Our History

A Legacy of Performance.

Jeremiah Fruin, the founder of Fru-Con, began his company with a concept of customer satisfaction that was firmly rooted in the no-nonsense value systems of a vigorous nineteenth century America. It would stand his company in good stead for more than 135 years. As a result, Fruin is one of those rare figures in the history of American enterprise, a man who not only leaves an enduring legacy behind him, but also embarks on a great journey, a heroic, often-perilous voyage that continues through the next century, and into the millennium beyond.

The Late 1800s

Born in County Tipperary, Ireland, in 1831, Fruin accompanied his parents to Brooklyn, New York, at the age of two. At 16 years of age his formal education ended when he joined his father in the construction business. During the time he spent with his father in New York he gained a reputation for construction competence and as an outstanding baseball player. He was posted to St. Louis during the Civil War, while serving in the Union Army's Quartermaster's Corps. When the Civil War ended, Fruin operated independently for six or seven years in street and sewer construction. Then in 1872 he founded Fruin & Co. General Contractors.

Two years before the dedication of the Eads Bridge (the first bridge across the Mississippi River), Fruin saw the natural wealth of Missouri and Illinois and realized the strategic role St. Louis would continue to play in the nation's burgeoning economic expansion. In 1872, St. Louis was the world's largest flour manufacturer, had one of the world's largest inland ports, boasted a population of 300,000 and had 3,000 busy manufacturers who employed 40,000 people.

The scope of activities of Fruin's newly formed company initially included the construction of roads, sewers, streetcar lines, and railroads. After a few years, the company started to operate its own quarries and ambitiously extended its operations as far as the east coast. In 1897, for instance, it was awarded a contract for a large masonry dam near Holyoke, Massachusetts. By the turn of the century, the company even had a presence back in Fruin's hometown, and was struggling with the operational and financial complexities associated with a number of street paving projects in New York City. Throughout these decades, Fruin set what was to become a pattern of civic involvement for company executives.

In 1892, Redmond S. Colnon, a young engineer with a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Cornell University, joined the company. Three years later, in 1895, he married Katherine Fruin, Jeremiah's daughter. Almost immediately, Colnon became an invaluable partner to his father-in-law, taking quick action to restructure the company and assume responsibility for its debts. Under the banner of Fruin and Colnon General Contractors, the new management team would prove extremely successful.

The Early 1900s

The company's name changed to Fruin-Colnon Contracting Company in 1908, and operations expanded to include the construction of buildings. Fruin headed the new company until his death at age 81 in 1912. At this time, Colnon became company president.

When it was first incorporated in 1908, Fruin-Colnon Contracting Company had three stockholders: Jeremiah Fruin, Redmond Colnon, and Katherine Fruin Colnon. Each had 150 shares of stock. In addition to growing the company, increasing its reputation as an absolutely reliable local contractor, and strengthening its engineering services, Colnon originated an innovative program in which employees could purchase an interest in the firm. Upon his death in 1927, Katherine fully implemented his plans. Initially, 19 key employees purchased stock in the company. The stock purchase plan would remain in effect for the next 54 years.

During the 1920s and 30s, Fruin-Colnon strengthened its reputation as the construction company clients could depend on to deliver projects on time and within budget. The company concentrated its energies mostly in a 100-mile radius of the City of St. Louis. It undertook a wide variety of construction projects including industrial and commercial facilities, power stations, public utilities, railroads, viaducts, streets and highways.

The Mid 1900s

The 1940s saw a considerable expansion of the company's operations to encompass nearly all major fields of construction. In addition to the successful completion of numerous industrial and commercial projects, the company expanded its scope to include military construction projects. These opportunities arose from relationships forged with military and Corps of Engineers leaders by Fruin-Colnon managers and executives. The company also furthered its reputation in constructing high rise buildings, hospitals, highways, bridges, airports, dams, tunnels, and water and wastewater treatment plants.

In 1940, the company bolstered its existing design and engineering division by incorporating it as a company: Fruco Engineers, Inc. With the formation of Fruco Engineers, Fruin-Colnon effectively extended its scope of services to include integrated engineering design, procurement, and construction services for many segments of the industrial and manufacturing industries. It was an innovative step. Fruin-Colnon could now provide from one source all the construction, mechanical, electrical, and instrumentation design, equipment installation, project supervision, and quality control services any client needed. Fruin-Colnon also focused on improved construction technologies, often leading the construction industry in adapting modern equipment and methodologies. Another hallmark of the decade for Fruin-Colnon was the beginning of what would become a remarkable 50-year relationship (which continues to this day) with one of America's leading consumer products companies, Procter & Gamble.

The 1950s and 1960s saw the company growing into a national organization, with a variety of construction and engineering projects that mirrored its diversity on the local and regional scene. Projects ranged from subways to soap factories, highways to hospitals, metropolitan airports to air pollution control systems and water treatment facilities, and from bridges and dams to buildings of every size and description.

The Late 1900s

By the early 1970s, the company had expanded into an extensive organization that included Fruin-Colnon Corporation; Voss International Corporation; U.S. Enviro-Con, Inc.; Process Piping Company; Fruco Engineering; Fruco Realty Company; Industrial Investment Corp.; Pelham Leasing Corp.; Insurance Management Systems Inc.; and the Middle East International Contracting Co. Regional and divisional offices were opened in Houston, New Orleans and San Francisco. Growth was steady in almost every direction.

In 1975, to provide unity for the multiple operating entities which had been formed to handle the growth in client base and project volume, Fru-Con Corporation was established as the parent company. In 1978, Fru-Con Corporation became closely linked with Germany's Bilfinger+Berger Bauaktiengesellschaft, one of the 25 largest construction companies in the world. Bilfinger+Berger purchased 40 percent of Fru-Con at this time. This affiliation permitted a mutually valuable exchange of experience, construction technologies, and know-how which benefited both companies.

Fru-Con could now invest in continued expansion. Bilfinger+Berger gained a presence in the U.S. market and could tap into Fru-Con's extraordinary industrial projects experience.

In 1984, Bilfinger+Berger assumed full ownership of the firm. Fruin-Colnon Corporation became Fru-Con Construction Corporation to reflect the new operation. In 1987 Fru-Con designed, built, and moved into quarters at 15933 Clayton Road, Ballwin, MO, a suburb of St. Louis.

Fru-Con focused carefully on strategic markets which aligned with its vision for the future. Work for Procter & Gamble continued. Multiple projects for Mallinckrodt, Inc. were awarded. Fru-Con won two large downtown St. Louis commercial contracts. The energy market was heating up and the company was executing successful public works projects in Egypt.

For the 1990s, Fru-Con reorganized into service units and self-directing profit centers with direct responsibility for bottom line performance, and adopted a total quality process philosophy that would soon become an integral part of the company's culture. In the decade of the 1990s a more competitive Fru-Con saw healthy increases in sales and revenues. A controlled approach to expanding Fru-Con's offices network created strategic new locations carefully keyed to marketing opportunities: Birmingham, Alabama; Charleston, Tennessee; Cincinnati, Ohio; Green Bay, Wisconsin; Mexico City, Mexico; and Hong Kong, China. Fru-Con also acquired the highly respected Maine-based environmental construction and services firm, H.E. Sargent, which also has a branch location in Richmond, Virgina. As a major construction supplier both locally and nationally, the company acquired some of the largest construction contracts in its history.

2000 and Beyond

In 2011, heavy civil contractor Balfour Beatty Infrastructure, Inc. acquired Fru-Con. Balfour Beatty Infrastructure has 750 employees and annual revenues of approximately $400 million. The company excels at large, complex projects, including water and wastewater treatment plants, highways, structures and tunnels. 

Balfour Beatty Infrastructure has headquarters in Atlanta and is part of London-based Balfour Beatty plc., a global engineering, construction, services and investment organization specializing in large infrastructure and building programs. 

Fru-Con Construction, LLC, and the historic companies that gave rise to it have achieved a great deal in more than 135 years. Satisfied clients and recognizable landmarks, locally, nationally, and internationally, have become the Fru-Con standard.

Fru-Con has built and designed mass transit tunnels and stations in San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Buffalo, Baltimore, and Pittsburgh; dams in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Alabama, and West Virginia; highways and bridges in Louisiana, Indiana, and Illinois; intake structures in Kuwait; bridges in Panama and Italy; wastewater treatment plants and dams in Egypt; and manufacturing facilities in China.

In its long history, the company has performed major construction or engineering projects for hundreds of the nation's most quality-conscious clients. It's a record of which Jeremiah Fruin would be proud.