Summer 2012 - Barriere Construction

t h e re t i r e m e n t of mr. robert thomp son
from Barriere’s Board of Directors
by George H. Wilson, Jr., President
After 12 years of friendship and
unwavering support for the growth and
prosperity of Barriere, Mr. Robert “Bob”
Thompson retired from our Board of
Directors in August 2012. With more
than a decade of service on our Board
of Directors, it is safe to say that no
single Board member has had more
of an impact on the success of our
business than Bob. Bob’s time with
Barriere will forever be marked by his
vision, commitment to excellence,
and unrelenting competitive spirit.
In honor of a great friend, and even
better person, we have included a short
biography below:
Mr. Thompson is the former President
and Co-founder of Thompson-McCully
Co., an asphalt paving company in
Plymouth, Michigan, and is currently
the President and Owner of McCoig
Materials, a ready-mix concrete supplier
in Michigan.
With over 40 years of experience in
asphalt paving, Mr. Thompson has
4
served as chairman of the National
Asphalt Paving Foundation (NAPA),
president of the Michigan Road Builders
Association, the Michigan Asphalt
Pavement Association and the National
Center for Asphalt Technology. He holds
some of the industry’s highest honors,
including the Asphalt Institute Roll of
Honor, NAPA Man of the Year, Michigan
Road Builders Lifetime Achievement
Award, and Engineering News-Record’s
Award of Excellence.
With $3,500 in savings, Bob, and his
wife, Ellen, along with Thompson’s uncle,
Wilford McCully, started the Thompson-
McCully Co. in 1959. McCully left the
company in 1960, but Thompson stayed
on, developing the company until it
became Michigan’s largest asphalt
paving company.
When Bob developed heart problems, he
decided to sell the business to Oldcastle
Materials in 1999. Thompson shared
nearly one-third of the $461 million sale
with his employees. He gave bonuses up
lEFt rOBErt thOMPSOn (lEFt)
rEcEiVES A PlAquE, rEcOGnizinG
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to $1 million to those loyal employees
who had been with the company for
years, and set up annuity accounts for
others who are still years away from
retirement. That same year, Bob and
Ellen Thompson founded the Thompson
Foundation with $100 million from the
sale of the Thompson-McCully Company.
The Thompson Foundation’s mission is
to help low-income people rise out of
poverty and become self-sufficient.
The Thompson Foundation has already:
• Established 1,000 Detroit private
school scholarships for Detroit
inner-city kids, 500 scholarships at
Schoolcraft Junior College in Livonia,
100 Michigan Tech University
undergraduate engineering
scholarships, and 20 Michigan State
University graduate scholarships.
• Granted funds to dozens of other
programs, such as food banks,
guidance centers, and job placement
and training facilities.
• Completed over $100,000,000 in
construction work on new school
buildings and renovations.
On behalf of my brothers, Peter and
Bert, it is with an abundance of
gratitude that we thank Bob Thompson
for his time, service, and dedication
to both our family and our company.
And, as they say, behind every great
man there is a great woman. We extend
our sincere appreciation to Ellen, for
allowing Bob to be away from home to
help us.