Michael Sakata

Michael Sakata has led the Maryland Transportation Builders & Materials Association since 2018, representing the contractors, materials producers, and suppliers who build and maintain Maryland’s roads, bridges, and transportation infrastructure. He doubled MTBMA’s membership from 106 to 265 organizations in five years while holding a 96.5 percent retention rate, and manages a $5 million operating budget with a distributed staff.

He is MTBMA’s public voice before the General Assembly, state agencies, and the media. He co-chairs the MOVE Maryland Coalition with the Governor’s office and serves as a Commissioner on the Transportation Revenue and Infrastructure Needs Commission, appointed by Governor Moore in 2023. His advocacy centers on the Transportation Trust Fund, where drivers generate roughly 72 percent of revenue but highways receive less than a third of spending. His position has been consistent: restore balance, do not cut.

As Maryland confronts three bridge megaprojects at once, the Francis Scott Key Bridge, the American Legion Bridge, and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, Sakata has positioned the industry as a constructive partner on delivery, cost, and schedule, while pressing for Maryland workforce participation, small and minority business opportunity, and transparency in procurement.

Before MTBMA, he spent sixteen years at the American Road & Transportation Builders Association in Washington, DC, serving as Vice President of Operations over a 30-person team and a $10 million budget. He also led ARTBA’s Research and Education Division, its Transportation Officials Division, the federally funded Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse, and served as Executive Director of the Metropolitan Washington Road & Transportation Builders Association.

Work zone safety runs through his entire career. He served on Governor Moore’s Work Zone Safety Work Group and sits on the work group establishing Maryland’s Transportation Work Zone Memorial, honoring the workers killed on the state’s roadways. He also champions workforce development, supporting the pre-apprenticeship and registered apprenticeship pathways that connect Marylanders to careers in construction, engineering, and materials production, and mentors students entering the field through the ACE Association.