A History of Price Brothers Company

Precast concrete revetment blocks from Price Brothers Company were installed on both banks of the Great Miami River after 1913 flood's devastation. Threaded together on cables, these blocks formed rugged concrete mats that continue - even today - to resist erosion and protect flood control levees of the Miami Conservancy District.

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Harry Steele Price began operating his Michigan-based construction business in 1899, as a builder of public buildings, bridges, hydroelectric dams, and electric power plants. Following the disastrous flood of 1913, he came to Dayton, Ohio to participate in rebuilding dams and bridges and in 1916 was awarded a contract to rebuild the dam in the Great Miami River in Dayton. No sooner had work begun than the war took the attention of the entire community. Wages for construction workers jumped from 17.5 cents per hour to 60 cents per hour within a few months. Consequently, finishing the dam was a long struggle. By 1919, at the age of 43, Price had lost most of his firm's working capital, but his professional reputation survived and the company has been headquartered in Dayton since that time.

In 1926 Price Brothers Company supplied reinforced concrete pressure pipe for an 84" diameter water pipeline, over 25,000 ft. long, which brings water from wells near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base to the City of Dayton water treatment plant. This historic project marked the company's entrance into the water transmission pipe business, and still serves as one of the main supplies of water to Dayton and the surrounding communities.

In the 1930's, Harry's two sons, Gayle and Harry Jr., joined the company and developed other businesses, mostly in precast concrete construction products. One of these products was Flexicore--the innovative, hollow core, concrete floor and roof slab, which pioneered a precast hollow beam industry which is now worldwide. Another innovation of Price Brothers was prestressed concrete cylinder pipe (PCCP)--the piping material which now is the primary material for very large diameter water pipelines throughout the U.S.

The firm's success during the 1930s, '40s, and '50s in pioneering the use of precast concrete for pipelines made it a leader in both the waterworks and construction industries.

A third generation member of the Price family, Gayle, Jr., directed the company beginning in 1979. During that time the company increasingly focused on its large diameter pipeline business, and expanded into other parts of the world, including the Great Man-Made River project in North Africa, and more recently, the People's Republic of China.

In September of 1998, the Price Family sold their interest in the company to the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) which had been established in 1980. Today the company is owned by approximately 150 ESOP plan participant employees.