Category: Inductees

Hall of Fame Inductee Class of 2015 Neil Schmidgall, whose career began as a Minnesota sand-and-gravel producer, founded Superior Industries in 1972. As a man who started as an aggregate producer, Schmidgall realized equipment mobility was necessary to meet the needs of an industry that required action from site to site. He applied his engineering…

Hall of Fame Inductee Class of 2015 Paul Detwiler III, president and CEO of New Enterprise Stone & Lime Co., has carried on the traditions of his family-owned company whose origins trace back nearly a century. Today, New Enterprise Stone & Lime is a top 25 U.S. aggregate-producing company and a top 10 crushed-stone producer.…

Hall of Fame Inductee Class of 2015 Eli Whitney Blake, a 19th-century inventor, found a less costly and more efficient way to crush stone when he developed a rock crusher in 1851 that he patented by the end of the same decade. Before Blake’s invention, stones were crushed with hand hammers in what amounted to…

Hall of Fame Inductee Class of 2015 Glen Barton, who joined Caterpillar as a trainee in 1961, led the company into the 21st century during a career that spanned nearly 43 years. Barton was named chairman and CEO of the company in 1999, emphasizing diversification of products and services during his five-year leadership term. He…

Hall of Fame Inductee Class of 2016 Steve Zelnak, whose career in the aggregates industry began in 1974, grew Martin Marietta revenues from $450 million to more than $2.2 billion during his tenure as the company’s CEO. Zelnak joined the Martin Marietta Corp. in 1981 as vice president of planning and business development for its…

Hall of Fame Inductee Class of 2016 Don James, who joined Vulcan Materials in 1992, led the largest aggregates supplier in the U.S. for 18 years, significantly expanding the company’s operations throughout the country. James guided Vulcan through periods of strong growth and difficult market downturns, positioning the company in recent years to increase operational…

Hall of Fame Inductee Class of 2016 Rick Feltes, who grew up in the aggregates industry, was a key figure in the development of AGG1 Aggregates Academy & Expo, which launched in 2009 alongside the World of Asphalt. Well regarded for his dedication to National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA) initiatives, Feltes has served…

Hall of Fame Inductee Class of 2017 Mark Towe, CEO of Oldcastle Inc. since 2006, joined the company as COO of the Materials Group in 1997. Towe became president of Oldcastle Materials Inc. in 2000, and he has held a number of senior management positions in the aggregate industry over the years. With more than…

Hall of Fame Inductee Class of 2017 Kim Snyder’s career in the aggregate industry spans more than 40 years, having provided value to several different aggregate companies. Perhaps his greatest contribution was to Eastern Industries, which he served as president and where he devoted 16 years of his career. According to those closest to Snyder,…

Hall of Fame Inductee Class of 2017 A descendant of New Enterprise Stone & Lime (NESL) founder J.S. Detwiler and a current owner of the company, Paul Detwiler Jr. was instrumental in guiding and building NESL into a top 25 U.S. aggregate-producing company and a top 10 crushed-stone producer – one that has provided a…