Forrest Redi-Mix adding Dwight plant to the family
About a year ago, there were four ready mix concrete plants in the area that were part of the Forrest Redi-Mix family. Now, after the final dotting of the Is and crossing of the Ts, there will be a fifth.
Riber Construction and Ready Mix and Forrest Redi-Mix have come to an agreement where the ready mix portion of Riber Construction will become a member of the Forrest family.
Mark Henrichs, who is the owner of Forrest Redi-Mix, said the process took about a year with the deal being closed on July 1. However, there are still the matter of title and abstracts to be completed before it becomes absolutely final.
The new addition will be called Chief Red-Mix-Dwight and will be tied to Chief Redi-Mix-Pontiac. Henrichs said there are really two main plants — Forrest and Pontiac — but that each plant has its own location and personnel.
The other plants are Forrest Redi-Mix-Gilman, which is in Gilman, and Gibson Redi-Mix, which is located in Gibson City.
“We're just wanting the community to know, more in the Dwight and surrounding area, that we took the Dwight plant over (and) to tell the community we're looking forward to providing them with concrete in Dwight,” said Mike Murphy, who is plant manager at Pontiac and now Dwight.
“We're looking forward to keeping that plant going,” Murphy said, adding the phone number for the Dwight plant is 815-584-5069.
The process of acquiring the ready mix portion of Riber Construction began when Henrichs heard something about a possible sale.
“When I heard that Riber might be considering selling out of the ready mix portion of his business, they do bridges as well, I just figured we might as well have Dwight rather than some big, conglomerate outfit up north coming in and getting it,” Henrichs said. “I decided to move forward and we got together and got it done.”
Henrichs, who acquired Forrest Redi-Mix from his father-in-law Bump Steidinger approximately seven years ago when Steidinger retired from the business, said discussions with brothers Mark and Paul Riber took about a year. The outcome was the purchase of the ready mix portion of the business and the property that it sits on.
The Ribers will be continuing to run its construction business.
Forrest Redi-Mix has been in operation since 1958 and, according to its website, has a reach of service into Livingston, Iroquois, Ford and northern portions of Champaign and McLean counties. Add to that now part of Grundy county with the addition of Dwight.
Henrichs is familiar with the area of coverage for Forrest Redi-Mix and the other plants having lived most of his life in eastern Livingston County. He said that he and his sons — Benjamin and Luke — and some hired hands work approximately 4,800 acres of farmland owned by the family.
He is also owner of Henrichs Insurance, which has offices in the Saunemin and Chatsworth areas. There used to be an office in Pontiac, but that was closed when Henrichs moved back to Chatsworth.
Another part of the Forrest Redi-Mix business is PRD Cartage, the trucking firm that carries materials for the ready mix plants.
This article originally appeared on Pontiac Daily Leader: Forrest Redi-Mix adds pant in Dwight with purchase of Riber Ready Mix
