COMPANY
OVERVIEW
When a company can proudly lay claim to having been in business since 1907, it immediately distinguishes itself among businesses everywhere. Salmon Bay Sand and Gravel Company is just such a company.When Samuel Nerdrum founded the company, the Ballard area of Seattle was still the City of Ballard. Cedar trees and three-masted schooners dotted the skyline, the Space Needle was unim
aginable, and William Boeing had yet to build his first airplane. It was a good time to start a business in the prosperous Scandinavian logging and fishing community located on the shores of Salmon Bay. The new company’s first major project was the 1907 Alaska Yukon Exposition. At that time, there were no Ballard Locks or ship canal (they would not open until 1917), so barge loads of sand and gravel were brought into Salmon Bay at high tide and hand loaded onto horse-drawn wagons for the trip to the exposition site. These original buildings now stand as a historic part of the University of Washington campus. Over 90 years later, and still operating at its original location, this fourth-generation family-owned business has played a major role in the development of Seattle and its northern neighborhoods. Today, a fleet of modern delivery trucks transport materials throughout the Puget Sound area, over many of the same routes their early Teamster predecessors guided loaded wagons of sand, gravel and cement. Present-day Salmon Bay Sand & Gravel has evolved into one of the Northwest’s largest suppliers of construction materials. The company specializes in plaster, stucco, EIFS systems, waterproofing and restoration products, sealants, grouts, and many other construction related chemicals and products. The “Bay” is also known throughout the region for its assortment of tools and accessories for use in the trowel related trades. Just as the assortment of products and materials has expanded over the past eleven decades, so has Salmon Bay’s sales horizons. Sales of products to customers throughout the Western United States and Pacific Rim are a common occurrence, while government and military sales efforts result in materials and equipment finding their way into the far corners of the world. Embassy in Prague, or the Navy base on Diego Garcia, Salmon Bay and its employees are proud to be a part of all variety, shape, and sizes of projects, regardless if they are next door or in another hemisphere. While it is true that the Company has changed with the times, one facet of the business that has remained unaffected is the philosophy that quality products combined with top-notch service and honest dealings will keep customers coming back for generations. At Salmon Bay, “Quality is our Foundation; Service our Tradition.”
