Lee County - CEMEX USA
Who We Are
We’re your family, friends and neighbors—and we make a natural stone product that’s used to manufacture building materials, such as concrete. Our product forms the foundation of countless local homes, hospitals, schools, roads and bridges. It’s literally the building block of modern civilization and because it is locally sourced, Lee County taxpayers enjoy savings that improve everyone’s quality of life.
Alongside Fitbit, Ecolab, Whole Foods and Costco, CEMEX was listed on Fortune’s 50 “Change the World” companies that are “doing well by doing good.” At CEMEX, we “do good” by acting locally.
CEMEX actively volunteers in the community—contributing time, expertise, raw materials and financial support to Florida Gulf Coast University, Harry Chapin Food Bank, Valerie’s House, Palmetto Youth Center and more. CEMEX has also partnered with local schools across Florida to create six Florida-based Environmental Education Centers—where students learn about natural wildlife and local ecosystems directly from CEMEX’s environmental professionals.
"Photos taken before the pandemic"
CEMEX’s Economic Contribution
Our Contribution to the Local Economy
Environment
CEMEX’s Environmental Stewardship
When it comes to taking care of the environment, it’s “all hands on deck” at CEMEX. We employ some of the best scientists, engineers and environmental professionals in the country. Through our employee education and training program, we set the highest standards of environmentally ethical behavior—a fundamental component in achieving our goals of sustainability and environmental stewardship.
Around here, “sustainability” isn’t a buzz word—it’s our mission. Not only do we recover an essential natural resource that makes modern life possible, we do it in a way that leaves thousands of acres clean, green and undeveloped. CEMEX uses only a portion of its land for operations, leaving much of our property in a natural state to serve wildlife habitat.
CEMEX has also pioneered the use of cleaner, greener alternative fuels, such as recycled peanut shells, and is committed to minimizing waste through sound recycling practices and source reduction—eliminating waste before it’s produced. And every year, thousands of students visit one of our six Florida-based Environmental Education Centers, where they learn directly from CEMEX’s engineers and scientists about our cutting-edge work in environmental stewardship and reclamation.
CEMEX Alico Quarry receives Wildlife Habitat Council Conservation CertificationCEMEX’s Economic Contribution
CEMEX’s Local Economic Contributions
"Photos taken before the pandemic"
Our Southwest Florida operations include aggregates and ready mix concrete which support 175 local jobs. Because our product is locally sourced, Southwest Florida taxpayers enjoy savings that improve everyone’s quality of life. In fact, our operations pay $468,000.00 a year in local taxes, which help fund local public schools, roads, police services and fire protection.
CEMEX has also provided the aggregates materials and concrete for key local projects, including the new transmission lines for Florida Power & Light which will improve the state’s electrical grid, the Red Sox Spring Training Stadium, as well as the Merritt and Miller Pump Stations designed to help restore Picayune Strand State Forest and improve the water quality of Florida Bay.
Giving Back
CEMEX Giving Back
"Photos taken before the pandemic"
CEMEX was listed alongside Fitbit, Ecolab, Whole Foods and Costco as one of Fortune’s top 50 “Change the World” companies that are “doing well by doing good.” For us, “doing good” means acting locally. After all, for many us, Southwest Florida is home. That’s why you’ll often find us “out and about” in the community, donating time, expertise, raw materials and financial support to a broad group of important community organizations and causes.
Whether it's volunteering at the Harry Chapin Food Bank or painting and refurbishing outdoor tables and benches at the Palmetto Youth Center, our employees are dedicated to helping our neighbors and making Southwest Florida a better place to live.
We are also committed to investing in the next generation of local engineers. At our Alico Quarry and Wiggins Pass facilities, CEMEX regularly hosts students from Florida Gulf Coast University’s College of Engineering, giving our future workforce an inside look at our operations and providing insight into the knowledge and skills they will need to succeed.
Virtual Field Trip Opportunities with CEMEX
Are your students curious about operations at CEMEX? Have they ever wondered about how their schools, homes and favorite theme parks were built? A virtual field trip with our trained staff can provide students with valuable out-of-the-classroom learning experiences from the comfort of their desks. Teachers and students can interact with a CEMEX virtual-chaperone during a live presentation and question & answer session. Our virtual field trips are hosted online on a virtual platform of your school’s choosing.
To schedule your virtual field trip for the 2021-22 school year, please fill out the contact form below. Our CEMEX informational education specialists will reach out to you to schedule the experience. We have several virtual field trip options available, and educators can choose from virtual visits to:
- Lake Wales Ridge Scrub Habitat
- Gator Sand Mine Nature Trail
- Gator Sand Mine Operations
- Center Hill Limestone Quarry
- Quality Control Laboratories
Looking for more outside-of-the-classroom educational activities? Visit our At-Home Learning Center.
FAQs
1. How does CEMEX produce aggregates?
Aggregates consist of stone (coarse aggregates), sand (fine aggregates), and gravel. These materials naturally occur in the ground. In fact, the geophysical properties of stone and sand formations in Florida make them some of the highest quality aggregates in the entire country. We excavate the aggregates from the ground, crush it into various sizes and ship it by rail and truck to end users throughout Florida.
2. What are aggregates used for?
Aggregates are used for various essential building material applications. Some aggregates are transformed into Portland Cement. Other aggregates are used in concrete masonry blocks, ready mix concrete and asphaltic concrete. Aggregates are also used as base material in roadway construction.
3. Why are aggregates important?
Aggregates are essential natural resources that form the building blocks of modern civilization. Aggregates are used to build homes, hospitals, schools, office buildings, roads and bridges.
4. How does CEMEX make ready mixed concrete?
What we recognize as concrete is technically called Portland Cement Concrete. It’s a combination of Portland Cement, water, and aggregates. When CEMEX combines the ingredients for you and sends it to you in a mixer truck, we are delivering “ready-mixed concrete.” There are many unique and amazing properties of concrete that make it the most sustainable building material in the world.
5. How long has CEMEX been around?
CEMEX traces its history back to 1906. In Florida, Rinker Materials started supplying building materials way back in 1926. CEMEX acquired Rinker’s operations in 2007, proudly joining a legacy that stretches back over four generations.
6. What does CEMEX do to make sure its operations are environmentally sound?
Florida is our home, so caring for the land isn’t just our job—it’s our responsibility to our community and to our children. Since taking over local operations in 2007, we’ve invested more than $300 million in new technologies that further strengthen environmental stewardship.
CEMEX has also pioneered the use of cleaner and greener alternative fuels, such as recycled waste and peanut shells. In addition to operating efficiently, we also operate compactly: CEMEX uses only a small percentage of its local land, leaving thousands of acres in a natural state to serve as wildlife habitat.
In fact, our efforts to protect local ecosystems have been recognized by the Wildlife Habitat Council, awarding six of our sites in Florida with a distinct certification for our above and beyond efforts made to our local habitats. And every year, thousands of local students visit our Environmental Education Centers, where they learn directly from CEMEX’s engineers and scientists about our cutting-edge work in environmental stewardship and reclamation.
At CEMEX, we employ some of the best scientists, engineers, and environmental professionals in the country. Our teams regularly perform inspections of all facilities, ensure compliance with local, state, and federal regulations, and work closely with regulators to protect the environment.
7. Do our operations affect water wells or the drinking supply?
No, our operations are limited to the uppermost sand and limestone units and do not penetrate any confining layer, or aquitard, which separate mining activities from lower aquifers. Our operations must comply with strict environmental and water quality standards as set forth by local, state, and federal regulatory agencies. Water quality is continually monitored through a network of monitoring wells to ensure that there are no adverse impacts to groundwater.