Dragon Products Company Profile

Dragon Cement and Concrete, founded in 1928, is Maine's largest concrete supplier and New England's only cement manufacturer. Headquartered at 38 Preble St. in Portland, Dragon employs more than 230 people in Maine and has more than 10 concrete plants located throughout the state, including in Biddeford, Portland, Brunswick, Lewiston, Augusta, Fairfield, Canton, Farmington, Madawaska and Presque Isle. The company's cement plant in Thomaston produces approximately 450,000 metric tons of cement per year.

As New England's only cement manufacturer, Dragon supplies cement to most ready mix companies in the state and others throughout New England. The cement produced at Dragon's Thomaston plant is mined from its limestone quarry on the company's familiar site on coastal Route 1. The "Portland" cement produced at the plant dates back to 1928 when the cement plant first opened in Thomaston. Dragon concrete, which is a blend of cement, sand, stone and water, is used in buildings, bridges, pavement, roads and many precast products.

Joseph M. Koch, III, became president in 1993 after serving as the company's chief financial officer. Under his tenure, Dragon has innovated, expanded and thrived. He oversaw the development of an intermodal method for transporting cement by an unmanned barge from Thomaston to southern markets in Boston and beyond. In 1994, the company purchased a site in the industrial waterfront area of Rockland which enables the company to ship cement by barge from Maine to ports in New Hampshire and Boston. An existing, but deteriorated, rail line from Thomaston to Rockland was renovated by the state, and the barge and terminal began operations in 1995. The project removes more than 125 large cement trucks per trip from busy Route 1, and also has served to maintain steady employment at the Thomaston plant.

Koch also led Dragon's move into the computer age. The company now uses a central dispatch system for delivery of its concrete from its many ready-mix batch plants throughout the state, reducing delays and making delivery more efficient statewide. Its web site, www.dragonproducts.com was launched in 2000. Koch also serves as chairman of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce for 2001.

Dragon, too, has received numerous awards in recent years for environmental efficiencies and workplace safety. Dragon set a company-wide record by successfully completing the year 2000 without a lost-time injury in any of its divisions and was also recognized by MEMIC for excellence in the area of workplace safety and responsible management of workers' compensation claims. The Maine Employers Mutual Insurance Company, the state's largest workers' compensation insurance company, recognized Dragon as one of Maine's best employers and a leader in its industry.

In 1999, Dragon earned a Maine Department of Environmental Protection Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence in pollution prevention for changing its process for treating wastewater at its Thomaston cement plant as well as the Governor's 1998 Waste Reduction Award for reducing kiln dust by 65 percent at its Thomaston plant.

Recent and current projects include the Brunswick/Topsham Bypass, the Casco Bay Bridge in Portland, the Portland International Jetport expansion, the Bath Iron Works expansion, the Southern Maine Juvenile Facility in South Portland and the "Big Dig" in Boston. For more information, visit the Dragon website at www.dragonproducts.com.

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