Crounse Corporation

Industry:	Marine Shipping & Transportation
Revenues:	$31.3 Million
Employees:	300

Description

Since 1948, Crounse Corporation has been an industry leader in the river transportation industry. George P. Crounse, Sr., was a native of St. Paul, Minnesota. Prior to World War II, he worked for the Tennessee Valley Authority and for Arrow Transportation, a river towing company located in Sheffield, Alabama. During those years he learned the fundamentals of river transportation. Mr. Crounse's river transportation career was interrupted by his service in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Upon leaving the Navy in 1945, he was offered a job with another river company, Igert, Inc. (Paducah, Kentucky).

At Igert, Mr. Crounse observed that Paducah, at the confluence of the Tennessee and Ohio Rivers, was ideally situated for a river-related business. During his two years with Igert, he became convinced that a more dependable propeller-driven diesel towboat could be built and operated more efficiently than their sternwheel diesel towboats. However, unable to persuade the Igert management to build such a boat, he left and started Crounse Corporation in April 1948.

The company's first towboat, the M/V ALICE, was built by St. Louis Shipbuilding and began service in May 1949. This single-screw 500 horsepower boat was purchased for $84,000. A second boat, the M/V LOUISE, began working in September 1952. The ALICE started its career towing chemical barges on the Ohio River, but by 1952, with two boats and 20 hopper barges, the Company's primary focus was on the transportation of coal.

Both the towboats and barge fleets were expanded steadily. Operations on the Green River in Western Kentucky were started in 1956 when the present locks were built. Coal moving from the Green River was delivered to electric generating plants, and to other industrial customers on the Tennessee, Cumberland, Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers.

Continuing to grow, in June 1965, the Company moved from a converted residence into a new headquarters building at 2626 Broadway, Paducah, which it still occupies. A major expansion was signaled to the industry in 1969 when Crounse Corporation opened a branch office located at Maysville, Kentucky (near Cincinnati, Ohio). Focusing on shipments from the Appalachian coal region to various consumers on the Upper Ohio, Kanawha, and Monongahela Rivers, the Company's growth was further accelerated.

Today, Crounse Corporation, employs over 300 people, with its fleet of 27 towboats and 860 barges, transporting more than 30 million tons per year. Crounse has become one of the largest carriers of coal on the inland river system with a reputation for superior service to its customers.

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News Archive

Worldwide Health Director for Microsoft to Keynote at the Annual LifeScience Alley Conference & Expo.(Conference news) Health & Beauty Close-Up; 9/25/2009 Dr. Bill Crounse, senior director of worldwide health...Net on Health and Health Care", Dr. Crounse will explore the various ways in which...a senior director at Microsoft, Dr. Crounse is responsible for providing thought leadership... ...more

Worldwide Health Director for Microsoft to Deliver Luncheon Keynote Address at the 8th Annual LifeScience Alley[R] Conference & Expo.(Conference news) Business Wire; 9/22/2009 MINNEAPOLIS -- Dr. Bill Crounse, senior director of worldwide health...on Health and Health Care", Dr. Crounse will explore the various ways in which...senior director at Microsoft, Dr. Crounse is responsible for providing thought... ...more

Lloyd G. Crounse, at 90, of Wellesley, WWII vet.(Obituaries)(Obituary) The Boston Herald; 7/10/2009 Lloyd G. Crounse of Wellesley, a World War II veteran and a retired heavy-equipment...Church in Wellesley. Husband of the late Frances (Sodofsky), Mr. Crounse is survived by a son, Thomas of Worcester; five daughters, Christine... ...more