Earle J. Breneman founded E. J. Breneman in 1941 in Pottstown, Pennsylvania with the purchase of the construction division of Pottstown Valite Company. The company specialized in the supply of road tars, asphalt, stone slag, and gravel. In addition, Breneman contracted to build roadways, parking lots, and railroad siding construction.
In 1946, land was purchased near Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania where the company began to quarry limestone. In 1958, the company erected a bituminous concrete plant at that location.
After the death of his only son in 1970, Breneman sold the company to five of his long-time employees. Joseph Schmidt (President), Ray Beissel and George Williams (Vice Presidents), Randall Bright (Secretary), and Jack McGowan (Treasurer) assumed control of the company. During the 1970’s and early 1980’s, the new owners expanded capacity at the asphalt plant, continued to expand the quarry, and increase land holdings at the Sinking Spring location. In 1983, the company got involved in Cold In-Place Recycling.
In 1986, Joseph Schmidt and Randall Bright became the sole stockholders of the firm and established the office at the Sinking Spring location. Four long-time employees, Roger Schmidt, John Burger, Larry Yerger, and Rod Essig became shareholders of the company in 1987.
In 1989, E. J. Breneman was reorganized with Roger Schmidt (President), Larry Yerger (Vice President and Treasurer), John Burger (Vice President and Secretary), Rodney Essig (Vice President), Randall Bright (Assistant Secretary), and Joseph Schmidt (Assistant Treasurer).
This leadership continued the expansion of E. J. Breneman into alternative road maintenance processes, increased bituminous plant capacities, constructed a new maintenance facility, and began a land development project adjacent to the quarry.
In 1992, the company purchased Miller Municipal Supply, a sign making and municipal supply firm. At this time, Breneman also entered into the crack sealing and microsurfacing processes. During this growth period, the company was one of the first in the industry to employ salesmen to promote the innovative processes that the company was involved in.
In 1993, E. J. Breneman, Inc. formed EJB Paving & Materials Co. with Berks Products Corporation. This company primarily services Berks County and the adjoining areas. EJB Paving has two plants located near Leesport, Pennsylvania and also has laydown crews to suit any paving project. One of the plants is a drum plant with 1200 tons of silo capacity and has the ability to produce 500 tons of blacktop per hour.
E. J. Breneman, Inc. continued the expansion into other processes and also began a geographic expansion down the east coast. Our first Cold In-Place Recycling project was completed in Florida in 1997.
In 1998, Steven Bright, Michael Polak and John DeMartino were added as partners in the company. The sales force also increased and the first Novachip machine was purchased.
In 2000, E. J. Breneman, Inc. became a Limited Partnership (E. J. Breneman, L.P.). Two new partners, Philip Wagner and Thomas Donald were added. Geographic expansion continued throughout this period. Soil stabilization and road reclamation were added to the arsenal of processes being offered by Breneman.
Today, E. J. Breneman, L.P. operates in approximately twenty-seven states servicing many transportation departments, counties, cities, and municipalities. The company is nationally recognized as a leader in many processes, including:
E. J. Breneman is regularly invited to present and discuss our processes to various engineering groups, local governments, transportation departments, the Federal Highway Administration, and many other entities, too numerous to name.
E. J. Breneman, L.P. will continue to look for new opportunities and geographic areas in which to promote these new and innovative processes. We strive to remain the leader in promoting quality maintenance processes that provide our customers with a safe and cost-efficient alternative to conventional practices.
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