Rogers Group Experts in Crushed Stone, Aggregates, Gravel, Asphalt Paving, Road Construction, Quarries for 100 Years

Book Sample
From the Foreword of
From the Ground Up: How Rocks, Roads, and Rogers Group Helped Build the Nation

Rogers Group is as all-American as all-American gets. Ralph Rogers, the industrious founder of the rock-quarrying and road construction company, knew as much about crushing rocks as John Rockefeller knew about drilling for oil and as much as Norman Rockwell knew about oil paintings. In every respect Rogers Group is an all-American institution.

Ralph Rogers and President Dwight Eisenhower were born only sixteen months apart. In their lifetimes, both men witnessed life advance from horse and buggy to jetliner. The two shared many traits. Both were tough farm boys who could throw punches as well as lead men in a noble cause. Ralph and Ike were both committed to the strengthening and modernization of America. Grand visions and innovation captured their attention. When Eisenhower launched his favorite domestic program, the construction of the U.S. Interstate System, Rogers Group set out to build it. Supplying the material for the road from the ground up was not enough. Along the stretch of I-64, between Illinois and Kentucky, Rogers Group performed one of the largest excavations along this largest-ever project: a 9-million-cubic-yard cut of earth and stone.

Ralph was as generous as he was boundless. As Rogers Group grew, so did its philanthropic activities. Today, giving is in the firm's DNA. When a farmer's herd of cattle faced death by thirst, a Rogers Group employee drove his company's water truck into the field to fill the farmer's troughs. When a church was nearly ruined by floodwater, Rogers Group's heavy equipment dug it out.

Today, Rogers Group is an American icon, the largest family-run rock quarry business in the nation. The company embodies the traits of its founder: hard work, loyalty, and family values is the trilogy the firm lives by.

Dan McNichol

Author, The Roads That Built America

By 1981, Rogers had moved some of its Tennessee administrative offices into the newly developed office park called Metro Center, which would later serve as the company’s headquarters after the various Rogers companies entered a formal merger in 1983.
The earliest known photograph of our founder, Ralph Rogers, as a teenager in Bloomington, Indiana.

The strength of Rogers Group has always been in its employees.
Louisville Crushed Stone was one of Ralph’s early partnerships in Kentucky.

Sam, Rick and Ben R. Rechter, grandsons of Ralph Rogers, have helped engineer Rogers Group’s success for over forty years.
Educational school tours are only one way Rogers Group is helping build better communities.

In 2008, employees in each market area are donating at least 100 man-hours
to community service projects such as this “Adopt-A-Road” project in Bloomington, Indiana.

Click here to purchase a copy of the book through the publisher's Web site.

Return to Rogers Group's Centennial Celebration page.

By 1981, Rogers had moved some of its Tennessee administrative offices into the newly developed office park called Metro Center, which would later serve as the company’s headquarters after the various Rogers companies entered a formal merger in 1983.	The earliest known photograph of our founder, Ralph Rogers, as a teenager in Bloomington, Indiana.

The strength of Rogers Group has always been in its employees.	Louisville Crushed Stone was one of Ralph’s early partnerships in Kentucky.

Sam, Rick and Ben R. Rechter, grandsons of Ralph Rogers, have helped engineer Rogers Group’s success for over forty years.	Educational school tours are only one way Rogers Group is helping build better communities.