“Identify, Address, & Resolve”

Michael Sakata, President & CEO of Maryland Transportation Builders and Materials Association (MTBMA), has a technology background and brought to MTBMA an innovative approach to association management. By incorporating technology, Michael was able to streamline old processes, connect members and committee opportunities, and evaluate what resources were required for important programs. Michael knows his board members are busy running their companies, and values their time, so a focus on efficiencies and ways technology can assist meeting management is important to him. As a certified project management professional and an association executive for more than eight years, Michael leads his staff to use this approach with MTBMA committees and ensures their time spent together, and with stakeholders, is impactful to both their own individual companies and the industry as a whole.

“We are focusing on a digital transformation, while at the same time going back to basics by evaluating our core fundamentals and values around why our association was created (including revisiting our strategic plan regularly), and ensuring we have a resilient membership,” says Michael. “This helped us weather the pandemic and allowed us to easily reevaluate all of our events and training opportunities. We care about advocacy, funding infrastructure, connecting with owners and agencies, and supporting projects that are out there, and we are reviewed the training programs we had and whether they were meeting our members’ pain points as workforce development needs changed quickly.” MTBMA also focuses on the entire Maryland and DC Metro region, recognizing nearby jurisdictions have opportunities for their members. “By way of example, in 2019 we folded in the Metropolitan Washington Road and Transportation Builders Association (MWRTBA) under our umbrella,” states Michael.

"We are focusing on a digital transformation, while at the same time going back to basics by evaluating our core fundamentals and values around our association to ensure we have a proactive, well-informed resilient membership."

MTBMA also provides training, safety programs, leadership, PAC and advocacy efforts, technological connections, and leadership activities for its members. “We have online training software for the modern workforce around maintenance of traffic and erosion and sediment,” says

Michael. “Our online system now provides a better learning experience with intuitive training that can be automated, and facilitated through distance learning.” MTBMA also designed and created a “40 under 40 Program” that connects mentors to the next generation of industry leaders for leadership. Similarly, they identified leaders of MTBMA member companies to join quarterly meetings with MDOT leaders to discuss projects and ensure better industry participation. “We also partner with a like-minded association to engage in bi-weekly meetings around advocacy efforts, updating priorities around supporting, monitoring, or opposing potential legislation,” adds Michael. “We have a robust social media presence and employ an app that easily connects our members and their committees.”

At the outset of the pandemic, MTBMA worked quickly to connect with the state transportation agency and governor’s office to ensure transportation workers were deemed “essential” and could continue working on projects that ensured healthcare workers and related necessities could move through Maryland. Throughout the pandemic, through relationships with state agency transportation departments, established as a result of Michael’s role as co-chair of the Maryland Quality Initiative (MdQI), MTBMA held regular special briefings with state transportation officials to address member concerns and questions around COVID-19 protocols, worker safety, and allocation of funding.

“We advocate for long-term transportation solutions for the industry, looking to create stability and sustain members’ abilities to plan for the future.” Recognizing the need for a larger voice in Maryland, especially during the pandemic when funding needs became critical, Michael created a broad-based coalition of ten (and counting) different associations which is focused entirely on ensuring a sustainable solution for long-term transportation funding. “The Together for Transportation Funding (TTF) Coalition is combining their collective memberships and efforts and working together to fight for funding, all to the benefit of the traveling public,” says Michael.

Looking toward the future, “we look forward to returning to in-person events, aimed at ensuring maximum attendance in a safe environment. There will be hybrid options, as well, ensuring a virtual, technologically advanced environment our members learned to anticipate and appreciate during the pandemic,” says Michael. MTBMA is also working with and highlighting DCQI, a cooperative effort by DC and the metro area’s transportation industry dedicated to revolutionizing the district’s transportation system through innovation. “The mission is to provide a forum that fosters innovation, networking, and continuous coordinated quality improvement, things that MTBMA has done for some time and can play a key role in.” IE