Company
The Brewer Company heritage of providing high quality coating and sealant products to our customers actually began over seventy-nine 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 the Company’s 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 the Company 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 this same period, some other significant events took place within the Company. The Brewer Cote Division, now called the Coatings Division, was formed in Cincinnati in 1953. This Division created work for the employees when the asphalt plants were not operating. The Division started out packaging cold mix patching material and filling five gallon pails of pre-mixed pavement sealer by hand. In 1972, the Company expanded this operation by acquiring the roof coating manufacturing business of The Herbert Chemical Company. The Company’s pavement sealer business continued to grow and it became essential to begin manufacturing our own pavement sealer. In 1977, The Brewer Company became a licensee of Engineering Industries, Inc. and for the first time began to manufacture Brewer Cote refined tar-based 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, the Company 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 the Company 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, The Brewer Company acquired the roof coating and fabric production facilities of Koch Materials Company in Wickliffe, Ohio, and Ocala, Florida. This acquisition enabled the Company to further diversify our product lines to include commercial grade coatings, asphalt-based 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 pavement sealer manufacturing capabilities into the Chicagoland area, and in May of 1998 we began manufacturing refined tar-based pavement sealer from our new facility located in LaSalle, Illinois.
In January of 1999, The Brewer Company acquired the Asphalt Division of RAE Products & Chemicals Corporation in Chicago, Illinois. This acquisition allowed the Company to expand our Midwestern supply of pavement maintenance products through distribution facilities located in Bensenville and Markham, Illinois. The Company also services pavement maintenance customers nationwide through our annual catalog and website (www.asphaltstore.com).
In April of 2007, The Brewer Company sold the Retail Business Unit and Columbus, Ohio facility to Jetcoat, LLC. This sale allowed the Company to move away from the price sensitive retail market and focus on commercial markets where product quality and customer service are more fairly valued.
In June of 2012, the Company sold its Utility Construction Division to Power Team Services of Plymouth, Michigan. This sale allowed the Company to focus its full attention on the contractor oriented markets served by the Coatings Division.
Now in our third generation, the Company is proud to be a major force in the coatings and sealants market.
Looking toward the future, the Company expects to further expand in new and different locations. The Brewer Company will continue to be a leader in the industry by continuing to safely satisfy customers with Quality, Service and Value.