Tread Lightly into New Markets
LWA 36
Tread Lightly into
The economic downturn gave one aggregate company more time to focus on expanding its markets.
ig River Industries began producing highquality, expanded clay lightweight aggregate (LWA) in Erwinville, La., in 1954. The company acquired a second mine near Livingston, Ala., in 1984, and a third in Proctor, Ark., in 2005, making it the largest producer of expanded clay LWA in the nation. Expanded clay LWA is used predominantly in the masonry industry. The housing market was booming. Business was good…but that all changed when the economy took a dive two years ago. “We recognized, a long time ago, that we needed to broaden our horizons, find other applications for our products, and expand into areas where we haven’t been,” says Jeff Speck, vice president of sales and marketing for Big River Industries. “But we were very busy up through about 2007 and didn’t have time to develop those other markets. As things began to slow down in 2008, we began to refocus on finding those new applications.” The company began to do research and working with potential new customers to see if there could be a use for the aggregate in other industries. Asphalt surface treatment, also known as chip seal, is a traditional market for LWA. At one time, Big River did quite a bit of work with the Louisiana Department of Transportation. When the first energy crisis occurred in the ’70s, however, that market disappeared because much of Louisiana’s tax revenues come from the oil industry.
by Kerry Clines, Senior Editor