Kasten Masonry expanding in Jackson

Kasten Masonry in Jackson has a long history and four locations � and is building another facility on its Jackson campus.

Company CEO Craig Bohnsack said Kasten operated a block plant in Cape Girardeau, on Locust Street, near the Mississippi River, until Jan. 1, 2016, when a levee wall gave out and flooded the plant and much of the surrounding area.

In the time after the plant was compromised, Bohnsack said, company leaders tried to determine the best site to rebuild the block plant.

�We definitely knew it wasn�t going to be in Cape by the river,� Bohnsack said, laughing. �But we finally made the determination to tear down one of our old dirt sheds, where we make brick.�

Kasten Masonry�s smooth red bricks are built into many buildings in the region and beyond. The Southeast Missourian�s archives list the Doctors� Park Complex as one example in a 1989 story, and a 1976 advertisement declares all the brick in the then-new St. Vincent�s Church was sold by Kasten Masonry. A 1986 story mentions Kasten�s bricks face the Anheuser-Busch brewery in St. Louis, as well.

�We were founded in 1895 � 123 years in business,� Bohnsack said. �When we think back on all of the buildings, schools, commercial buildings, homes, that our Kasten brick and block are a part of, we�ve managed to be part of a lot of memories.�

Bohnsack, who has been with the company for nearly five years � and CEO for a year and a half � said the history is important, as is keeping the block production and purchasing localized.

Prior to the flooding, �We were the only block plant in Southeast Missouri,� Bohnsack said, and the only one between St. Louis and Paducah, Kentucky. �By us opening back up our concrete plant, that will mean block will be made again here in Southeast Missouri, instead of products and dollars coming and going out of the area.�

By bringing the facility onto the Jackson campus, Bohnsack said, �we can better manage inventory and oversight.�

And it�s a better distribution of employees and labor, he said.

Operating out of two locations meant one load might need to be partially filled at each place, eight miles apart, Bohnsack said, but this will help the company be more competitive.

The company employs about 40 people now, he said, and this facility will add another five positions in full production.

Kasten Masonry broke ground on the facility Friday and plans to have the block plant operational by spring 2019.

mniederkorn@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3630