A Salute to a
Customer
Iroquois Paving Corporation LLC provides quality roads, bridges in Illinois
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Iroquois Paving Corporation LLC (IPC) looks at asphalt paving like a three-legged stool.
Joe Cowan, president
“We have plant production, laydown and quality control that ensures our asphalt meets specifications,” explained Daniel Tincher, vice president of operations. “All three are equally important. Take any one of those away, the stool falls, and we fail. We are not about to let that happen.” That philosophy has served the Watseka, Ill., firm well during the past several decades and helped it grow from a two-man operation in its earliest days into a full-service contractor. Over time, the business changed names and eventually became known as Iroquois Paving Corporation. As its name indicates, paving has been a mainstay service, but now it offers a broad list of services.
Much of the expansion has been done during the last two decades under the leadership and vision of President Joe Cowan. That includes the erection of an asphalt plant in Monee, which added Will and Cook to the list of counties IPC works in. Additional counties include Kankakee, Iroquois, Ford, Vermilion and Livingston. Additionally, IPC has a plant in Gilman.
“Joe has led Iroquois through some challenging times during his tenure, and we have come out stronger as a company,” said Tincher. “His
commitment to his partners and employees has been demonstrated time and again, and that, along with his vision and sacrifice, have produced success for the entire IPC family.”
Cowan leads a management team that includes several longtime staff members who have moved up the ranks. In addition to Tincher, that includes John Lynch and Jayn Redeker who are vice presidents. Those four also oversee Interstate Asphalt LLC and Interstate Trucking LLC. “Bid work makes up nearly 100% of our list,” Tincher noted. “We like that. It keeps us on our toes and keeps us from being complacent. We really believe that’s key to consistent improvement.”
Credit to the staff IPC is known not only for quality asphalt work on heavy highway Department of Transportation (DOT) projects, but city streets, parking lots, bike paths and residential driveways as well. Growth brought the addition of dirt and utility work, bridge installation and milling, and recycling operations in Monee, Gilman, Watseka and Buckley. “Paving and milling currently make up about 90% of our work,” said Tincher. “That can change from year to year based on DOT and municipalities’ budgets. Those have increased
An IPC operator mills 12 feet, 6 inches wide and nearly 4 inches deep on a lane of highway with a WIRTGEN W 250 Fi cold milling machine. “It has great power to make the cuts we need, and at the same time, it’s smooth,” said Eric Davenport, foreman. “We’re able to cut about 60 feet per minute. It’s a great machine.”
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