The year 1936 was not one of your better years for the construction business. But an important year. It was the year a young mining engineer who, though out of business and broke, saw a great opportunity. Maybe the rest of the industry saw unemployment, red ink and the failure of old ways to solve new problems, but not Art Avril. He had an idea and a great partner. With a lot of hard work, imagination, knowledge, and drive, 1936 was the year Art and Mary Avril created something of a revolution in the construction industry.

In his ready-mix concrete business, Art Avril had seen many people come into his plant looking for a bucket or shovelful of "drippings". They had a small job to do around the house and just didn't need a cubic yard of concrete. Art reasoned there might be a market for a bag of dry concrete and mortar homeowners could mix and use as needed.

But he also knew the average homeowner couldn't mix consistently good, strong concrete. He had the idea. Next, he needed the product. Art knew the technology of making good concrete but needed a process that provided dry material, a package with a moisture barrier, and a system which would incorporate the principle of proportioning the contents of each package as an individual unit. The container (a multiwall paper bag with a moisture barrier) resulted in a product of high quality and long shelf life. The system was then patented.

He also knew his bagged concrete mix was not only a superior product, it was very convenient. They sold distributors and retail dealers on the idea of convenience. No cement, sand or gravel to shovel, just buy a sack of SAKRETE. That sold customers who had no experience mixing cement but still had a job to do.

There may be some mysterious procedure for naming some products, but Art and Mary Avril did it their way...together. To name this great new product, they made lists of names, then spread them out on the dining room table. Narrowing the list to 50, they pulled out the name "SAKRETE". A name that is now recognized world-wide, SAKRETE is available in many countries, beginning with the U.S., Canada, the Far East, Western Europe, Latin America and others.