Business View Magazine - September 2015

48 Business View - September 2015 Business View - September 2015 49 Big R Bridge The right bridge, built right When one thinks about bridges, the mind usually pic- tures the giant, red-orange towers of the Golden Gate Bridge whose trusses span San Francisco Bay; or may- be the iconic, castle-like edifices of the Tower Bridge in London; or perhaps even the spider web-like cables that hold up New York’s Brooklyn Bridge, connecting Manhattan with its neighboring borough across the East River. But, in fact, the world is filled with count- less smaller bridges, and surprisingly, many of these lesser structures are not constructed where they sit, but are actually pre-fabricated by companies who de- sign and build their components, and then ship them to their customers for on-site assembly. Big R Bridge is one such company that designs and builds these types of pre-fabricated, steel bridge struc- tures for both the public and private infrastructure markets. Cameron Klein, the President and CEO of the 45-year old firm, recounts the company’s genesis from a small farm and ranch store to its current identity as one of the leading manufacturers in its field: “Big R Ranch Wholesale Company was the original business. It was a farm-store chain similar to Tractor Supply or Murdoch’s, operating in Colorado. They established Big R Highway Products to make a product called cor- rugated metal pipe. Years later, several employees bought that business from the farm and ranch store and moved it to a different location where they con- tinued making corrugated metal pipe for drainage ap- plications. That’s the very beginnings of Big R Bridge. From those days, they started manufacturing cattle- guards, steel bridge decking and eventually saw an opportunity with small-vehicle bridges for the Pacific Northwest logging industry. It was a kind of happen- stance beginnings - some entrepreneurs started mak- ing one product, saw an opportunity in another area, and said, ‘We think we can make that,’ and they got into the bridge business. It grew from there over the years and the company evolved to where it is today.” And so today, Big R Bridge, which was acquired by its parent company, Atlantic Industries Limited of Canada in 2001, has over 130 employees working in three plants – Greeley, Colorado, Fort Worth, Texas, and Abingdon, Virginia. Its nation-wide sales team supplies custom-engineered products in all 50 states, as well as Canada, Africa, South America, and Asia. Big R has handled more than 10,000 installations to date and manufactures over 300 bridges a year. Its custom- ers range from logging companies, golf courses, and manufacturing plants to the mining and railroad indus- tries, military bases, and town, county, city, and state governments. Its four core products are above-ground AT A GLANCE WHO: Big R Bridge WHAT: Manufacturer of prefabricated bridges, tunnels, and infrastructure components WHERE: Headquarters in Greeley, CO WEBSITE : www.bigrbridge.com logistics logistics