Photo / Courtesy Sargent Corp.
Seen from above, the 160-acre Bowdoin Aggregate Sales quarry will be renamed Sargent Bowdoin Quarry.
December 24, 2024
Sargent Corp. acquires Bowdoin quarry, plans hires
Photo / Courtesy Sargent Corp.
Folks from Sargent Corp. and Bowdoin Aggregate Sales gather at the quarry after the acquisition.
Sargent Corp., an employee-owned general contractor in Orono, said its acquisition of a 160-acre quarry in Bowdoin will mean the retention and hiring of employees there.
Sargent acquired Bowdoin Aggregate Sales from Peter and Paul Labbe.
“Sargent has bought the assets and hired all the employees except the scale operator, who has accepted a teaching position in India. The quarry will now operate as the Sargent Bowdoin Quarry,” Sebastian Bennage, Sargent’s communications coordinator, told Mainebiz.
The sale price was not disclosed.
The quarry supplies heavy gravel, quarry stone and spec gravel for the local construction industry.
It opened in the late 1980s under Ray Labbe & Sons, a construction firm established in 1955 and headquartered in Brunswick.
In 2019, Ray Labbe & Sons was sold to two long-time employees.
Ray’s sons, Peter and Paul Labbe, retained ownership of the quarry and continued to operate it independently.
With the Labbe family ready to step away from the business, Sargent stepped in to continue to supply the local construction industry and to maintain and strengthen existing relationships with area contractors, according to a news release.
"Our goal is to make this transition as seamless as possible," said Eric Ritchie, Sargent’s president and COO.
The quarry closed for orientation and planning on Dec. 23, resumed half-day operations on Dec. 24, and took the rest of the holiday week off. Normal operations resumed Dec. 30.
Sargent will retain five experienced quarry employees who will become Sargent employee-owners. Additionally, Sargent will add two to three personnel, including a scale operator and a laborer.
There will be minimal equipment upgrades.
Sargent Corp. dates back to 1926 in Alton, when Herbert E. Sargent bought a used Reo dump truck and set out to make a living, according to the company’s website.
Over the years, the company split into H.E. Sargent Inc. and Sargent & Sargent, then merged in 2005 to become Sargent Corp.
In 2013, Sargent became employee-owned.
Today, Sargent’s 500-plus employees work in seven Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states, building infrastructure that includes renewable energy projects, highways, commercial site work, landfills, airports and underground utilities.
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