Wendling Quarries Inc, purchased the Iowa assets of Coots Materials Co. (CMC), according to a company announcement. “We are honored to have been approached by Dave and Mary Coots, along with their daughter Tyneal and Jody Herger, to purchase their company. The offer was largely a result of a longstanding friendship between Dave Coots and Tony Manatt,” the company stated.
Wendling Quarries and CMC have competed in the Benton County, Iowa, area since the company bought out B.L. Anderson’s quarries in that area in 1995. Manatt’s ready mix plant in Vinton, Iowa, has been a long-time customer of CMC as well. This contributed to a relationship that ultimately led to Wendling Quarries being offered the opportunity to purchase this family owned and operated business.
Coots Sand Co. was founded by Floyd and Gwen Coots (Dave’s parents) on May 1, 1958, with Floyd’s purchase of a sand and gravel dredging operation. In 1962, they expanded their operations to include limestone production and changed the name to Coots Materials Co.
At that same time, they got into the trucking and lime spreading business. Dave entered into partnership with his father in 1976 and then became the sole owner of the company when Floyd and Gwen retired in 1985. Mary joined the company that year as a scale operator and took on the accounting duties left behind by Gwen.
Dave served as president of the Iowa Limestone Producers Association in 1992. In the 2000s, Mary handed off the financial and human resources work to her daughter, Tyneal. Likewise, although Dave remained heavily involved, he handed off much of the day-to-day operations to his son-in-law, Jody Herger.
In other words, CMC has been a family business in the truest sense – passed down and through multiple generations. The time came, however, when Dave and Mary were ready to retire and Tyneal and Jody were ready to focus their energies on other endeavors. So, they decided to sell the company – a difficult decision for all of them, especially because of the sacrifice it took to get where they are, and the pride and care they have for their employees.
“I believe that’s why they chose Wendling Quarries as a prospective buyer for their company – they believed we would take care of the people that worked so hard to help them build a great company. Now they have entrusted us to do so and we will not let them down,” said Wendling’s Rob Manatt. “In purchasing CMC, 19 new employees have joined our family business. It’s always interesting to discover how different companies achieve similar goals and we look forward to sharing knowledge and incorporating each other’s ideas.”
Several key assets were acquired in the deal:
- A shop and office in Vinton.
- Coots Quarry.
- Jabens Quarry.
- Coots Sand Pit.
- Additional land and reserves.
- Portable crushing spread.
- Stationary wash plant.
- Stationary sand plant and dredge.
- Material delivery trucks.