equipment Surface-Tech FORTA Sign up for a demo time on the registration page and contact Katherine Swartz Hilton for information.
5:00 PM - 7:30 PM	Welcome Reception (Exhibit Hall)
7:30 PM - 9:30 PM	PAVE/Emerging Leaders Institute Dinner (Colas Restaurant, by invite)
7:30 PM - 9:30 PM	Women of Asphalt SC Branch Dinner (City Grit, all welcome, sign up on registration page)
February 12
7:00 AM - 9:00 AM	Breakfast (Convention Center Lower Level)
7:00 AM - 4:00 PM	Quiet Room (Congaree Room, all attendees welcome)
7:30 AM - 3:00 PM	Registration Open (Convention Center Lower Level)
8:30 AM - 10:15 AM	Opening General Session (Exhibit Hall) Welcome from SCAPA President Gene Sartain and Executive Director Jayson Jordan, PE, MBA Keynote Presentations with SCDOT Secretary Justin Powell and Guest Keynote Col. Mike Mullane
10:15 AM - 10:45 AM	Break With Exhibitors
10:45 AM - 11:35 AM	Breakout Sessions Block 1 Innovation + Emerging Technology Track: Forensics - Need for Investigations (Buzz Powell, APA) Best Practices Track: Milling (Tom Chastain, Wirtgen America) Workforce Development Track: Workforce as a Growth Strategy: Practical Solutions for Recruiting and Retaining Women in Asphalt (Jeani Ringkob, StoryBuilt Advisory & Marketing with the Women of Asphalt SC Branch)
11:35 AM - 11:45 AM	Break
11:45 AM - 12:35 PM	Breakout Sessions Block 2 Best Practices Track - A: Use of thin asphalt interlayers to solve complex issues (Phil Blankenship, BATT Best Practices Track - B: Tack Applications (Bill Evans, Ergon) Innovation & Emerging Technology Track: The use of AI and Automation in Construction (Kathryn Schneider, Forvis Mazars)
12:35 PM - 2:00 PM	Quality Pavement Awards Luncheon & Vendor Showcase (Exhibit Hall)
2:00 PM - 2:50 PM	Breakout Sessions Block 3 Innovation & Emerging Technology Track: MixBusters (Buzz Powell, APA Best Practices Track: Paving - Root Causes for Surface Defects and Solutions (Nars Narsingh, Wirtgen) Workforce Development Track: build a Better Community (Spartanburg County)
2:50 PM - 3:05 PM	Snack and Restroom Break
3:05 PM - 3:55 PM	Breakout Sessions Block 4 Workforce Development Track: Local Action Leadership (Dr. Rebecca Battle Bryant, SC DEW) Best Practices Track - A: Compaction and its Impact on Quality (Eric Booth, Dynapac) Best Practices Track - B: Safety & Risk Management in Today's Construction Market (Steve Kite, NCDOT & ATSSA, Sentinel Risk Advisors)
4:00 PM - 4:15 PM	Closing General Session & Grand Prize Awards
4:30 PM	Exhibitor Move Out (large items and equipment cannot be moved until after 4:30pm for safety reasons)

Please bookmark this page for session presentation files (linked with session names).

SCDOT Update from Rob Perry

Emerging & Innovative Technologies Track

Presentations forthcoming!

Best Practices Track

Tack Coats - Bill Evans, Ergon

Workforce Development, People & Safety Track

Safety & Risk Management in Today's Construction Market, Sentinel Risk Advisors

Build a Better Community: One Spartanburg and Spartanburg Community College

Colonel Mike Mullane was born September 10, 1945 in Wichita Falls, Texas but spent much of his youth in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he currently resides. Upon his graduation from West Point in 1967, he was commissioned in the United States Air Force. As a Weapon Systems Operator aboard RF-4C Phantom aircraft, he completed 134 combat missions in Vietnam. He holds a Master's of Science Degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology and is also a graduate of the Air Force Flight Test Engineer School at Edwards Air Force Base, California.

Mullane was selected as a Mission Specialist in 1978 in the first group of Space Shuttle Astronauts. He completed three space missions aboard the Shuttles Discovery (STS-41D) and Atlantis (STS-27 & 36) before retiring from NASA and the Air Force in 1990.

Mullane has been inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame and is the recipient of many awards, including the Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross, Legion of Merit and the NASA Space Flight Medal.

Since his retirement from NASA, Colonel Mullane has written an award-winning children's book, Liftoff! An Astronaut's Dream, and a popular space-fact book, Do Your Ears Pop In Space? His memoir, Riding Rockets: The Outrageous Tales of a Space Shuttle Astronaut, has been reviewed in the New York Times and on the Jon Stewart Daily Show. It has also been featured on Barnes and Noble's 2010 recommended summer reading list.

Mullane has held a lifelong passion for mountain climbing. Since age 60 he has summited Africa's highest peak, Mt. Kilimanjaro, as well as Mt. Rainier in Washington State and thirty-five of Colorado's 14,000 ft. peaks.

Colonel Mullane has established himself as an acclaimed professional speaker on the topics of teamwork, leadership and safety. He has educated, entertained, inspired and thrilled tens of thousands of people from every walk of business and government with his incredibly unique programs.