Diversification means new jobs, new clients for West Michigan concrete experts

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

A West Michigan refractory maker seized an opportunity to use the company's concrete expertise in the infrastructure industry, creating a company division that landed new clients and created jobs.

Empire Solutions, formerly Empire Refractory Services, 2000 Byron Center Ct. SW, Wyoming, achieved certification with the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and garnered several jobs repairing roads and bridges since the beginning of the year. That prompted the addition of a full-time sales person, with company officials looking ahead to adding other new positions.

"We expect to add six to seven positions for sales, superintendents, brick layers and concrete workers over the next couple of years," says Greg Peak, president. Empire has offices in Gary, Ind. and Cleveland, but launched the infrastructure division in Michigan with plans to expand it to Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

"Our guys work with concrete and chemical-bonded repairs, gunite, sandblasting, shotcrete and waterproof coatings for concrete coatings, plus they have to have basic bricklaying skills," Peak says.

Empire Solutions has repaired barrier walls on M-59 and a bridge deck on M-21 over the Grand River near Ada. Peak predicts the company can save MDOT money by repairing damaged bridges for less cost than the price of replacing them.

"We're also looking at water treatment plants as a good potential customer because the concrete tanks sometimes leak," he says. "It's not glamorous work, but we can preserve the tanks."

Concrete materials gain strength over the first seven years, but they begin to deteriorate after than, Peak says. Based on the number of concrete structures, roads and municipal and county water treatment plants in the state, he predicts increasing opportunities for work. And his vision doesn't stop at the state's borders.

"I'm exploring opportunities with the big guys like the Federal Aviation Administration and the Federal Highway Administration," he says.

Source: Greg Peak, Empire Solutions; Kim Bode, 834 Design & Marketing

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].