Commercial Asphalt was established in 1968 by Robert Kuhlman who erected a hand operated asphalt plant and a small shop at the current location. At that time, the company had twenty employees with five asphalt trucks, and serviced an area about 100 miles in radius. The plant's maximum production was 700 tons a day. Over the years, additions to the shop and storage area were completed with the current office & larger shop being built in 2013.
In 1983, Commercial Asphalt purchased their first portable plant, a 150 ton per hour Barber Greene DM55, In January of 1992, Commercial Asphalt was purchased by Spencer Quarries, Inc.
The company continues to grow and in 2009 a new portable Astec Portable plant was purchased with the capacity to produce 400 tons per hour. In 2011 another Portable plant was purchased with the capacity to produce 250 tons per hour. Our total equipment line now consists of over 200 pieces of heavy machinery. Commercial Asphalt is a strong contributor to the local economy. We currently have 25 full time employees, 30 seasonal employees and 6 part-time employees, with a payroll that will exceed $2.5 million in 2020.
With the three portable plants and our Astec stationary home plant, we have expanded our trade area to approximately a 250 mile radius of Mitchell. In recent years we have completed projects such as Parkston track improvements, Mike Durfee State Prison, Holiday Inn Express, I-90 shoulders, state highways and various lots, driveways, running tracks and airports in the Mitchell area. Commercial Asphalt also does gravel work, flush sealing, chip sealing and patching; and sells hot mix, patch mix and omega (wintertime mix) to the State of South Dakota, cities and counties as far away as Nebraska.