VISALIA, CA — Unified Screening & Crushing, a premier manufacturer of screening and sizing media and supplier of crusher wear parts opened its California office 33 years ago.

What began as a two-person office has grown into the largest of Unified’s network of manufacturing and finishing facilities.

“People often say ‘I can remember it like it was yesterday,’” said Unified president and CEO Tom Lentsch, “but it really does feel like it was just yesterday that we bootstrapped the startup of our first satellite office.”

Lentsch, then a manager for Unified, uprooted his young family of four to head west to establish California Wire, Unified’s first sales office, and then manufacturing facility, outside of the company’s corporate offices in Minnesota at the time.

“Growth across California and the region in the last quarter of a century naturally increased the demand for aggregates and the companies that support our industry, like Unified,” said Lentsch. “We are proud to have been a part of building that infrastructure.”

The industry continues to see strong growth, in everything from residential to road construction. As recently as 2016, the state of California was one of the top states for production-for-consumption of construction aggregates.