EACOM Timber Corporation has left behind the world of respiratory disease research for a foray into the wild world of lumber and forestry. In 2007 the company halted its development activities and later sold its assets to a private Swedish drug company called Biolipox. A 2008 deal to merge with medical device firm Z-Tech (Canada) later fell through, and the company eventually opted to abandon the health field completely and target the forestry and lumber industry. An acquisition of eight sawmills in 2010 boosted EACOM to become one of the largest softwood producers in Eastern Canada.

The construction operations of The Pepper Companies provide general contractor and construction management services for sectors including health care, retail, entertainment, hotels, industrial, and education. Projects include the 29,000-sq.-ft ape habitat at the Lincoln Park Zoo, 900,000 sq. ft. of new or renovated space at Central DuPage Hospital, and more than a dozen Galyan's outdoor stores throughout the Midwest. Pepper Environmental Technologies provides environmental services. Stanley F. Pepper founded the company in Chicago in 1927; the group is owned by his family and employees of the firm.

Heavy construction firm Ranger Construction Industries builds and resurfaces roads and parking lots in the Sunshine State. It also operates asphalt plants and a large fleet of excavation, grading, and asphalt equipment. The company's Ranger Golf division provides golf course construction and renovation services, including mass excavation, shaping, and turf services, throughout the US. Ranger Construction Industries is a subsidiary of Florida-based Vecellio Group, one of the largest transportation contractors in the US.

Apogee Enterprises, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the design and development of glass products, services, and systems. The company operates through two segments, Architectural Products and Services, and Large-Scale Optical Technologies. The Architectural Products and Services segment designs, engineers, fabricates, installs, maintains, and renovates the walls of glass, windows, storefront, and entrances comprising the outside skin of commercial and institutional buildings. This segment involves in the fabrication of coated and high-performance architectural glass; installation, maintenance, and renovation of full-service building glass; manufacture of aluminum window systems and curtain walls; paint and anodizing finish of architectural aluminum and PVC shutters; and fabrication of aluminum storefront, entrance, and curtain wall products. This segment markets its products through direct sales, and distribution and independent sales representatives to architects, building owners, general contractors, and glazing subcontractors in the commercial construction market. The Large-Scale Optical Technologies segment manufactures glass and acrylic products for the custom picture framing market and commercial optics. This segment distributes its products through independent distributors and mass merchandisers, as well as directly to museums, and public and private galleries. Apogee Enterprises, Inc. offers its products primarily in the United States, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Apogee Enterprises, Inc. was founded in 1949 and is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Lafarge Cement UK, a subsidiary of Paris-based Lafarge, pours it on the competition. With about 6 cement plants located throughout the UK, the company supplies about 40% of the country's market. Major products include Portland cements and Portland composite cements, high performance cements (heat resistant, sulfate resistant, rapid setting), and special cements (shrinkage compensated concrete, granulated blast furnace slag, pulverized fuel ash, and Portland-slag cement). It also produces plasterboard. Lafarge made it big in the UK when it acquired Blue Circle Industries in 2001; Lafarge Cement UK still uses the Blue Circle name to sell its cement.

Philip Services Corporation (PSC) undertakes a wide range of industrial and environmental cleanup projects throughout the US, Mexico, and Canada. Besides scrap metal recycling services, which have been the company's longtime focus, PSC provides on-site waste disposal and recycling, cleaning of industrial equipment, transportation of commercial and industrial waste, and emergency response to spills. In addition, PSC alos offers oil field services both onshore and offshore along the US Gulf Coast. Entities owned by investor Carl Icahn control PSC. The initials PSC also stand for the company's operating philosophy -- People, Safety, and Commitment.

Through its subsidiaries, Recology handles garbage collection, recycling, and other waste management services for more than 570,000 residential customers and 55,000 commercial customers in San Francisco and some 50 other California communities. The employee-owned company operates landfills, transfer stations, and hundreds of recycling programs. Recology's recycling operations include materials-recovery facilities, recycling of construction and demolition debris, and composting of food and other organic waste.

John Portman & Associates (Portman) casts a long shadow, and some of its buildings do, too. The company is the architectural arm of major private developer Portman Holdings; Portman specializes in the construction of such commercial and public projects as hotels, office buildings, mixed-use properties, and universities. Clients include Bank of China, City of Atlanta, and Daewoo. Support services include master planning, programming, and structural engineering. The company is active throughout the US and in China; it has also undertaken projects in other parts of Asia and in Europe and Africa. Portman was founded by John Portman in 1953. He and his family continue to lead the company.

Formed by Charles Shelly in 1938, the company was acquired in 2000 for $362 million by Oldcastle Materials, a unit of Ireland-based CRH. The acquisition helped boost Shelly's growth and now it produces nearly 9 million tons of asphalt each year. The Shelly Company has only scratched the surface of the road paving business. The company, which produces aggregates and asphalt for road surfacing, operates several aggregate facilities and asphalt plants in Ohio. Operations include quarries, sand and gravel pits, fixed and portable asphalt plants, and bitumen terminals. The Shelly Company is also a paving and road construction contractor. Other divisions manufacture cement and and ready mix concrete.

ROEL Construction builds large commercial projects,the general contractor provides commercial building preconstruction, construction, and management services to private-sector customers in the western US. It offers services including construction forensics, design, and management, focusing on new construction, tenant improvements, structural concrete work, and consulting. ROEL Construction has California offices in Palm Desert, Irvine, and San Diego, and another office in Las Vegas. The family-owned company was founded in 1917 by Tom Roel, great-grandfather of president and COO Kevin Elliott. Suffolk Construction is buying ROEL to boost its presence in Southern California.

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