Sierra Santa Fe’s legacy, and the BearCat equipment that helps them keep their standard
In the Pacific Northwest, the road is never really finished.
Rain works its way into the smallest seams. Winter temperatures expand and contract the surface until cracks become problems. Rural routes carry heavy loads that don’t forgive weak spots. In a place like this, pavement preservation is not a luxury or an afterthought. It is the difference between a road that holds up and a road that fails early.
For Sierra Santa Fe, that reality is personal.
Sierra Santa Fe is a family-run asphalt preservation company based in Ridgefield, Washington, serving Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. Their work supports counties, cities, contractors, and communities that rely on safe, dependable roadways every single day. What makes their story worth telling is not only the scope of what they do, but the legacy behind it. Sierra Santa Fe’s roots reach back generations, beginning with a dairy farm and a decision that changed the direction of an entire family.
The story starts with Sam Zimmerly, a dairy farmer who understood responsibility in its purest form. Dairy work does not pause for weekends, weather, or convenience. It demands consistency, grit, and an ability to show up when it would be easier not to. Those values became the foundation for the Zimmerly family.
Sam’s son, Paul Zimmerly, grew up around that discipline, but he wanted to build something different. He wanted to do more than dairy and farming. He was drawn to equipment and the kind of work that built communities from the ground up. With Sam’s early help, Paul started Paul Zimmerly Excavation in 1958.
Like most strong companies, it began with the jobs that were available and the reputation that had to be earned. Paul started with U.S. Forest Service work, along with county and city projects, and he worked his way up steadily into larger State and Federal highway jobs. In 1962, he changed the company name to Paul Zimmerly Road Construction, reflecting both the scale of the work and the direction he was taking it.
By 1976, after selling his highway construction company, Paul launched Paul Zimmerly Rock Products. The business operated out of five different locations and supplied rock, sand, and gravel. It was the kind of operation that quietly supports everything people depend on, from small local improvements to major infrastructure work. It was also where Paul’s son David Zimmerly began learning the trade in the most hands-on way possible.
David started working for his dad at the rock pits when he was 13 years old. He did not step into the business with a shortcut or a title. He worked the ground level and moved upward through effort and repetition, learning what it takes to do difficult work consistently. He began as a ground laborer and eventually ran dump trucks, dozers, rock crushers, and front-end loaders full time once he graduated from high school.
As David grew, so did his interest in the bigger picture. He began spending time in the office learning from his father what it takes to run a business. It is one thing to operate equipment. It is another thing entirely to build a company that can sustain itself through changing markets, difficult seasons, and the constant pressure to deliver.
Then, in 1982, tragedy reshaped the family’s path. Paul was killed in a helicopter crash alongside his brother Danny, who served as General Superintendent at Paul Zimmerly Rock Products. David stepped in and ran the company until 1986, when his mother sold Paul Zimmerly Rock Products. It would have been understandable to walk away at that point. For David, it was not the end of the story.
In 1987, David started Zimmerly Rock Products and continued building. Soon after, an opportunity from one of his father’s close friends opened a new door for him, one that would ultimately define Sierra Santa Fe. That opportunity led David into chip seal work and to a purchase that still matters in the Zimmerly story.
David bought his first chip spreader, a 1963 Etnyre. For David, that machine represented more than a tool. It marked the beginning of a clear direction in pavement preservation. One of David’s most memorable projects from those early years was a chip seal job completed in 1992 for the family of “Dozer Dave” Turin near Mount Hood, Oregon. It is the kind of detail that stays with people in this business because road work is never abstract.
In January of 1997, David made it official. He started Sierra Santa Fe and sold Zimmerly Rock Products so the company could focus fully on chip sealing and preservation. Nearly thirty years later, Sierra Santa Fe has grown significantly, and it remains a family operation at its core. David’s two sons, Paul and Parker, now help lead the business along with his nephew Zach and daughter-in-law Kaitlyn. The work is shared, the expectations are high, and the reputation belongs to everyone.
That reputation is built in the field, where equipment reliability and consistency are not optional. Sierra Santa Fe’s team will be the first to tell you that much of what they do is made possible by BearCat and its subsidiaries. Their fleet includes five BearCat and BearCat-related machines, and they are part of the workflow that keeps production steady and results consistent.
Today Sierra Santa Fe operates a 2024 BearCat chip spreader and a 2010 BearCat chip spreader. They also run a 2009 Kenworth paired with a 2014 RaynMaker tank, a 2005 Freightliner M2-106 asphalt distributor truck equipped with a BearCat distributor body and BearCat control panel, and a 2015 RaynMaker Pavement Saver buggy. For a preservation contractor, those pieces represent the core of the job: controlled application, uniform distribution, and reliable production that lets a crew stay focused on quality.
When you ask Sierra Santa Fe what they are most proud of, they point to a job that reflects craft, partnership, and impact.
In 2023, Sierra Santa Fe performed a scrub and chip seal project for Yamhill County, Oregon. The scrub seal portion is a one pass crack-fill type of preservation treatment designed to address cracks and minor distress more effectively than a standard chip seal. That project, the Baker Creek Scrub Project, earned Sierra Santa Fe, Albina, and Yamhill County the 2024 AEMA Past Presidents Award. For the people closest to the work, awards only matter when they reflect real execution.
What makes Sierra Santa Fe stand out is the steady thread that runs through every chapter of the Zimmerly family story, from Sam’s dairy farm to Paul’s construction work to David’s decision to build something new, and now the next generation leading and growing the company.
In pavement preservation, the best compliment is often silence. When roads hold up, people do not think about them. They simply travel, work, and live their lives without interruption. Behind that quiet success is a company like Sierra Santa Fe, doing the work the right way, backed by equipment they trust, and guided by a family legacy that still shows up on every jobsite.
To learn more about Sierra Santa Fe, visit https://sierrasantafe.com, email info@sierrasantafe.com
For more information about Etnyre International’s equipment, please visit https://etnyreinternational.com, call 815-732-2116 or send an email to sales@etnyre.com
