 On September first of 1999, C.A. Hull passed what the company
considers a milestone in its history; it was on the same date in 1954 that the company was
first incorporated.
C.A. Hull's beginnings date back to the era of
Michigan road building when earth excavation was performed with horse drawn
implements. During this period Clarence Hull and his father were active in the dirt
business. Clarence actually worked for his father doing the related concrete work found on
earth moving projects, which consisted of building headwalls and culverts. Clarence's
concrete work evolved into a proprietorship in his name in the late forties.
In the 1950s Clarence hired a young engineer by the
name of Don Malloure. Malloure had attended the University of Michigan for a degree
in civil engineering on the G.I. Bill after serving in the U.S. Navy. Malloure
approached Clarence about an employment arrangement that included an ownership
provision. They agreed to form a new business called C.A. Hull Co., Inc. in 1954 with
Don Malloure as a minority shareholder. The agreement was to be that Malloure would
acquire the balance of the company over ten years, but the new business was to proceed
only if an upcoming letting by the Michigan State Highway Department (MSHD) was
successful. If it was not, Clarence Hull planned to sell the business and retire.
Needless to say, a bid to build a bridge that would
carry what is now 1-75 over a rail spur in Monroe County was a success and C.A. Hull has
continued to grow and thrive. By 1965 Malloure had acquired 100% ownership of the
company, and in 1966 when Clarence Hull passed away, the future of the company was left to
him.
 Today's C.A. Hull is bigger than it was during that era; it has
grown to one of the largest bridge-building firms in Michigan. It has advanced
technologically with the changing times, too, but the foundation that was laid so many
decades ago is still intact and C.A. Hull is a tough competitor in the MDOT letting arena.
Now many of
the operational duties are administered by the next generation of Malloure engineers; his
sons Joe, John and Paul all play integral roles in managing the company and its projects.
Joe Malloure is now president of the company, and John and Paul are both Vice Presidents.
According to Joe Malloure, over 90% of the company's
work comes from being the low bidder on MDOT contracts. They do a large portion of
their work in Michigan's lower peninsula concentrated in the Detroit metro area, but have
done jobs in the U.P and out-state areas. Although Hull is primarily a bridge
contractor, they also do some concrete paving, marine work and excavating. |
COMPANY HISTORY