1951
Guaranteed Gravel & Sand Company of Mankato, Minn., purchased a small concrete drain tile and ready-mix concrete plant in Wells, a small farming community in south central Minnesota. They named the company Wells Concrete Products Company.
1957
Wells Concrete expanded into the prestressed concrete products business. The fledgling company started its operation with a 4-foot wide steel form stretching 400 feet, capable of producing double tees measuring 4 feet wide and 14 inches deep. The first form was set up in the middle of a field on the outskirts of Wells. When contract work was unavailable, they decided to construct a building to house the operation out of standard columns, double tees and panels produced mainly on the original form.
1960’s & 1970’s
Wells Concrete expanded its production line, introducing 8-foot wide double tees, insulated sandwich wall panels, short span quad tee and double tee bridge members.
1980’s
Wells Concrete developed a unique vapor barrier system to fulfill the requirements of cooler and freezer applications. Because of its expertise, Wells Concrete became an industry leader in the quality concrete construction for the food processing industry, constructing facilities for companies such as Geo. A. Hormel & Company, Swift-Eckrich, Iowa Beef Processors, SeaFest Fish Processing, Swiss Miss, Davisco, Malt-O-Meal, Jennie-o, and Long Prairie Packing.
With the growth of architectural and structural precast operation, Wells Concrete has also grown in its oldest operation-the ready-mix division. In 1983, front discharge ready-mix trucks were added to the fleet and in 1989 the company purchased Minnesota Lake Ready-Mix. The new addition to Wells Concrete expanded the Ready-Mix division to include plants in Mapleton and Blue Earth.
1990’s
By the end of the 80’s customers were asking for more finish options, so Wells Concrete added a separate facility in 1990 to produce architectural precast panels. In 1996 Wells built the company’s new corporate offices at the Wells site which showcased many of the products available to its clients.
Wells Concrete acquired Concrete Inc. in Grand Forks, ND in 1994. The precast capabilities at the Grand Forks Plant are similar to the Wells operation. The aquisition expanded Wells Concrete’s product line to include local products: concrete steps, septic tanks, and burial vaults.
2000
Wells Concrete constructed two additional finishing buildings to accommodate the demand for architectural panels. With increased demand came the need to address environmental issues such as wastewater recovery and dust collecting. These state of the art systems provided a means to addressing the environmental needs while recognizing cost savings in the labor involved in finishing the panels.
2009
Albany, MN production facility opens. The main production is 165,000 square feet. The facility also includes a 16,000 square feet finishing and concrete batch plant and 4,000 square feet aggregate storage area.
In addition to producing Wells Concrete’s existing line of architectural and structural products the Albany facility will produce hollow core plank and insulated hollow core wall panels.
Also in 2009, Concrete Inc changes name to Wells Concrete bringing all entities under one brand.
Today
Wells Concrete maintains over 2 million square feet of manufacturing space under roof between three plants and continues to provide high quality structural and architectural precast products to clients throughout the upper Midwest.
