The earliest pictures we've got of Allen Keller are from a 1938 runway build.

He was in a lead role of field operations. That was his best role and is one that still runs strong in our gene pool, leading people, supporting them and giving them what they need to accomplish big projects. Folks always said he was good at that and we carry on that legacy to this day.

WWII airstrips

During the war, Texas was a major training hub with over 150 installations including 40+ airstrips for training pilots. Throughout the war, more than 1.5 Million personnel came through. Big wars need big infrastructure done well and quickly, and Allen was heavily involved in the runway construction. Harlingen Air Strip, which is now called Valley International Airport was (HRL) one of many he worked on. It is a real point of pride for us that the Keller family laid down some of the foundations of Texas' heavy infrastructure, aviation and otherwise.

A guy was given a chance…

In 1946, after the war was over, Allen and two other guys started a company….Doc Killian and Briggs. One was a silent partner and the other ran the business. Dad didn't have much in the way of anything to offer the company financially, but they gave him a chance and he gave his sweat and blood. They broke out into doing heavy highway work and by '53 things had gone so well that Grandpa Allen was able to buy out his partners.

As current president Kory Keller shared:

"What I've gleaned at this point is this: At the beginning when my grandfather had nothing, those guys just gave him a chance. You had someone with money and no skill, and someone with skill, work ethic and no money coming together to make something. That will forever inspire me to give other people the same opportunities here: a chance to make something by giving them paths to leadership and ownership."

Eisenhower's Interstate

The decades after the war saw a big boom in big roads. Eisenhower is famous for getting the Interstates built across America and that was how Allen Keller made its name. In any career, biting off something bigger than you can chew is usually either what makes or breaks you. Well, Allen bit off a big bite on the I-10 where it heads into the Hill Country near Kerrville and pulled it off with style. You can still see his beautiful rock cuts today. It was for that project that we bought our first 992 Cat loader. Kory remembers meeting the guy that received that machine off the train, assembled it and drove it up into the hills for the project.

Road Building Gypsies

During those decades, the Keller company was a traveling band of builders. It was a family affair and the whole company would move from job site to job site. The men would all head off to work and the wives and kids would stay in town in housing close together. The Keller family was always the last to move on to the next job as Grandpa Allen had to stay and finish off the job. This meant they got the last pickings of the housing when they got there. But according to Keith, Allen's son and successor, those were happy years and they knew no lack of anything. At age 14 he joined the work crews and made his ways through the ranks, eventually taking over the company in the mid 1970's.

Boom and Bust in a Tough Industry

While the infrastructure Allen Keller company was building would endure, in an industry as tough as ours, there was no promise that the company would. We've gone through many cycles of boom and bust and have seen how the government's appetite for big construction projects can be as changeable as the weather. When the savings and loan crisis hit in the 1980's, Allen Keller's 300 strong workforce was decimated down to just 30. So when the third generation of Kellers (Kory) came of age in the 90's and took the reins. His work was cut out for him.

Learning the ropes

Despite a fresh college degree in hand, Kory took the advice of a seasoned superintendent to "see a job through, from putting up the barricades to taking them down," and headed out to the field where he spent the next 7-8 years mastering every side of the business. His love of field work and deep knowledge of what it takes to get a job done well inform everything he does today as president. Since taking over the company in 1996, Kory has led the company through two cycles of recession and recovery. Despite now being in the role of president, to this day in the field is where he'd love to be, getting jobs done well.

EMBRACING HISTORY AND PROGRESS

The significance of this image is in it’s story. During the 1950s-60s we dug out our roads with these with a cable shovels (seen in the background) which required one drive and one “grease man” who was in charge of constantly lubricating the various parts. In the late 1960s, the front end loader was a revolutionary invention. It only required one man to operate and could move far more dirt far more quickly. But we owned and used both of them until the day the cable shovel died off. We know how to use what we’ve got at hand, and still keep an eye on the future.

The Legacy Lives On

Under Kory Keller's leadership and by the sweat and blood of over 150 team members, the Allen Keller Company thrives today. With generations of experience and care for our people and equipment, it really is our joy to tackle any heavy infrastructure job. Whether it's Interstates, ranches, or runways, enduring Texas landscapes will continue to be shaped by the Allen Keller Company.