After a two-year U.S. Army stint stationed near the DMZ in South Korea, Ralph Korte returns home to Southern Illinois with a hunger to learn.
Ralph Korte Construction is formed on New Year’s Day. The fledgling company’s first projects include milking parlors and hog houses for area farmers.
The company’s first healthcare construction project, Helvetia Nursing Home in Highland, is completed.
A few blocks away, the company also completes its first multi-unit apartment building: The Poplar Apartments.
Construction of the Wall Street Journal printing plant in Highland is complete. Read about the shrewd detective work that led to ×ã²ÊÅâÂÊ winning the job here.
Ralph Korte hires Vern Eardley as his second-in-command.
×ã²ÊÅâÂÊ becomes a Design-Build firm with the creation of Ralph Korte Planning & Management. The company’s first Design-Build project, Bitzer-Croft Motors in Collinsville, Illinois, breaks ground.
The new Safe Supply building in Highland is the company’s first Tilt-Up concrete construction project.
×ã²ÊÅâÂÊ becomes a bi-state builder with jobs completed in Illinois and Missouri.
Ralph Korte Planning & Management becomes Ralph Korte Architectural Services, Inc.
Desktop computers are utilized company-wide.
Ralph Korte Architectural Services, Inc. implements AutoCAD system.
Company opens a St. Louis office inside Union Station.
With projects complete in 14 U.S. states, ×ã²ÊÅâÂÊ is named a Top-400 contractor.
The company wins its first Department of Defense construction project at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois.
Walgreens contracts with ×ã²ÊÅâÂÊ to build a distribution center in Mt. Vernon, Illinois, starting a relationship that’s culminated in 88 projects completed to date.
×ã²ÊÅâÂÊ completes construction of Building 4203 at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. It’s the company’s first federal Design-Build project.
The first of 48 U.S. Postal Service distribution center projects begins in Huron, South Dakota.
×ã²ÊÅâÂÊ co-founds the Design-Build Institute of America in an effort to update federal government procurement rules to recognize Design-Build as a viable method for construction projects.
×ã²ÊÅâÂÊ crosses an ocean for the first time, completing a renovation at Kilauea Military Camp in Hawaii.
The company incorporates LEED design principles for the first time on another Scott Air Force Base project.
Ralph Korte steps down as CEO. Todd Korte, Ralph’s second son, becomes President and CEO of the company.
×ã²ÊÅâÂÊ has completed work in 25 U.S. states and has reached $284 million in construction volume.
×ã²ÊÅâÂÊ builds its first structure over 1 million square feet. The Unilever facility in Pontoon Beach, Illinois is 1.3 million square feet.
A Las Vegas office is opened under the leadership of Ralph’s first son, Greg Korte.Â
×ã²ÊÅâÂÊ is simultaneously under contract with the U.S. Air Force, Army, Marine Corps and Navy.
Designing and estimation enter the digital age as ×ã²ÊÅâÂÊ uses Building Information Modeling (BIM) for the first time during construction of a corporate center in Fairview Heights, Illinois.
×ã²ÊÅâÂÊ has completed projects in 37 U.S. states.
In its 50th year in business, ×ã²ÊÅâÂÊ reaches $364 million in construction volume.
×ã²ÊÅâÂÊ relocates its St. Louis headquarters to a new LEED-certified corporate complex.
The company goes overseas again, completing a Design-Build project at Fort Allen, Puerto Rico.
The Fort Lee Army Lodge in Virginia becomes ×ã²ÊÅâÂÊ’s largest Department of Defense construction project.
The company has completed projects in 39 U.S. states.
The newly-completed Tinker Air Force Base hangar in Oklahoma uses 57 million pounds of recycled materials and earns LEED certification.
×ã²ÊÅâÂÊ completes its first Indiana Design-Build school project (Mooresville High School).
The company’s 41st U.S. Postal Service project is completed in Houston, Texas.
×ã²ÊÅâÂÊ’s largest Design-Build contract in its history is agreed for a U.S. Postal Service distribution center in Portland, Oregon.
The company has completed projects in 42 U.S. states.
The Nevada Contractors Association names ×ã²ÊÅâÂÊ’s Las Vegas Division Contractor of the Year.
Projects completed in 44 states.
×ã²ÊÅâÂÊ opens an office in Houston, Texas. It’s the company’s fifth office.
×ã²ÊÅâÂÊ continues its growth in the Las Vegas market.
Eighteen acres of desert are transformed with the construction of a 341,000-square-foot distribution center for LSA Development LLC.
Revitalization of Downtown Las Vegas continues. ×ã²ÊÅâÂÊ’s renovation of the historic El Cortez Hotel & Casino is just one of several notable Downtown projects.
Michigan becomes ×ã²ÊÅâÂÊ’s 45th state with a job well done.
The land of large water makes an ideal home for two new Amazon projects. Facilities in the Bad Axe and Mt. Pleasant communities total a combined 20,000 square feet.
We tipped our hardhats to the welcoming people of Michigan and our ever-stronger partners at Amazon.