Michael Johnson served the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA) as president and CEO over the last 11 years, joining the organization in 2013 following a seven-year stint at the National Beer Wholesalers Association.
The next chapter of Johnson’s career will unfold at the American Coatings Association, which he joins as president and CEO. P&Q caught up with Johnson in his final days at NSSGA, touching on his early years at the organization, the progress made and how the aggregate industry is situated as he departs.
P&Q: Congrats on your new position, Mike. As you look back on your tenure at NSSGA, what are your feelings at this moment?
JOHNSON: This is the hardest professional decision I’ve ever made. I love this industry. I love the people that I’ve gotten to know over the last 11 years in this industry, and I love our team at NSSGA. When you put all that together, it was just a really tough call to make. It didn’t come easy, and it certainly is a bit bittersweet.
P&Q: As you think about your 11 years at NSSGA, what are you most proud of?
JOHNSON: It’s not any one thing. It’s really the volume of our work.
I think about standing on the [NSSGA Annual Convention] stage in Las Vegas in March 2014 with [Martin Marietta’s] Ward Nye, the chairman of the search committee that hired me in one of his last acts as chairman of the association. I think about announcing to the membership our first Rocks Build America strategic plan.
I think about our first Legislative & Policy Forum in 2017 and having that lead to us being incredibly effective as an advocacy organization in advancing our members’ interests. I think about seeing the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act (IIJA) signed into law on the White House lawn in 2021.
I think about this year, when we reached 500-plus members for the first time in the organization’s history, knowing that positions us well for next year when we celebrate our 25th anniversary. More than looking back at where we’ve been, [the anniversary] starts to look forward to where we’re going to go for the next 25 years.
I’m really proud of the work we’ve done, and I’m really proud of the team we brought together to do that work. I don’t think NSSGA has ever been positioned stronger to take the 25 years of history we have and to really build upon that for 25 more [years] of being an effective advocacy-as-job-one, squarely focused association for our membership.
It’s great to be able to leave a place feeling like you left it better than you found it. That should be everybody’s goal.
P&Q: Take us back to 2013: What were your goals as you took over as NSSGA president and CEO? How did your goals as NSSGA president and CEO evolve as the years went on? Ultimately, do you feel you were able to achieve the goals you set for yourself and the association?
JOHNSON: I still remember those conversations with the search committee – with Ward Nye, Charlie Luck, Paul Detwiler III, Paul Mellott, Anne Cramer and the folks who were in that room, talking with them about what they wanted from their trade association. They were very clear they wanted NSSGA to be a trade association that was squarely focused on effective advocacy on behalf of this industry.
For me, setting that goal was piece No. 1. I’m really proud of the fact that we’re now in the fourth iteration of our Rocks Build America strategic plan. All those plans were squarely focused on that goal, first and foremost. That wasn’t to the neglect of anything else.
