HAPI Hall of Fame

Established in 2021, the Hawaii Asphalt Paving Industry (HAPI) Hall of Fame honors and recognizes those individuals that have: 

• Made significant and lasting contributions to the Asphalt Paving Industry.
• Unselfishly and generously served HAPI and the industry.
• Demonstrated a consistent high standard of ethics.
• Made outstanding contributions of time and or ideas to the industry.
• Helped mold our industry, reshape, and improve the way the industry operates. 

There are no two men more deserving of being the first inductees to our Hall of Fame than Jack Pearring, our first executive director, and Randy Matsumoto, a man with HAPI in his blood.  We would not be the successful and thriving association we are today without their tremendous contributions.

Jack Pearring

Jack’s experience in the asphalt industry and his way with people made him an ideal person for HAPI’s first executive director.

Jack attended Loyola University, Los Angeles, California. While a student at Loyola University, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and following a stint at the Virginia Military Institute, he served overseas in World War II earning two Purple Hearts. In 1947, he graduated from the University of Idaho with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering (B.S.C.E).

Upon graduating Jack entered the work world at the Idaho Department of Highways starting as a Planning and Traffic Engineer. From 1947 to 1966, he held various positions as Inspector, District Materials Engineer, Testing Engineer, Resident Engineer, Senior Resident Engineer, District Maintenance Engineer, and District Engineer. In 1956, he took an 18-month break from the Department of Highways and worked for the Asphalt Institute as District Engineer in their Denver, Colorado office.

In 1966, after his time with the Idaho Department of Highway, Jack went back to work for the Asphalt Institute in Sacramento, California. He served several positions including District Engineer, Regional Engineer, and Division Managing Engineer.

In his personal life, while attending the University of Idaho, Jack met and married Louise M. Cosgriff at St. Mary’s Church on June 6, 1947. Working as a civil engineer employed by the State of Idaho and later by the Asphalt Institute, provided Jack, with his wife Louise and family, the opportunity to live in numerous communities in Idaho, Colorado, and California. They finally settled in Sacramento in August 1975. In each community, they were active in their local Catholic Church and other organizations, including the Elks Lodge.

In 1985, Jack started his own business, Big Island Asphalt Co., Inc., in Hilo, Hawaii so that Louise could improve her health there. Until her death in 2000, they divided the year between the two cities.

When HAPI incorporated in 1989, Jack was our first executive director, serving for 11 years from 1989 until 2000. His time and efforts were a major contribution in HAPI’s formation and getting membership to sustain the organization. Because of his charm and wit, the membership loved him and would do anything for him. They respected his knowledge in the industry and knew that if Jack was involved it was a worthwhile thing to do. His legacy in the asphalt industry is profound as he helped shape many transformations in product development.

Jack believed we should always leave a place better off than the way we found it. That is how he left HAPI.

Randy Matsumoto

Randy has HAPI in his blood. He was involved in HAPI since our inception in 1989 until his retirement from Grace Pacific, LLC in 2019. During those 30 years, Randy played a pivotal role in the success of HAPI. He served as president, many years as treasurer, and generously gave his time and efforts to making HAPI the success it is today.

Being involved with HAPI from its inception provided Randy with the opportunity to learn all about asphalt paving industry issues throughout the years. He saw HAPI as a great source of knowledge and that was immensely powerful. Staying involved allowed him to be in the forefront of specification changes and staying in tune with both local and national issues. In his own words “It’s been a long journey, but I’m glad to have been part of this rather small, ‘niche’ market, so important to the State of Hawaii’s quality of life.”

His journey started with his education. He is a product of our public school system attending Manoa Elementary, Stevenson Intermediate, and Roosevelt High School. In 1975, he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Purdue University and later completed the University of Hawaii’s Business Administration Management program.

While at Purdue University, he began his work journey as a summer hire at the State Department of Transportation, Highways Division. After graduating, his first job was with Hawaiian Dredging & Construction Company as a cost engineer and ending as a project superintendent/project manager. Hawaiian Bitumuls & Paving Company was his next stop as their vice-president of operations, later serving as their vice-president of engineering. His last and longest (19 years) employer was Grace Pacific. He was the manager of estimating and a mentor to all. In 2019, he retired after an illustrious 44-year career.

Randy is also a dedicated family man. Since 1983, he has been married to Taryn. They have three boys. Daniel and Sean work in the asphalt industry and Alex is a dentist. Sean and his wife Misa have given Randy and Taryn four grandchildren: Maia, Sage, Mika and Myli, and a new job – being supportive grandparents.

One of Randy’s rules of life is “there are 3 kinds of people: those that make it happen; those that watch it happen and those that wonder ‘what happened?” He is one of those that makes things happen!