A SALUTE TO AN CUSTOMER

CONCRETE SPECIALTY, INC.

  Contractor's multiple capabilities provide customers with turnkey package
Click here For Printable PDF

Roger Miller, PresidentAs the name implies, Concrete Specialty of South Sioux City, Nebraska, specializes in concrete paving. But concrete is far from the only type of work the company does.

"We're a full-service construction company," said Roger Miller, President and owner of Concrete Specialty, Inc. "We do dirt work and underground utilities in addition to our concrete business. It allows us to present customers with a turnkey package, which we think is a big advantage for them and for us.

"We really like to do our own dirt and utility work on projects where we're doing the paving," Miller added. "The main reason is because it gives us more control over costs, quality and timeliness. Since we're doing all the work instead of relying on subcontractors for parts of it, it's easier for us to sequence the job. We can move our own people around when and where we need them. It's much more efficient and costeffective for us and for our customer."

Getting started

Back in the 1970s, Miller was working for a concrete contractor when he decided it was about time to strike out on his own.

Concrete Specialty Headquarters

Concrete Specialty, Inc. headquarters in South Sioux City, Nebraska.

"I had worked for several contractors over the years and I was tired of traveling so much," he recalled.

So Miller and his brother, Larry Miller, started Concrete Specialty in 1976. They incorporated in 1979. "My brother owns a percentage of the company, but he's in the restaurant business," noted Miller. "He doesn't get involved in the day-to-day operations."

Today Concrete Specialty, Inc. employs 45 to 50 people during its peak season from March to December. In the beginning, however, the company was Miller and two or three other employees. At first Miller concentrated on concrete work because that's what he knew best. The company added dirt work and underground utilities to its capabilities in the mid 1980s.

Concrete Specialty crews work within a 100-mile radius of South Sioux City. "We will travel further, but we've been pretty fortunate to be able to stay fairly local the last few years," he said. "We haven't had to do too much traveling."

50/50 split

Concrete Specialty's work is about evenly divided between concrete and underground utilities. "We have two underground utility crews and they do storm sewer and water and sanitary," he explained. "Then we have an inlet crew that builds inlet structures. Finally we have a concrete crew and a small dirt crew."

Miller estimated that his company's work is also split about 50/50 between public and private jobs. Most of the public work the company does is concrete paving for municipalities. "Our concrete work includes city streets, a little bit of state work and some taxiways on airports," he stated. "On the private side, we do a lot of new housing developments."

Assisting Miller in running Concrete Specialty are Estimator Pat Callahan, Office Manager Pam Naylor,

NEXT PAGE