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More than a fifth of the The 100 Largest Family Businesses in the US are construction or construction-adjacent businesses, according to Forbes.
The inaugural list, released in recognition of America’s upcoming 250th birthday this summer, includes large general contractors such as Reston, Va.-based Bechtel and Falls Church, Va.-based HITT Contracting. It also has Atlanta-based cement maker Quikrete; Eighty Four, Pennsylvania-based building supply giant 84 Lumber; and Willow Grove, PA landscape and utility contractor Asplundh Tree Expert.
Many of these 21 construction-related companies have long histories: Bechtel, for example, was founded in 1898 and HITT in 1937. Atlanta-based Holder Construction, meanwhile, is relatively young, founded in 1960.
They share the list with American business royalty, including the Walton family of Walmart, the descendants of Henry Ford and the heirs to the Marriott fortune.
To identify what constitutes a family business, Forbes spoke with experts to determine the criteria. Ultimately, it excluded companies with living founders unless they co-founded the company with a parent; no firms run only by first-generation founders were included.
For private companies, most had more than 50% family ownership. Public companies had to reach a threshold of 10% family ownership with members in management roles.
Read below to see where construction-related companies and the construction industry ranked.
The largest family businesses related to construction
| classification | name | income | Family owned | location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | Lennar | 34.2 billion dollars | Miller | Miami, Florida |
| 20 | Bechtel | 23 billion dollars | Bechtel | Reston, Virginia |
| 23 | ABC supply | 20.2 billion dollars | Hendricks | Beloit, Wisconsin |
| 39 | HITT recruitment | 13.1 billion dollars | Hitt/Thousand | Falls Church, Virginia |
| 43 | Quikrete | 12 billion dollars | Winchester | Atlanta, Georgia |
| 44 | Westlake Chemical Corp. | 11.2 billion dollars | Chao | Houston, Texas |
| 48 | mortenson | 10.9 billion dollars | mortenson | Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| 49 | Standard Industries | 10.7 billion dollars | Millstone-Winter-Heyman families | New York, New York |
| 56 | Southwire | 9.3 billion dollars | Richards | Carrollton, Georgia |
| 61 | Gilbane | 8.7 billion dollars | Gilbane | Providence, Rhode Island |
| 65 | Construction of the holder | 8.5 billion dollars | holder | Atlanta, Georgia |
| 69 | JE Dunn Construction Group | 8 billion dollars | Dunn | Kansas City, Missouri |
| 69 | Walsh Group | 8 billion dollars | Walsh | Chicago, Illinois |
| 78 | Asplundh Tree Expert | 6.7 billion dollars | Asplundh | Willow Grove, Pennsylvania |
| 82 | Walbridge | 6.2 billion dollars | From the left | Detroit, Michigan |
| 82 | Zachry Group | 6.2 billion dollars | zachry | San Antonio, Texas |
| 86 | Kohler | 6 billion dollars | Kohler | Kohler, Wisconsin |
| 89 | 84 Wood | 5.9 billion dollars | Hardy | Eighty-fourth, Pennsylvania |
| 93 | The Yates companies | 5.6 billion dollars | yachts | Philadelphia, Mississippi |
| 95 | Consolidated Electrical Distributors | 5.5 billion dollars | Colburn | Irving, Texas |
| 98 | Crown team | 5.3 billion dollars | thickness | New Bremen, Ohio |
SOURCE: Forbes
