Staff writer
Jeff Schmidt of Marion has been in the concrete business a long time. Change doesn’t come often.
“It’s all concrete,” he said. “But theirs is a different system. Just with the paperwork and stuff.”
Schmidt spent 26 years and 9 months with Concrete Products in Marion before Builders Concrete of Newton bought the company’s assets this spring. Schmidt has been manager throughout the transition.
Tasked with mixing concrete for the US-56/77/K-150 roundabout, the company is preparing for its first big job in a revamped facility.
Builders Concrete also acquired a facility in Hillsboro through the buyout. Since it already had a facility in Hillsboro, it will likely consolidate those two facilities. Builders Concrete owner Dick Allen said he hasn’t yet decided which location to use.
In addition to overtaking the old facility in Marion, Allen reached a deal with the city to acquire additional space to expand his operation.
“You can probably put this down as the only time Dick Allen’s ever said this, but the local government has been very easy to work with,” Allen said. “They were very receptive to us coming in there.”
Allen said economic development director Terry Jones helped him get the property to expand and made the business feel welcome.
Schmidt said there was already a mixing plant in the facility, but it is “not near as nice as the one that’s there now.”
“The new plant is up-to-date,” he said.
It will be tested with the roundabout project; Schmidt said they should begin pouring for that within the week.
“We’ll be pouring 100 yards an hour,” he said. “That’s loading a truck every five minutes.”
Schmidt said the buyout didn’t cost any local jobs and will be a plus for Marion.
“There’s a few of the old customers, they kind of hee-haw around about it, but when everything’s settled down, I think it’ll be a better thing for the community,” he said. “We have more trucks, and we can take better care of people.”