05/26/2026
Message from Jeff Bradfield: Owner and CEO of Lodestar Structures and Anchor Concrete Products.
I own Anchor, which is a second-generation family-owned precast concrete manufacturing company in Kingston, Ontario. Operating in the concrete industry—one of the largest and most carbon-intensive industries on Earth—we believe that it is our role and responsibility to manufacture the most sustainable products possible, with the lowest carbon footprint possible. Our company’s mission is to eliminate waste in infrastructure.
A lot of people think I'm crazy because we sold three different product lines that used to make up about 75-80% of our annual sales.
We sold off pretty much everything that we thought didn't fit the mold: build an innovative, sustainable business that can lead us to a better world.
One of my favourite books and a guiding light for me as an entrepreneur is Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. It was written by an architect and a chemist, and the essential idea is that waste is a 100% human concept.
Nature does not have the concept of waste. Everything can be a resource for something else. We try to apply these principles at Anchor and Loadstar: when we see an opportunity to save a dollar (for our customers) or kilogram of CO2, we’ll do it.
Many business owners think that being green is a costly process, but I like to think about it the other way around: being smart and being more efficient can help your business, and often it will be good for the environment too.
Referenced from BDC case studies: https://www.bdc.ca/en/articles-tools/sustainability/climate-action-centre/articles/anchor-wants-cut-costs-and-lower-environmental-footprint-of-concrete-manufacturing
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