Our History

The Founders:

John F. Brooks was born in Dunkirk, Indiana in 1883. When he was two, his father moved the family to Logansport and began a career as a huckster. In the late 1800's, a huckster was someone who traveled to small towns collecting chicken, eggs, and other agricultural products for processing and shipment to New York City via the railroad. As a young man Mr. Brooks attended two years of college at Purdue University. He worked the following summer for Moellering Construction Company as a timekeeper.

Quickly gaining an interest in construction, Mr. Brooks began selling liquid asphalt for the Barber Asphalt Company and at the age of 26, he teamed up with an engineer and friend, Lester E. Ginn. Together with the financial backing of a Fort Wayne businessman, Mr. McKee, the two started the Brooks Construction Company, Inc. McKee invested $7,000 with only two stipulations. The money was to be paid back as soon as possible and detailed cost-based accounting records had to be kept and provided to Mr. McKee upon his request.

The Beginning:

Mr. Brooks' energy and dedication led to success and in 1909, he convinced the City of Fort Wayne to construct Forest Park Boulevard using asphalt.  This would be the first job completed by Brooks.  In the early 1900's, the property owners, then called "freeholders," were able to vote and select the type of material of which their particular street would be made.  The choices were simple: asphalt, concrete, or brick.  The method was not always simple.  Mr. Brooks had to go door to door and sell each homeowner on the virtues  of paving over the more traditional brick.  Since the newspaper was the only media at the time, he was known to have people write letters to the editor embellishing the virtues of paved streets and roads.

Brooks Construction worked mainly with concrete in the early years.  At a time when ready-mixed concrete had not even been conceived, all material production took place at the job site.  Sacks of cement, and truck loads of sand and stone were delivered to the job and mixed together as needed.  Often the most challenging aspect of any job was getting the waterlines run for the mixing process.

The Early Years:

After numerous projects in Indiana and surrounding states, Brooks Construction Company, Inc. received a 50 year charter from the State of Indiana on November 21, 1911. Within 3 years of their startup venture, Mr. Brooks and Mr. Ginn were able to pay back Mr. McKee his initial $7,000 investment and get their first big break. The State Legislature passed a "three mile law" to encourage the construction of roads between communities in Indiana. Doing all work by hand or with horses and steam driven pavers, BCCO constructed a three mile stretch of concrete road between New Haven and Fort Wayne. This was the first concrete road in Indiana and is known as Old Maumee Road today. BCCO was well under way to a successful future.

Innovation came early to BCCO as the company purchased and used one of the first self propelled concrete mixers manufactured by the Koehring Co. of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Whatever the barrier was, Mr. Brooks possessed the drive and intuition to remove it and  move forward.  As a case in point, the early truck drivers were unskilled and unable to quickly and accurately back up to the paver.  Mr. Brooks developed a turntable located at the front of the paver allowing the truck driver to pull forward onto the turntable and have their truck automatically turned around quickly and accurately for unloading.

In 1917, BCCO purchased its first asphalt production plant.  In the following years this and similar plants would be used throughout Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and even Kentucky to develop the Midwest's infrastructure.

In 1923, BCCO built a yard and office at 1123 Barthold Street. The land was purchased from the railroad for $1 in an agreement to move aggregate materials from Huntington to Fort Wayne via rail. Two spurs were installed for loading and unloading of cement and aggregate.

Since the automobile's mass introduction into American culture in 1908 with the Model T from Ford Motor Company, the demand for roads, streets and highways grew at a phenomenal rate. In the early 1930's, the Great Depression struck hard at the heart of American Business. In 1937, Mr. Ginn passed away and the concrete division was sold another local company.

It was now time for John's sons, James E. and Robert F. Brooks to enter the business.  Robert Brooks recalls his first assignment, "In 1937, we were doing an asphalt resurfacing job in Michigan, I was sent there because I only had to be 14 years old to get a license and I was able to drive a truck."

In 1941, with the start of World War II, workers became increasingly hard to find.  Several major jobs were completed during the war, including the Crane Ordinance Depot and airports in Bowling Green, Kentucky and Moline, Illinois.  The employment problems carried over into post war years and recruiting often included a trip to the local pool hall to recruit unskilled workers and train them to do a particular job.

After serving in World War II, Jim and Bob Brooks returned to Fort Wayne and the family business to begin to make their own legacy in the construction industry.  One thing that undeniably carried forward between the generations was the innovative spirit of their Father.

The older style asphalt manufacturing plants that had been used since 1917 would take 2 to 3 weeks to move to a new job costing a loss of time and decreasing production capacity.  This was the case not only for Brooks, but also other highway construction companies.

In 1957, Brooks was awarded the contract on their first section of the Indiana Toll Road.  After much discussion, it was determined that a new plant would be purchased for $93,000.  A Standard Steel 90 ton per hour portable tower plant arrived by railroad and was assembled at the Barthold Street yard. 

Bob Brooks went to work on plans he had been designing for years.  Through Bob and Jim's innovative spirit, many modifications were made to this plant including the placing of wheels under literally every component and utilizing new quick disconnects for generators and asphalt tanks.  Within 6 months, all manufacturers had "portable" plants for sale based on Brooks' design.  This plant could be moved in 3 to 4 days, increasing Brooks' ability to do more work in a more efficient manner.

John F. Brooks, founder of Brooks Construction Company, actively worked until his death in 1958.  Much early infrastructure development in Fort Wayne is credited to John and his company , including Southwood Park and the Hillcrest area. John was an outstanding civic leader and well respected for his drive to succeed and his high ethical standards, traits that still remain in the company today.

In the early 1960's the Federal Government commissioned a study to analyze 25 asphalt plants throughout the United States for efficiency in operations.  Brooks' new portable plant was chosen based on the Indiana State Highway Commission's recommendations.  At the time, the plant was located at US 24 and Woodburn Road, east of New Haven for a resurfacing project.  This customized asphalt plant ranked 3rd overall in the nation. Later Brooks was notified that the plant would have been ranked 1st if it hadn't had  truck delivery delays during the two week testing period.

In 1963, second-generation owners, Jim and Bob Brooks hired one of the first true salesman in the industry. Aggressively focusing on northeastern Indiana, the trio quickly developed a large business base and became known as a total site development company.  At a time when many construction companies used subcontractors, Brooks gained a competitive edge by being able to finish all infrastructure construction (including dirt, water and sewer lines, curbing,  trucking, and pavement) without the constraints of "subs", thus better controlling costs, construction schedule and providing higher quality products and services.

Brooks developed a new logo.  The red, white and blue Brooks 1st Logo was originally designed and hand drawn by Don McDermott to remind customers to think of Brooks "first" for all their infrastructure development needs.  Later, Bob Brooks admits that  "there was hardly any work in the early 1960's, maybe 10 significant hot -mix jobs.  Brooks kept active as subcontractors on most major highway projects and completed the shoulder work on the toll road in all of Steuben County."

Early on Bob and Jim Brooks became very active in the National Asphalt Paving  Association (NAPA).  Bob Brooks' vision helped create the NAPA Marke

ting Department. The idea of selling asphalt concepts to government agencies and commercial contractors would grow quickly.  The marketing committee of NAPA did things such as: surveyed pilots to determine whether they would prefer to land on concrete or asphalt and lobbied government agencies.  At a time when contractors were known as pollutants and crooks, Brooks worked hard to develop quality initiatives and change people's attitudes a

bout road construction firms.

The economic boom years of the 1970's created many opportunities for Brooks  Construction.  In 1937, no one would have imagined a reen

try into the concrete industry, but Brooks did just that.  After hiring Steve Hinen as a concrete foreman in the mid 1970's, Brooks has become a leader in curb, retaining wall and concrete construction.  Today, with six concrete crews and automatic curb machines, Brooks has cemented its position as a quality concrete contractor.

During the early 1980's, International Harvest Company moved its operations from Fort Wayne to Springfield, Ohio.  The resulting economic downturn in Fort Wayne presented Brooks Construction with challenges and opportunities.  The result was the expansion of the geographic market and the purchase of  both stationary and portable asphalt plants.  By the end of the decade, Brooks Construction was a familiar name in all counties surrounding Allen and had operations in Steuben and Elkhart counties.

In the late 1980's, it was time for the next generation to take over.  Bob Brooks recounts how he and his brother Jim spent a decade trying to figure out the best way to turn the business over to their sons.  The result ... "just walk away and let them run it".  Today, Bob's son, John R. Brooks is Executive Vice President of Brooks Construction Company, Inc.  He began working at Brooks in 1972 as a laborer.  His responsibilities for over two decades included overseeing production, sales and estimating for the company.  Andrew F. Brooks, Jim Brooks' son, is President, and is primarily responsible for finance, plants and quality control operations, administration, human resources, safety and  equipment.  Andy is a graduate of DePauw University with an economics degree and  began working at Brooks in 1976.  These third generation owners are the perfect compliment to one another as evidenced by the tremendous growth of Brooks in the last two decades.

Recent History:

On February 1st, 1988 Brooks moved to its new main office and current headquarters at 6525 Ardmore Avenue, Fort Wayne.  On September 17th, 1997 Brooks Construction and National Serv-All, Inc. announced their innovative Landfill Gas Energy Recovery Project which utilizes natural gas produced from the decomposition of the landfill as fuel burned at the Ardmore plant location for asphalt production.

In the 1990's, Brooks has stretched its lead as the premier highway contractor in Northeastern Indiana.  Winning numerous awards on the State and National Levels annually for quality highway construction and specialized commercial work, Brooks has earned their reputation as simply the best.  With expansionary purchases of Gage Asphalt and Mishawaka Asphalt Supply, Brooks Construction now has 5 stationary and 2 portable plants available for asphalt production.

With a strong bias towards quality, Brooks Construction was actively involved with the testing and construction of one of the first SUPERPAVE highways in Indiana and had the first AASHTO Accredited Laboratory in the State of Indiana.  A company owned division, Resource Recovery and Recycling (3R) provides construction materials recycling services including concrete, asphalt and shingles.  Aggressive commercial recycling projects keep what would otherwise be waste materials out of landfills and in use in our economy.

The growth and success of the 90's led to a need for increased office space and new technology. 1998 brought the completion of a new office and asphalt plant on Highway 20 in Goshen, Indiana and in 1999 the Fort Wayne Office increased in size with a 6,500 square foot addition. 

At the start of the new millennium, John Brooks took a bold step and significantly changed his role in the day to day operations of Brooks Construction Company. This new role allows John to focus on the future of Brooks Construction and develop business strategies to ensure long-term success.

This aggressive move resulted in several changes within the Brooks organization including the naming of Steve Koble as Vice President of Operations. Steve has been with Brooks since 1987 and has managed some of the largest and widely recognized State Highway projects including the National Quality Initiative Gold Level Project - "The Pride of I-69".

In 2001, Junior Achievement of Northern Indiana honored Brooks Construction Company, Inc. by inducting into the Greater Fort Wayne Business Hall of Fame, 2nd generation owners, Robert and James Brooks.

In 2003, Bill Stevens assumed the responsibility of managing the entire northern operations for Brooks Construction encompassing both the Goshen and Mishawaka offices and plants.  In 2004, a new Gencor Asphalt Plant was erected and in 2005 a new office facility was constructed to meet the growing needs of the Mishawaka area.

The current management team with the outstanding leadership of John and Andy Brooks, will secure Brooks Construction's future as a leader in infrastructure development and construction in northern Indiana.