What Irondale Industrial Contractors Inc does

Irondale Industrial Contractors, Inc. (IIC) is an employee-owned, merit shop heavy industrial contractor headquartered in Irondale, Alabama (Birmingham metro). Founded in 1990 by John Kosie, the company began by serving the steel industry in Birmingham and has expanded over 35 years into six primary industrial verticals: cement and lime, steel and foundry, mining and minerals, biomass and power generation, air pollution control, and wood pellets/renewable fuels. IIC operates nationwide and internationally, completing projects across the U.S. from offices licensed in multiple states, with named enterprise customers including Mountain Cement Company (Eagle Materials), Enviva Biomass, NantRenewables, Accoya Systems, Mid-Continent Coke & Coal, Drax Biomass, Gerdau, and Big River Steel.

The company's core offering is a fully integrated design-build construction service delivered through self-performed trades: steel erection and supply, mechanical equipment installation, piping and instrumentation, concrete and foundations, and cranes and rigging. A differentiator is the owned fleet of cranes ranging from 23-ton boom trucks to 300-ton crawlers, which enables in-house heavy-lift execution and is also offered externally as a rental service. The business model is project-based professional services revenue, with pricing negotiated per project scope and individual IIC contract values reaching $103 million on projects whose total investment value can exceed $500 million. Customer acquisition is driven by direct enterprise sales, industry reputation, compliance prequalification (Avetta, Browz, ISNetworld), and trade publication visibility such as marquee project features in Biomass Magazine.

IIC is privately held with no institutional or parent-company ownership, is led by founder and President John Kosie, and operates with a lean 11-50 person employee base supported by craft subcontractors. The company emphasizes a safety culture with an Experience Modification Rate significantly below the national construction average and a zero-accidents record on multiple projects. No funding rounds, M&A activity, or AI/technology investments are disclosed in the available data.

Name

Irondale Industrial Contractors Inc

Legal name

Irondale Industrial Contractors, Inc.

Website

https://irondale.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Irondale Industrial Contractors is an employee-owned, merit-shop heavy industrial contractor providing integrated design-build, engineering, steel erection, equipment installation, piping, concrete, and crane services to enterprise clients across cement, steel, mining, biomass, and renewable energy sectors nationwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Heavy Industrial Construction Services

NAICS

Structural Steel and Precast Concrete Contractors (238120)

SIC

Heavy Construction Other Than Bldg Const - Contractors (1600), Construction - Special Trade Contractors (1700)

akta.pro primary industry

Metals & Steel Mill Facility Construction (IMAFADAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Mining & Mineral Processing Facility Construction (IMAFADAE), Automotive & Heavy Manufacturing Plant Construction (IMAFADAK)

Keywords

• Heavy industrial construction
• Design-build services
• Steel erection
• Equipment installation
• Crane and rigging

Headquarters

HQ city

Birmingham

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Industrial Construction Services: Project-based construction services including engineering, design-build, construction management, and direct-hire industrial construction. Revenue is generated through contracts on projects ranging from $25,000 to $500,000,000. Services span multiple trades including steel erection, equipment installation, piping, concrete, and crane/rigging operations.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Irondale Industrial Contractors is an employee-owned, merit shop heavy industrial contractor that self-performs integrated design-build, engineering, construction management, and direct-hire industrial construction services. Its portfolio spans steel erection, mechanical equipment installation, piping and instrumentation, concrete and foundations, and cranes and rigging, supported by an owned crane fleet. Projects range from $25,000 to $500 million in investment value across cement/lime, steel/foundry, mining and minerals, biomass/power generation, air pollution control, and wood pellet verticals.

Product overview

Irondale Industrial Contractors Inc (IIC) is an employee-owned, merit shop heavy industrial contractor offering a unified portfolio of integrated construction services. The core service lines include Steel Erection/Supply, Mechanical Equipment Installation, Piping and Instrumentation, Concrete and Foundations, and Cranes and Rigging (including Logistics). These services are self-performed by IIC's own workforce and are supported by an owned crane fleet available for both internal project use and external rental. IIC serves multiple industry verticals including Cement/Lime, Steel/Foundry, Mining & Minerals, Biomass/Power Generation, Air Pollution Control, and Wood Pellets, with projects ranging from $25,000 to $500 million in investment value.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Steel Erection/Supply Steel design, supply, and erection services for industrial projects, leveraging strong industry connections with fabricators and suppliers. Intended for enterprise industrial clients building or expanding plants in cement, steel, mining, biomass, and related sectors.
• Mechanical Equipment Installation Assembly and installation of industrial equipment including baghouses, furnaces, mills, conveyors, screens, kilns, preheaters, calciners, dryers, coolers, pumps, fans, and cyclones for enterprise clients across cement, steel, mining, biomass, and power generation facilities.
• Piping and Instrumentation Pipefitting and welding services including process piping, ductwork, high-pressure hydraulic, and utility piping for industrial applications, serving heavy industrial project owners.
• Concrete and Foundations Concrete and foundation construction services with licensed engineering capabilities supporting a one-stop design and build approach, intended to streamline project schedules and reduce costs for industrial facility owners.
• Cranes and Rigging Rigging, offloading/logistics, and equipment-setting services using the company's own fleet of cranes and experienced riggers to safely handle, transport, store, and assemble steel, equipment, and project materials for industrial projects.
• Crane Fleet Rental Rental services from IIC's fleet of cranes ranging from large crawlers to small rough terrain cranes, including 300-ton, 275-ton, 200-ton, 150-ton, 110-ton, 100-ton, 75-ton, 65-ton, 50-ton, and 23-ton units, available to industrial clients and contractors needing high-capacity lifts.

Quantifiable outcome

• EMR significantly lower than national construction average
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• FLSmidthcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEquipment supplier for cement and lime projects. IIC has experience with cement and ancillary equipment manufactured by FLSmidth. Major OEM partner for pyro processing equipment.
• KHD/Humboldt WedagcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEquipment supplier for cement projects. IIC has experience with equipment from KHD/Humboldt Wedag for cement production facilities.
• Thyssen-Krupp/PolysiuscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEquipment supplier for cement projects. IIC has experience with equipment from Thyssen-Krupp/Polysius including tk/Polysius for cement line projects.
• MetsocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEquipment supplier for lime plant projects. IIC has installed equipment from Metso for lime production facilities.
• Christian PfeiffercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEquipment supplier for mineral processing equipment including ball mills and crushers. Used in NantRenewables project.
• Steel FabricatorscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrong connections with steel fabricators enabling steel supply and erection services for projects. Part of IIC's self-sufficient service offering.
• Electrical ContractorsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnerships with electrical contractors to provide complete project services as part of IIC's full-service offering.
• Insulation ContractorsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnerships with insulation contractors for complete project delivery on industrial construction projects.
• Jedson EngineeringcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEngineer of Record for MCC K3 cement project ($430 million investment) in Laramie, Wyoming.
• KiewitcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEngineer of Record for Enviva Epes wood pellet project ($375 million investment) in Sumter County, Alabama.
• Dailey and Davis, LLCcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOwner's Construction Manager for MCC K3 cement project. Represents the owner on the $430 million cement line project.
• O'NealcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEngineer of Record for Project Larson chemical process facility ($66 million investment) for Accoya Systems in Kingsport, Tennessee.
• NAFCOminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOwner's Representative for Mid-Continent Coke & Coal project to service Big River Steel Plant in Osceola, Arkansas.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• MasTec: Large publicly traded infrastructure construction firm with material exposure to industrial, energy, and power generation customers; a scaled comparable for IIC's heavy industrial and biomass/power work.
• Fluor Corporation: Global Fortune 500 EPC firm executing large industrial, mining, and energy projects; competes for the same mega-project prime-contract mandates IIC bids as a sub or specialty contractor.
• Kiewit: One of North America's largest construction and engineering organizations; IIC is already a subcontractor/partner to Kiewit on the Enviva Epes project, making Kiewit both a customer relationship and a broader benchmark for industrial EPC scale.
• Quanta Services: Largest pure-play utility and industrial infrastructure services company in North America; comparable at the industry/vertical level for power generation and heavy industrial construction services.
• AECOM: Global infrastructure consulting and construction services firm with a large industrial construction practice; sets the broader benchmark for full-scope EPC delivery against which mid-size specialists like IIC differentiate.

Direct peers

• TIC (Kiewit Industrial Group): Kiewit's industrial construction arm executing heavy industrial projects across power, mining, cement, and renewables; a direct functional peer to IIC's design-build industrial scope at a larger scale.
• The Weitz Company: Employee-owned general contractor and industrial builder executing design-build projects in industrial, energy, and manufacturing markets; closely comparable in structure, vertical mix, and project size range.
• S&B Engineers and Constructors: Houston-based EPC firm executing industrial plant projects for refining, petrochemical, and heavy industrial clients; directly comparable in project scale, owner-direct model, and industrial vertical focus.
• Graycor: Family-owned, mid-size U.S. industrial contractor providing construction, maintenance, and fabrication services across heavy industrial markets — closely comparable to IIC's multi-trade, self-perform model.
• Barnard Construction: Employee-owned heavy civil and industrial contractor delivering complex infrastructure and industrial projects; comparable to IIC in self-perform trade model and mid-cap contract sizes.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/irondale-industrial-contractors-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Irondale Industrial Contractors Inc