After three generations of family ownership, The Brewer Company today is 100% employee owned. Our focus is on the pavement maintenance business and the continued development of resources that help our customers to be successful. Our decades of experience as a manufacturer of pavement maintenance and asphalt paving materials and as a contractor give us the experience pavement maintenance professionals need in a supplier.
The Brewer Company heritage of providing high quality coating and sealant products to our customers actually began over seventy-five years ago. In May of 1933, The Brewer Company was founded by Pinckney P. Brewer as a Company specializing in the construction of brick and concrete pavements. Shortly thereafter our emphasis turned towards the asphalt manufacturing and construction business and by 1937, The Brewer Company owned and operated three asphalt plants in the Cincinnati area. These three plants afforded us the opportunity to gain expertise and success within the industry. Between 1937 and 1987 we expanded to a total of eighteen asphalt and gravel plants and related construction operations in and around Cincinnati, Ohio; Miami, Florida; the U.S. Virgin Islands; and the Bahamas.
During that period, some other significant events took place within the Company. The Coatings Division was formed in Cincinnati in 1953. This Division created work for the employees when the asphalt plants were not operating. We started out bagging cold mix and filling five gallon pails of pre-mixed driveway sealer by hand.
In 1972, we expanded this operation by manufacturing roof coatings and related products. Our driveway sealer business continued to grow and it became essential to begin manufacturing our own pavement sealer.
In 1977, we became a licensee of Engineering Industries, Inc. and for the first time began to manufacture Brewer Cote refined tar emulsion pavement sealer.
In 1980, The Utility Construction Division was formed to provide various services to the Gas Division of The Cincinnati Gas & Electric Company and its subsidiaries, now Duke Energy. This Division continues to satisfy the changing demands of this important customer while adding new customers like Dayton Power and Light, Oxford Gas, Westfield Gas and Columbia Gas.
In December of 1986, we made the decision to become more aggressive in the pavement sealer and roof coating business and acquired The Jetcoat Corporation in Columbus, Ohio. This acquisition, and subsequent facility upgrades, enabled us to become a major factor in the marketplace. As a result, the Coatings Division was strengthened for better market penetration throughout the midwest region.
In March of 1987, the Asphalt Manufacturing and Highway Construction Divisions were sold to Barrett Paving Materials. This sale allowed the Company to focus full attention on the Coatings and Utility Construction Divisions.
In February of 1992, we acquired the roof coating and fabric production facilities of Koch Materials Company in Wickliffe, Ohio, and Ocala, Florida. This acquisition enabled us to further diversify our product line to include professional grade coatings, asphalt emulsion coatings and saturated fabrics. As a result, the Coatings Division was able to enter new markets and to expand our market area to include the entire eastern half of the United States.
In 1996, we made the decision to expand our bulk sealer manufacturing capabilities into the Chicagoland area, and in May of 1998 we began manufacturing product from our new facility located in LaSalle, Illinois.
In January of 1999, we acquired the Asphalt Division of RAE Products & Chemicals Corporation in Chicago, Illinois. This acquisition allowed us to expand our midwestern supply of pavement maintenance products through distribution facilities at Bensenville and Markham, Illinois. We also service pavement maintenance customers nationwide through our annual catalog and this website (www.asphaltstore.com).
Recent sales of our Retail Business Unit and Utility Construction Divisions have allowed the Company to concentrate our focus on contractor oriented markets.
We are proud to be a major force in the market and to play a major role in serving the needs of the pavement maintenance industry.
Looking toward the future, we expect to further expand in new and different locations. The Brewer Company will continue to be a leader in the industry by continuing to satisfy customers with Quality, Service and Value.
