Dr. J. Don Brock, president and CEO of Astec Industries, told the East Ridge Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday that Astec Industries has grown to be the largest manufacturer of asphalt plants in the United States with a net worth of $300 million.
Dr. Brock sells his road-building machines to Mexico, Guatemala and Africa and owns companies all over the world. He sells mining machines to Africa and even sold a trencher to Israel last year.
“Our mobility is our freedom in America,” Dr. Brock said. “It’s really what makes us competitive with other countries.”
“I think we take our road system so for granted in this country.” He spoke of other countries whose governments control the people by offering only public transportation for certain trips: no roads. This way, Dr. Brock explained, the government keeps tabs on who goes where.
Dr. Brock said that since the Iraq war started in 2003, the number of teenagers killed on highways is six times the number of people killed in Iraq. Every day, 119 people are killed in car accidents and 7600 are injured.
Dr. Brock elaborated on the increase in drivers and distances driven in the United States over the last half-century. These factors, he said, are arguments to keep our roads in top condition.
Prices are up for oil and rocks, the main ingredients of asphalt. We need to “look at what we’ve already got,” said Dr. Brock. He explained the process of recycling old pavement. He said this can be done for about the same cost as raising utilities in a normal repaving scenario. It is possible to recycle up to 50% of the material and pass those figures on to new recycled roads. If all new roads incorporated 15% to 45% recycled materials, more than five solid days’ worth of imported oil could be eliminated.
Some of Astec’s huge plants can be assembled in only three hours. Some are small enough to use in your back yard. One machine was used in China to put a pipe under a river. It drilled down 75 feet, turned and burrowed 6200 feet across, under the river. Then a pipe was pulled through from the other side.
A similar process involving steam will allow an oil field in Canada to go from producing 1.1 billion barrels of oil to 3.3 billion within seven years. Another machine helps control potholes by keeping the asphalt a uniform hot temperature before the steamers iron it into a street.
“Did we ever think it would get this big? Not in my wildest dreams.” Astec’s net worth tops $300 million. It employs1600 people in Chattanooga. After 9-11, Astec spent $16 million to refinance. Such a price tag led Dr. Brock to ban debt. The company is debt free.
“We’re not any smarter than our competition,” he said, “just 200 mistakes ahead of them.”
Dr. Brock, an engineer, attended Central High School and sold his first patent, a high-speed carpet dryer, to Singer for $125,000.
Four of the five Astec partners grew up in East Ridge. “We said if we ever got to $10 million we’d play golf,” he said. Now he jokes, “I work half days from 7 to 7.”
The company plans to grow 15% each year over the next five years: 65% organically and 35% through acquisitions. Management owns 25% of the company stock.
Hamilton County presented a plaque of commendation to Dr. Brock. It read that Dr. Brock is a “natural leader” and a “man who knows how to get things done.”
Sandy Hoffman of Bethel College won a Brewer Broadcasting drawing, giving her free advertising spots on 13 Brewer radio stations and two Brewer television stations.