Building a business on the simple credo, "Work hard and know your trade," has resulted in 40 years of successful growth for Hamilton Redi-Mix, a construction products supplier based in Jefferson, Iowa, who serves customers throughout the northwestern part of the state.

"Our success is due to our loyal customer base," said Johnny Hamilton Sr., who, with his wife, Alice Hamilton, started the company as Greene County Redi-Mix in 1976. "We're nothing without our customers - taking care of them is what keeps us going and growing."

To thank its loyal customers and demonstrate its commitment to the communities in which the company operates, Hamilton Redi-Mix recently hosted a 40th anniversary party, inviting the residents of Jefferson along with all the company's customers, suppliers, employees and employee family members.

"It's a small way for us to thank all the people who have helped us achieve and sustain our success," said Johnny Hamilton Sr.

Dedicated Employees, Reliable Equipment Fuel Success

With three ready-mix plants and a sand-and-gravel pit near Jefferson, Hamilton supplies the year-round concrete and aggregates needs of area contractors and municipalities. Now led by the second generation of Hamiltons - including brothers Bob and Johnny Jr. along with Johnny Jr.'s wife, Connie - the company employs more than 30 people who are cross-trained to handle nearly every job that needs to be done, including operating mobile equipment, maintaining the plants, and driving any of the company's over-the-road trucks. 

"We have a great team of dedicated employees," said Bob Hamilton, who serves as the company's President. "This business demands a lot out of each employee in order to meet the needs of every customer. Our employees are ready, willing and able to do whatever it takes to get the job done."

Hamilton's current equipment fleet includes mixer trucks, dump trucks, four Hyundai wheel loaders and a Hyundai crawler excavator, in addition to its three concrete batch plants.

The most recent addition to the fleet is a 5.5-cubic yard Hyundai HL970 Wheel Loader, assigned primarily to Hamilton's sand and gravel plant where it mines material, feeds the plant's crusher, stockpiles finished products and loads trucks. A 308-hp Cummins Tier 4 Final engine powers the HL970 Wheel Loader. Hamilton also uses its 86,200-pound Hyundai R380LC-9A Excavator for digging at the sand and gravel pit. 

One feature of the HL970 has proven particularly valuable. "The new 900 series wheel loaders from Hyundai include an accurate onboard weighing system, which we're using in the HL970 to ensure the accuracy of truckload weights at our sand and gravel pit. Not only can we assure customers of accuracy in the weight of the materials they're buying, we can pretty much guarantee that the trucks will comply with the legal weight limits."

A Hyundai series 9A Wheel Loader - including an HL740-9A, HL757-9A and HL760-9A model - is assigned to each of Hamilton's three batch plants to load the plant's hopper, manage stockpiles and load trucks.

Giving Credit to a Supportive Dealer

Johnny Hamilton Jr., Vice President and Operations Manager, credits the company's solid relationship with its equipment dealer, Rueter's, for much of Hamilton's success, and for introducing Hamilton Redi-Mix to Hyundai construction equipment.

"We have a great dealer in Rueter's who is always there for us when we need their support," said Johnny Hamilton Jr. "They do a super job providing both service and parts for our equipment, and they've helped us compare and select the right equipment models for our plants and our sand-and-gravel operation. We've been very happy with their recommendation of Hyundai wheel loaders and excavators." 

Bob Hamilton agreed. "We are completely satisfied in both our relationship with Rueter's and in the Hyundai equipment they've recommended. Our operators love to run the Hyundai wheel loaders. They're easy to use, reliable, productive and fuel efficient. It's also easy to train new operators on the Hyundai loaders because the controls are intuitive and easy to learn, including the touchscreen control cluster that centralizes all the key controls into one device. They also include ride control as a standard feature, which is a big factor in keeping the operator comfortable and productive."