our company

OUR STORY

Austin Industries was founded by Charles R. Moore in 1918

The story of Austin Industries is one of galvanized longevity. It's a story of family, including a growing family of employee-owners. It's also a story about core values: a commitment to safety and service, the importance of integrity, and the necessity of employee-ownership. These values trace back in unbroken succession to the very beginning of our company.

In Texas, a good name is something you earn - and it's not easily granted. The Austin name first became synonymous with Texas bridge building when George Austin came to Dallas in 1889. He was serving as an agent for the George E. King Bridge Co. of Des Moines, Iowa. His younger brother, Frank, joined him in 1894, forming the Austin Brothers company. When business began to grow in Texas near the turn of the century, Frank hired a young man named Charles R. Moore in 1900. Little did he know how this decision would set a new trajectory for the company.

Austin Industries – Celebrating a Century 1918-2018

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THE AUSTIN LEGACY BEGINS

In 1918, Moore purchased the contracting part of the company when the Austin brothers wanted to focus primarily on bridge fabrication, dropping “Brothers” from the name in 1924. The company became known as Austin Bridge Company and Associated Companies until 1974 when the parent company, Austin Industries, was formed. Since then, Austin Industries has continued to enter diverse markets ever since.

Austin entered the commercial construction field in 1975 when Austin Commercial was established. In 1983, Austin Industrial was formed to meet the growing maintenance and construction needs of the petrochemical, power and manufacturing industries. Austin Bridge merged with two other operating companies, Austin Paving and Austin Road, in the late 1980s to form Austin Bridge & Road.

In 1986, William T. Solomon, Charles Moore’s grandson, established the Austin Industries Employee Stock Ownership Plan, transferring 60 percent ownership of the company to its employees at no cost. He also set up a plan for the company to become 100 percent owned by its employees by 2000. That plan was completed on schedule.
Today, Austin prides itself in delivering exceptional service on large, highly complicated projects with particular emphasis on qualified teams and performance. Austin Industries provides nearly every type of civil, commercial and industrial construction service, capitalizing on the depth of expertise in our three operating companies – Austin Bridge & Road, Austin Commercial and Austin Industrial.

TODAY

Today, Austin Industries is one of the largest general contractors based in the southern half of the U.S. and is the third largest merit shop contractor in America. Thanks to the strength and expertise of its 7,000+ employee-owners, the company is consistently ranked in the top 50 of Engineering News-Record (ENR) magazine’s Top 400 contractors.