Asphalt Paving Systems (APS) owner Bob Capoferri founded the company in his hometown of Hammonton, New Jersey in 1985. From humble beginnings, Capoferri built one of the nation’s leading pavement preservation specialty construction companies. When asked what it took to reach such heights starting with so little, Capoferri said, “It’s amazing really. I think as I look back there are two things that made it all work. I always had a drive for quality and improving my products. The other key was that I was not afraid to take chances. You have to plan, but you have to take risks if you’re going to grow.”
A 1978 graduate of Hammonton High School, Capoferri went straight into the construction business as a Teamster. Constantly striving to improve and learn new skills, Bob quickly moved up to become a mechanic, and by 1984, became a project manager. He decided to take a real leap of faith in 1985 as he became the owner of his own construction company, Shore Slurry Seal.
In the beginning every single day was a battle. The small company consisted of 7-8 employees, and a single piece of equipment that operated all day and then was with the mechanics all night. The company performed mostly general construction, not moving into what would become their specialty until the 1990’s.
In the early 90’s, Capoferri took the next major step forward with his company when he began manufacturing asphalt emulsions. With the new material production as part of his operation, he was able to introduce pavement preservation to the company’s services by performing both slurry seal and cold in place recycling jobs.
Then in 1994, Bob acquired the patent to Nova Chip. Having this patent allowed the company to expand its geographic reach as they sold the process. The company also took this opportunity to expand its services by expanding into the heavy highway construction market.
In 1999, after a highly successful run with Nova Chip, Capoferri sold his patent to Koch Industries. It was at this point that Bob decided it was time to reorganize his company. His goal was to continue to improve upon their core services while focusing on growth and expanding into new disciplines and new territories. In the year 2000, after reorganizing the company with its new business model based on best practices, lessons learned and a renewed passion for growth, Asphalt Paving Systems was born.
Between the years of 2000-2008, APS began to grow into the world class leader in its field that you see today. The company continued to improve and build on its core pavement preservation services with the introduction of its first continuous paver while also expanding further into the mid-Atlantic region. The company also began to build a roster of high-profile projects including but not limited to the Brooklyn Bridge, JFK, Newark, LaGuardia and Philadelphia International Airports, the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge and even a United States Airforce Base in Azores, Portugal.
In 2009, Bob Capoferri turned his eyes south when APS took their first job in Florida. In 2010 he put his first footprint down in Florida with a new office in Zephyrhills. The Florida operation focused on Cold-in-Place Recycling and Full Depth Reclamation until 2012 when the company built an emulsion plant at the Florida location. This was the company’s third emulsion plant and brought its pavement preservation expertise to the Sunshine State.
Having a southern base in Florida has led to even more geographical expansion for the firm into the Southeastern United States. In 2018 the company opened a new office in Georgia and in the winter of 2020 opened its newest office in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
In 2021, APS brought on-line its brand-new state of the art hot mix asphalt plant at the Zephryhills location, making it one of only a handful of locations in the entire country to house both an emulsion mill and HMA plant. The location of APS’ facility places them squarely in the center of the fastest growing region in Florida giving them a key role in Florida’s infrastructure market.
Bob Capoferri’s focus on always staying ahead of the curve with modern technologies, while continuing to invest in and develop highly skilled crews and state of the art modern equipment, has made APS a major force in the construction field on what is now the national level.
When asked what he would think if someone said to him in 1985 that he would be where he is today, very humbly Capoferri says, “It’s been a good ride. I never would have thought I would be here, but I always believed I could.”
APS is a story of the American Dream come true. A man who came from very little, built a business that has come to dominate its market, while never ceasing to improve and do better for its customers. Now in its fourth decade in business, APS is eager to provide it’s first-in-class services in pavement preservation, recycling & reconstruction as well as materials & testing services for municipal, county and state clients alike at a service level that is second to none.
