Joseph Vicat, whose father invented a method of creating artificial cement, founded Vicat in 1853. The Vicat family continues to lead the company. Vicat's objectives are set in stone. The company produces some 21 million tons of cement and aggregates and 10 million cubic meters of concrete per year. Vicat operates about a dozen cement plants and grinding plants, more than 200 concrete plants, and 70 quarries in Europe, Africa, the US, and the Middle East. It also has operations in specialty chemicals and paper manufacturing, transportation, and precast concrete. More than half of Vicat's revenues come from outside of France. In 2010 Vicat expanded into India with plans to acquire 51% of Bharathi Cement.

A.C. Preou was founded in 1961 by company namesake and managing director A.C. Preou. A.C. Preou will have you running hot and cold. The UK company is a contractor that specializes in building and refurbishing heating and air conditioning systems in the London and Essex areas. It fixes plumbing, installs hot and cold water systems, fits pipes, and removes asbestos in boiler rooms. It primarily performs work in hospitals, offices, schools, retirement homes, and local government buildings. Clients include Acton College in West London and Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals in Essex.

S&A Custom Built Homes (S&A Homes) builds homes and develops residential communities in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The company offers more than 200 basic floor plans that can be customized to meet customer needs. The homes range in size from about 1,200 sq. ft. to more than 3,800 sq. ft. S&A Homes offers a variety of styles, ranging from one-story ranch, bi-level, and split-level homes to Cape Cod-style and two-story homes. The company operates from more than 15 offices in the southern half of Pennsylvania and two in West Virginia (Martinsburg and Bridgeport).

Sabanci Holding and HeidelbergCement equally share about 80% of Akcansa, which was founded in 1996. Akcansa Cimento Sanayi ve Ticaret hopes you get stuck with them. The company produces about 16 million tons of cement and clinker each year from more than 40 plants and processing facilities in the Marmara, Aegean, and Black Sea regions of Turkey. Its products include cement, ready mix concrete (sold as Bentonsa), and concrete aggregates (sold as Agregasa). Akcansa also offers ship loading services at the ports of canakkale and Ambarli. Its subsidiary Karcimsa combines slag (a process byproduct) with clinker to produce slag cement.

Taiheiyo Cement has laid a solid foundation in cement and construction materials. Through some 310 subsidiaries and more than 135 affiliates, Taiheiyo operates in the resource, environmental, building materials, and construction industries. With about 30 cement plants around the world, ready-mix concrete and concrete products is at the core of Taiheiyo. It also operates several limestone mines, and is involved in the ceramics and electronics business. Other non-cement operations include recycling businesses, which process materials such as wood chips and plastic, as well as sludge and industrial waste. Taiheiyo affiliates also provide real estate leasing and development throughout Japan.

All Star maintains home and hearth for bronze stars, silver stars, and gold stars. The company started out in 1983 providing and maintaining military housing for the US armed forces, but it has branched out into military base operating support, facility operation and maintenance, family housing maintenance, and minor construction services. It provides services through locations in the US and Guam, Germany, Italy, and Korea. All Star also provides fleet maintenance and logistic services including supply management, transportation, and warehousing. The company's customers include the US Navy, Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. President and CEO John Junge owns All Star.

Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua (GCC) sees the road to riches paved with plain old cement, not gold. The group's subsidiaries produce, market, and distribute cement, ready-mix concrete, aggregates, and other construction materials in the US, Mexico, and Bolivia. With about 10 facilities in operation, GCC has an annual production capacity of approximately 5 million tons of cement. Additional products include cement blocks and prefabricated concrete products. Holding company Control Administrativo Mexicano owns about three-quarters of GCC.

Freese and Nichols (FNI) keeps water in the Lone Star State flowing in the right direction. The consulting firm specializes in water management engineering but offers other services including architecture, environmental science, and construction management to clients in the Southwest, primarily Texas. The company has designed more than 150 dams and reservoirs and also works on such projects as municipal waterworks, water treatment facilities, and highways. Freese and Nichols serves the private and public sectors including clients from all levels of government. The company has offices in about a dozen Texas cities and traces its roots to a Ft. Worth firm founded in 1894 by John B. Hawley.

SGPA Planning and Architecture (SGPA) offers design, engineering, and planning services for retail shopping and mixed-use centers, senior housing facilities, municipal projects, and such specialty projects as laboratory improvements. The designing company serves clients throughout California through its offices in San Diego and San Francisco. SGPA was established in 1970.

MARCOR Remediation provides industrial, environmental, and construction site remediation. Its services include asbestos abatement, wastewater treatment, emergency spill response, disaster recovery, and storage tank management. It also provides decommissioning and demolition, duct cleaning services, and geotechnical and environmental drilling and sampling. Projects have ranged from mold remediation in a California hotel to clean-up operations in hurricane-battered Florida and Louisiana, to the decommissioning of contaminated gun ranges for the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. In 2009 the company became a subsidiary of demolition and remediation firm Nuprecon/CST.

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