Pete Lien & Sons is an integral part of many communities across the USA.
Hundreds of talented, skilled, and dedicated men and women are the company.
Pete and his sons, Chuck & Bruce, purchased a ranch and small quarry on the outskirts of Rapid City, SD and began a business with the tenacity and grit required of soldiers from WWI and WWII to boast their early marketing motto, “If you need a little or a lot, call Pete Lien & Sons.”
The company has grown over the last four generations and remains privately held by members of the Pete Lien family committed to serve the employees, customers, and communities through the multistate region. Pete’s grandson and namesake, Peter C. Lien, has led the company as president since 1996.
Throughout the history of the company, the Lien’s core business has been acquiring key agricultural lands and enhancing some by harvesting additional resources, primarily limestone, sand and gravel, to grow the business to land management & mining. The original quarry that Pete bought from his supplier has been mined and reclaimed. The company has purchased thousands of acres, mostly ranches, while accumulating 100’s of years of mineral reserves and currently has active mines in northern Colorado, western South Dakota, and eastern Wyoming.
The company was founded by Pete Lien and his two sons, Chuck and Bruce, in 1944. The business began with a limestone quarry in Rapid City, SD to support Rapid City Army Airforce Base (now known as Ellsworth Airforce Base) and I-90 Interstate Highway System. Today, the company has 100’s of years of limestone reserves across numerous sites through the USA.
One of the most successful growth strategies implemented early on in the Lien company history was the horizontally-integrated shift into mining iron ore for the state cement plant. In 1949, Pete Lien & Sons first mined a small deposit southeast of Pactola Lake on the Bald Hills. Eventually, the iron ore expansion led to the current mining near Nemo, South Dakota and has provided years of strategic industrial minerals for the country and community.
The company started its first ready mix concrete operation in Edgemont, SD
Pete Lien & Sons entered the sand and gravel business with the purchase of Birdsall Sand & Gravel. Initially composed of one sand plant on the Cheyenne River near Wasta, SD, the business has continued to grow through the years with the development of additional plants in western South Dakota central Wyoming, and southern Colorado. These plants produce raw material for the company’s ready mix concrete operations.
Pete Lien & Sons entered into the lime business with the erection of a lime plant at the Rapid City Quarry. Pete Lien & Sons has since expanded lime to 4 rotary kilns in WY & SD, 4 hydrated lime plants in CO, SD & WY, and a bagged lime facility in SD.
Pete Lien & Sons, Inc. expanded the ready mix business into Rapid City, SD
The company acquired a plant and quarry near Owl Canyon, CO, allowing them to enter the pulverized limestone industry.
Rapid City suffered a devastating flood. The rebuilding efforts after the flood reinforced the communities need for both concrete and rock products. With that, Pete Lien & Sons expanded business into precast and block manufacturing, and the ready mix operation continued to grow with acquisitions of plants around the Black Hills in western South Dakota, Gillette, WY, Steamboat Springs, CO, and Colorado Springs, CO.
In 1975 Pete Lien & Sons acquired a new industrial mineral reserve, and began mining high quality gypsum. Today, the company supplies natural gypsum for industrial utilization and organic agricultural benefits.
The company acquired a ready mix plant in Gillette, WY, officially expanding the concrete business beyond South Dakota. From this point forward, the company started up numerous Ready Mix operations across SD, WY & CO.
With the success from the past, the owners of Pete Lien & Sons continued to push all their earnings back into the company in order to acquire ranches and mineral reserves across many the region throughout 1990’s-2000’s. Since inception, the company has earmarked significant earnings for operational capital towards business expansions, ranch, and mineral acquisitions. Many of the reserves accumulated won’t be utilized for 100’s of years.
At the turn of the century, the corporate efforts were geared towards optimization to capitalize on growth, expansion and acquisitions. Paving the way to automate each of our operations, allowing our highly trained operators to produce the highest quality product available on the market.
In 2010, Pete Lien & Sons put in another Lime Kiln at our Rapid City Complex. Helping ensure continued sustainability and contingencies for our customer base.
In early 2000’s, Pete Lien & Sons began investigating sources for high quality limestone to extend the company’s reserve for generations to come. After careful and strategic planning, Pete Lien & Sons permitted a mine with millions of tons/100’s of years worth of reserves, and built a state of the art Lime Kiln in 2016 in Laramie, WY. Not only was it an opportunity of a lifetime due to the volume of limestone available, but it also yields the highest quality limestone and lime products in the USA. This operation is now home to an automated lime kiln, high quality hydrator, and ground calcium carbonate facilities capable of making food and pharmaceutical grade quality products.
