Quikrete Joins Forbes List of Largest U.S. Family Businesses at No. 43 Following Summit Materials Acquisition

““Our parents sacrificed everything to make sure we received a Jesuit education. Now that my brothers and I are in a position to pay it forward, we feel investing in JCU is essential.””

““The actual product grouping dictated that you had to have local manufacturing, and of course, that turned into a very powerful distribution tool [across] the nation. Very few people can deliver an 80 pound bag of concrete anywhere in the United States–Hawaii and Alaska included–in 24 hours or less. And we did that in the ‘60s and ‘70s.” — Dennis Winchester, in a 2015 company video. Quikrete had manufacturing plants in nearly 50 markets in the U.S. and Canada by the end of the 1980s. It had more than 90 manufacturing plants by 2015. The company signed Don Knotts as its first corporate spokesperson in 1985. Quikrete celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2015.”

““From day one, my father Gene Winchester was driven to meet the needs of both contractors and homeowners with the highest-quality products at fair market value, and that commitment remains a core value of Quikrete today.””

““Everybody likes a winner. And if you’re on the winning team, you’d like to stay with the winning team.” — Jim Winchester, in the 2015 video. Beginning around the early 2010s, Quikrete acquired Best Block, Custom Building Products, and Quality Pavement Repair. It paid $1.1 billion to buy Contech Engineered Solutions in 2016, bought the U.S. concrete pipe business of CEMEX for approximately $500 million in 2017, acquired Forterra for $2.7 billion in 2022, and exchanged nearly $3 billion of assets with Martin Marietta Materials in February 2026. Those deals expanded the company beyond packaged concrete into cement, aggregates and ready-mix concrete. Quikrete supplied materials used to restore the Statue of Liberty, the U.S. Capitol Dome, and Alcatraz. It also supplied materials used at Fenway Park and Gillette Stadium and supplied six million pounds of materials for the construction of the Georgia Aquarium. Competitor Sakrete sold the first bags of dry concrete mix in 1936. Forbes reported that the Winchester family’s concrete business has grown from its modest Ohio origins into one of the country’s largest privately held family enterprises.”