It was a fantastic doubleheader day in the town of Oregon, Illinois, as the Manufacturing Express rolled down the road to visit a company that MAKES the roads: Etnyre International, renowned manufacturers in the asphalt road building industry. The sun shone bright today as a staff of nearly 500 men and women came out to partake in the day’s festivities and celebrate building the machines that build the roads that keep our country moving.
Etnyre considers themselves a “true manufacturer” here in Oregon, Illinois because they build everything themselves. What comes in as sheet metal will leave as an Asphalt Transport, Cracksealers, ChipSpreaders, or any number of other Etnyre asphalt road building equipment. Take a walk through Etnyre’s facility and you’ll see how diverse their product lines are.
Throughout the facility there are rows filled with cylindrical Etnyre Asphalt Transport Tanks. Etnyre makes 550 of these a year, which are instrumental in helping municipalities get the asphalt to build the roads they need. Not only do they make the transport tanks, they also manufacture the Lowboy Trailers that haul the transport tanks.
Etnyre also manufactures equipment to help apply the asphalt. Their biggest ticket item is the ChipSpreader, a large yellow machine that paves and seals roads using the chip seal method. This works by combining asphalt with aggregate to make an asphalt road that lasts longer and is safer for drivers. They also help municipalities maintain their roads through equipment like their Cracksealers, which prove useful in repairing cracks on roadways.
From the company’s origins, it was not always immediately clear that Etnrye would evolve into an asphalt paving company. The company was founded by Edward D. Etnyre in 1898, a hog farmer who invented an automatic hog watering system for his own farm. His invention’s success would lead to the company expanding into other water distribution products, including a horse-drawn water sprinkler and Street Flusher.
During World War II, Etnyre was one of the main contractors developing water distributor tanks for the military. This experience led to the company finding innovative ways to move liquids securely. Years later they would find this had applications in the asphalt industry, which led to their company’s product line expanding to service their customers in the road building business.
The company’s reach has grown internationally. Not only do they make water distribution tanks for our military overseas, they’ve also expanded their presence into markets in Latin America, Africa, and India. And all of that work traces back here to the company’s roots in Oregon.
As the Manufacturing Express reaches the final stretch of our 2024 tour, we are grateful to companies like Etnyre that make this possible. Without the strong and safe roads that Etnyre has provided to communities across this nation, we would have never been able to embark on our journey to tell the stories of the 2.3 million men and women of the industry. Thanks to Etnyre paving the way forward, kids can go to school, parents can go to work, and families can go on vacation. And this would not have been possible without one pig farmer’s bright idea over a century ago.
