Increte of the Ozarks gets new owner, GM

Increte Systems' decorative concrete products were first introduced to the Ozarks in 1996, when Conco Companies brought a division of the Tampa Bay, Fla.-based business to Springfield.

May 1 the ready-mix company sold Increte of the Ozarks to Dock Brothers Construction for an undisclosed amount.

In addition to the change of ownership, the sale brought about new management. Wil-liam Tate, formerly of JM Specialty Sales and Goedecke Company Inc., replaced Elise Crain as Increte's general manager and only employee. Crain now works in Conco's marketing department.

According to new owner Paul Dock, who co-owns the construction company with his brother Bob, Tate's leadership was key to the decision to purchase Increte.

"If I couldn't have gotten William, I don't know if I would have made the purchase I have that much confidence in him," Dock said. "William was an integral part in our decision to pursue the Increte distributorship and product line."

Dock's high regard for Tate comes from his 15 years of experience in the concrete industry and the fact that Tate worked for Dock many years ago.

But what impressed him most was when Tate brought a branch of the Vernon L. Goedecke Company Inc. here nine years ago.

"He started (Goedecke) on a shoestring and it's very successful and still thriving," Dock said.

Now Tate looks to the future and his new role with Increte.

"I think it was a good start having Increte affiliated with (Conco), but I see a plus (in) being separated from a ready-mix company," Tate said. Increte might now "deal with contractors that don't necessarily use Conco as their prime source of ready mix." He sees a whole new market available.

"I'm looking forward to the challenge ahead of me," Tate said. "The decorative concrete market has an enormous a-mount of room for growth in our area, and with Elise getting it started, we got off on the right foot to take it to another level."

Tate said he'd like to double the amount of business in his first year. Right now, he said, Increte has a good mix of both residential and commercial work, but he'd like to see more residents utilize the Increte system.

And that's his goal, "to make more people aware of the different decorative opportunities with concrete."

Increte of the Ozarks distributes decorative concrete materials to Increte Systems-trained contractors who perform most of their work in Missouri, Arkansas and Kansas.

Increte Systems products are Increte, which uses a concrete stamping system, Stain-Crete, Spray-Crete, which uses an overlay system, and Stone-Crete. The latter is its latest product.

"A new thing that we are starting to push that has not been seen in this area very much is the walls that have a stone appearance to them ... which is called Stone-Crete," Tate said. He said that will be his initial big focus.

Tate said that all Increte applicators must go through four days of extensive training at the International Headquar-ters of Increte Systems in Tampa Bay and are required to make a financial commitment before using the product.

"That allows them to have all the backing they need from Increte's home office in Tampa, Florida, plus the Increte of the Ozarks office here," he added. "Increte offers a lot of support that other decorative concrete companies do not offer."

Tate said they are looking for a new office/warehouse facility because the city purchased the building at 1045 E. Trafficway for Jordan Valley Park use. Until a new location is determined, he will operate from there, he said.

The loss of the facility is partly why Conco decided to sell Increte. Tate said they didn't want to go through the relocation process, but they did want to retain Crain. She now focuses on marketing Conco's concrete products.

"It's passed on and it's passed on comfortably ... it's a new life," she said of her former position. Crain added that in her role with Increte she also did work for Conco, so she's already familiar with the company.

"I promote concrete parking lots and parking garages, tilt-up construction and insulating concrete forms," Crain said. "That's pretty much everything concrete but ducks and bunnies."

Crain said some of the more visible local projects done by Increte of the Ozarks-trained contractors include the turnaround and Information Commons at OTC, Wheeler's Furniture warehouse floor, the stained countertops and decorative outdoor posts and sidewalks of Michael D. Smith's Rivercut home, and the stamped concrete at the airport's Courtyard by Marriott and in Prime Inc.'s commons area.

Crain also said that more recently, Fuddruckers and the new Schultz & Dooley's at Battlefield Towers has stained floors and the new Residence Inn will have stamped concrete.

"The growth of stamped and stained specialized concrete nationally is overwhelming," Dock said. "There's been a great amount of interest and most of it has been governmental. I think you're going to find more and more municipalities, universities, highway departments ... and downtown revitalizations ... (using) a lot of stamped and stained concrete and specialty-type concrete."