MEMBER PROFILE Matt Scerbak: Loyalty and Longevity Evelyn, influenced his childhood by their behavior. They were hard workers, he recounts, and held two jobs to provide for the family. This included paying for Scerbak and his brother’s college tuitions. “They struggled to make ends meet in the early days of their lives,” he says, “and wanted better for us. When my brother and I complained about the temperature setting on the air conditioner, my mom reminded us of her youth. Not only did she not have air con- ditioning growing up, but there were no screens on the windows.” Scerbak sums up the influence of his As Matt Scerbak recalls the beginning of his career, he was attending William Paterson University in New Jersey and looking for an opportunity to make some money. A friend suggested a small, private company that had a job available. When he arrived at the Clifton, N.J., office, everyone there seemed polite, warm and friendly — even happy. He knew there was something unique about this company when he saw an older gentleman serving cheese and crackers at about 10 a.m. This man turned out to be the president, John J. Dougherty, Sr. Promptly at 11:30 a.m., a bell rang and everyone assembled in the conference room for a lunch of their choice. Everyone kept working, answering the phone or making calls and eating off hot plates while his interview progressed. Young Scerbak was hired, and he never left. That firm is Associated Pile & Fitting (APF). Looking back, Scerbak says there was no one in his family who steered him toward the construction business. He was born in Lodi, N.J., and his parents, Pete and eventually clogged up,” he says. “Now the filters are more sophisticated. The APF-Jet Filter’s inner system is accessible from the front of the wall and can be removed, cleaned and re-inserted.” Scerbak offers an “Scerbak worked his way up from driving a forklift truck in the warehouse yard to being division manager.” parents, saying “they both taught me valuable lessons — to treat people with respect, never compromise on your integrity, work hard and always keep God in your life.” A Career at APF Now, 37 years after that interview, Scerbak is the division manager of APF. The company supplies accessories to the deep foundations industry, such as pipe pile points, H-pile joints and splicers, APF-Jet Filters, sheet pile protectors and more. The company has been in business for over 50 years and has a full line of cast steel accessories and fabrications. Scerbak is enthusiastic about the newest addition to its product line, the APF-Jet Filter, a weep hole filtration system. He believes this product will revolutionize how sheet pile and concrete walls are protected from failure. They are a new and unique way to deal with water pressure against a wall, he says, whether it be at a marina, dock or pier. “Contractors used to just cut a hole in the sheet pile that example of its effec- tiveness at the George Washington Memorial Parkway in Arlington, Va. A large sinkhole approximately 6 ft by 4 ft (1.8 m by 1.2 m) devel- oped, forcing closure of the parkway bridge until the problem could be evaluated and corrective action taken. The Federal Highway Administration and the National Park Service found that soil was exiting through an existing 4 in (101 mm) diameter weep hole on the concrete abutment. The solution was to install APF-Jet Filter units, which elim- inated the soil erosion while providing adequate water flow through each filter unit. Growing on the Job Judy Pomo, APF assistant manager, has worked with Scerbak for the last 17 years, and says he “puts his whole self into the job.” Pomo says Scerbak worked his way up from driving a forklift truck in the warehouse yard to being division manager. She adds that he is diligent, works hard and is fair. “He has integrity,” she says. Over the years he has worked hard at growing the company, and APF has a good reputation in the industry marketplace. Frank Gillen gives Scerbak major credit for learning and growing on the job. Gillen, an APF operating principal, says when they first met, he saw an outstanding young man — “very bright, well spoken, intelligent AUTHOR Virginia Fairweather DEEP FOUNDATIONS • SEPT/OCT 2016 • 61
