How Mulzer Crushed Stone has retained its local legacy
As the largest supplier of building materials in the Ohio River Valley, Mulzer Crushed Stone (Mulzer), a CRH Company, provides limestone, sand, and gravel for several operations, including airport runways, roads, interstate highways, bridges, dams, and many others. The company was established by three brothers – Arnold, Roland, and Edgar Mulzer – who started a small construction company that gradually grew beyond expectations. Today, the business is managed by the Mulzer family’s third generation, with Ken Mulzer serving as President.
“The Mulzer story begins in 1935, with three brothers who offered all kinds of services to the construction industry, but the business as we know it today began in Eckerty, Indiana, where the three brothers entered the limestone industry in 1946 to meet increased post-war demand,” opens President Ken Mulzer. “Having grown the business in the aggregates and construction markets, the trio recognized the seasonality of limestone as winter was particularly slow for quarrying limestone. With coal reserves across Spencer County, and with the equipment and manpower already available, they started to mine coal in the winter and limestone in the summer, moving the crew back and forth to maintain consistent employment.
“From there, the brothers grew operations by adding more quarries to the portfolio, and they entered the river business in the 1960s after purchasing Bedford-Nugent Company, a sand and gravel dredger based in Evansville. They found new property in Crawford County called Cape Sandy, which opened in 1963 and remains our flagship quarry on the Ohio River even today. Operations continued to flourish; we were involved in the construction of the Newburgh Locks and Dam, as well as building aluminum smelters for Alcoa. The brothers grew the river logistics operations by adding different terminals and depots along the river, and in the 1970s, the second generation entered the business.
Historic success
“Mulzer performed well throughout the 1980s and my generation (the third generation) started to join the business from the early 1990s. We managed the business alongside our fathers until 2005 when ownership was transferred to the next generation. During an annual shareholders’ meeting in 2016, we discussed how best to grow the company and continue its success for generations to come. It was clear that the business was ready for further growth, and we saw an exciting opportunity to take Mulzer to the next level by joining forces with a company who shared our values and respected Mulzer’s legacy and leadership.” 
That company was CRH, the leading building materials business, which acquired Mulzer in 2017. “Since then,” Ken states, “I’ve continued in my role as President with my cousin, Tim Mulzer, remaining as Chief Operations Officer. The Mulzer motto, to ‘do business locally everywhere,’ is still at the heart of our operations, which we are all so passionate about.
The fourth generation
That passion extends to a fourth generation of the Mulzer family as Ken’s son works as a Construction Manager for Mulzer’s paving business in Indiana, having started his career with a sister company in North Carolina.
As our conversation draws to a close, Ken turns to what’s next for Mulzer. “The future is bright. We’re currently mid-way through a phased upgrade project at our flagship limestone quarry in Leavenworth, Indiana which includes enhancing two processing plants, the construction of a new entry road, wash plant, support facilities and river barge loadout system. These upgrades will enable us to provide a wider range of custom aggregate products and solutions to our customers across a five-state region.
“We have the same energy, drive and commitment to move forward that the three founding brothers had back in the 1940s and look forward to continuing to support our customers with the development of critical US infrastructure in the years ahead.”