A company known locally for its trucks hauling landscaping materials for homes and businesses has a presence in U.S. sporting venues that is as common as, well, sand at a beach.
Waupaca Sand & Solutions and SportZmix Solutions, two divisions of Faulks Bros. Construction, provide materials for golf courses, baseball fields, equestrian facilities and a wide variety of other sports and recreational fields and courts. There is little doubt you have seen (or maybe even played) on some of the surfaces they helped create.
Their clients over the years have included the Milwaukee Brewers, Timber Rattlers, Green Bay Packers, Churchill Downs, Whistling Straits and SentryWorld, as well as numerous others.
“Regionally, there’s not a lot of companies like us,” says Rob Johnson, senior account executive for Waupaca Sand & Solutions. He says while some companies “dabble” in the business of providing the materials and installing them, few Midwest competitors have the experience and technical capabilities WSS offers.
“We put thousands of dollars into testing,” Johnson says.
The result is a product that is far more technical than it would seem on the surface. It takes into account the client’s specifications, but through innovation it can create new standards in the industry.
The company takes its industry leadership seriously, with active memberships in golf associations, turf industry groups and park and rec associations.
Once the materials are applied and installed there typically is an ongoing relationship with clients as fields and courses need top dressing and annual maintenance, Johnson says.
The firm has worked from Wisconsin to Texas and prior to 2008 even performed work in Mexico, Guam, Hawaii and Dubai. But these days it sticks primarily to a Midwest footprint that stretches from Wisconsin to Texas, according to Ellen Davis, sales and operations manager for SportZMix. She says while the company has the capabilities to work further afield, it must assess if that is the best business model.
Syd and Oliver Faulks established Faulks Bros. delivering sand and gravel after World War II, then the company evolved into a diverse range of excavating and landscaping products and services. In the 1980s, they expanded offerings to include sand for golf courses.
As the 1980s drew to a close, Faulks Bros.’ GreensMix division gained prominence by providing sand for Black Wolf Run in Kohler.
In the 1990s Syd’s sons Bob and Randy assumed leadership of the company, ushering in a new era of expansion. They pursued growth through the acquisition of raw material sites and strategic mergers and acquisitions, solidifying Faulks Bros.’ position in the market. The GreensMix division was relaunched in 2007 as SportZmix.
Faulks Bros. Construction made a significant acquisition in April when it welcomed Kempker Greens Mix Blending of Missouri into the fold, further expanding its expertise and reach in the industry.
Today, Jon Faulks represents the third generation of his family at the helm of Faulks Bros. Construction.
Faulks says the 110-person company invests in the community through donations and in-kind work. It means when local youth teams take to the baseball field this summer, they’ll have something in common with major leaguers — a surface from Waupaca Sand and SportZMix Solutions.
