The construction company, Powers & Sons, a firm with roots in Gary and known throughout the Midwest was honored on its 50th anniversary at Tuesday night’s city council meeting.
“Today is a great day for Powers & Sons Construction, in the city for 50 years,” said Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson, as part of the ceremony honoring the company that got its start in February 1967 as a homebuilder in Gary. Today, it is a commercial, industrial and institutional construction company. The company that Mamon Powers, Sr. founded with 3 employees has grown to 70 with offices in Chicago and Indianapolis.
Under the leadership of Mamon Powers, Jr. and his brother Claude Powers, the company is among the largest Black-owned firms in the nation. The mayor named the local construction projects – RailCats Stadium, YWCA, Methodist Hospitals, Marquette Park Pavilion, Lake Central High School, Williams Elementary School, and First AME Church.
The Powers & Sons website shows hundreds of construction projects, including its most recent completion in February for the Culver’s Restaurant chain in Joliet, IL. This new 4,323-square-foot restaurant is the first Culver’s that Powers & Sons has constructed. The project was completed ahead of schedule, in less than three months, and within the budget.
“There are some in the audience who’ve been with us close to 60 years and we’ve been to lots of places,” said Mamon Powers, Jr. “We’ve been to Miami and the Everglades. We’ve persevered; as long as someone else can build it, we can build it too. That’s the way we operate.” Seated in the council chambers audience were nearly 30 current and past Powers & Sons employees.
The company’s connections to its hometown are strong. Powers & Sons support community causes such as the United Negro College Fund, Frontiers International Service Club, Friends of Wirt-Emerson, Legacy Foundation, Boys & Girls Clubs of Northwest Indiana, Northern Indiana Links, and United Way.
It funds higher education scholarships with the Gary Educational Development Foundation, Purdue University, Indiana State University, Indiana University and Ivy Tech Community College.
