Delta Companies, Inc. celebrates 100 years

Delta Companies, Inc. celebrated their 100th anniversary in 2023, a century after founder Edward Regenhardt and his sons William and Ted incorporated as the Regenhardt Construction Company. The company has experienced periods of explosive growth followed by periods of consolidation and stabilization throughout the past 100 years, from their first project mixing and hauling concrete for the Poplar Bluff, Mo., city streets in 1923, to converting from a predominantly concrete construction company into a vertically-integrated company during the 1960s, to specializing in hot mix asphalt and aggregates in the 1990s.

Today, Delta Companies employs approximately 400 people during peak construction season who are dedicated to building and maintaining the transportation infrastructure throughout the region. They take pride in their dedication to both their employees and industry, as well as in being a successful leader and supporter of the communities they’re a part of.

Delta Companies has grown by expanding on what they do well. They strive to meet the needs of the local market by providing quality construction products and excellent service to external customers. They’ve expanded their trucking resources to include aggregates and asphalt deliveries to customers and continue to grow their footprint into local commercial site work and paving projects. They also prioritize environmental initiatives by using recycled asphalt pavement (RAP). As a fully recyclable product, asphalt is able to be reclaimed for new asphalt pavement projects and 89.2 million tons of RAP is used annually across the U.S. Delta Companies is proud to contribute to this number in their local projects.

In 2023, the National Asphalt Pavement Association recognized Delta Companies, Inc. with the Quality in Construction Award for the project completed on Interstate 155 in Pemiscot County. The Missouri Asphalt Pavement Association also recognized them with the Quality Paving Award in Private and Commercial Paving for the Carlisle Construction Manufacturing Facility project completed in Sikeston, Mo. The Missouri Limestone Producers Association recognized Delta Companies with Honor Roll Standings, which require achieving and maintaining high environmental standards throughout the past five years.

In 2024, Delta Companies is investing approximately $7 million to improve their locations throughout Southeast Missouri. They will also launch a rebranding initiative where the company moves away from specific company names, such as “SEMO Stone,” and instead uses location names under the Delta umbrella, such as “Delta Cape Quarry.” The focus is for customers to know they’ll be treated the same way, no matter where they’re doing business within Delta Companies.

“Our safety journey is what we are extremely proud of,” said Steve Peterson, regional manager. “We have been able to empower front-line employees to take ownership and play a key role to adapting from the old safety mentality into a positive safety culture. By focusing on a cultural change, we will continue to achieve quality safety performance at our facilities.”