McDonald Company Inc.

For 65 years, the McDonald Company Inc. has helped pave the way for growth in Southeast Missouri.

The long-standing family owned and operated business, at 55 N. Broadview St. in Cape Girardeau, has supplied ready mix concrete for everything from hospitals and schools to streets and bridges.

"We take pride in the fact that our family has helped Cape Girardeau and Jackson grow and expand," said David McDonald, company president. "And for 65 years we've helped give that growth a solid foundation."

David McDonald's grandfather, Clyde A. McDonald Sr., started McDonald Concrete following a career as a foreman for McCarthy Brothers Construction, headquartered in St. Louis. As foreman, he traveled from Alaska to Panama, building federal buildings.

Eventually, though, he was ready to settle down and raise his family in a good community. Ready mix concrete was starting to become popular in some metropolitan areas, and Clyde Sr. saw the product as the future of construction. McCarthy Brothers, which helped him open the business, recommended starting the plant in Cape Girardeau.

In 1976 McDonald concrete celebrated its 30th anniversary by painting the trucks red, white and blue for the bicentennial.

And McDonald Concrete has been there ever since.

It was founded in 1945 and incorporated in 1946. Clyde Sr.'s wife, Mary Lee McDonald, would come to work for the company, as well. McDonald Concrete started during a time when people mixed concrete by hand, proving to be back-breaking work. Today, the business operates two computerized batching plants on site. The concrete is mixed and delivered to the destinations, where contractors are charged with placing the product.

Clyde Sr.'s son, Clyde A. McDonald Jr., became president in 1963. He now owns the business with his wife, Dorothy McDonald. Of the couple's four children, three of them are employed by the company: David McDonald; Susan Allee, secretary/treasurer; and Marti Hartle, who works in the office.

Susan Allee's husband, Clifton Allee, is a McDonald Concrete salesman. And recently, a fourth generation member of the family, Tara Allee, started working in the company's office.

McDonald Concrete, which typically employs between 25 and 30 people, takes pride in being small enough to provide personal service but large enough to handle any job. Among its projects, the company has supplied concrete for Southeast Missouri Hospital, Saint Francis Medical Center and, in a joint venture with Delta Concrete, the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge.

McDonald Concrete's present location at 55 N. Broadview St.

"There's a good chance that everybody who enters Cape County or lives in Cape County may either be driving on McDonald Concrete or going to school, having their baby, worshipping or walking where there's McDonald Concrete," Clifton Allee said. "It's not all McDonald Concrete, but it's everywhere."

The company has been recognized for its product. The business received an Excellence in Paving Award from the Missouri/Kansas chapter of the American Concrete Pavement Association and the Missouri Department of Transportation. The award was in recognition of the high quality concrete supplied on a resurfacing and widening of Cape Girardeau's Arena Park. The overlay paving project was completed in 2007.

During the next year, the business plans to continue providing quality service to the communities it serves.

"We've helped pave the way for growth in the past," David McDonald said, "and we'll be here for any future growth that Cape County might have."