P&Q Hall of Fame Profile: Thomas W. Hill

Hill

As Tom Hill puts it, his start in the aggregate industry came totally by chance.

Hill, the founder and former president and CEO of Summit Materials, finished his bachelor’s degree in 1978 and was ready to start law school. Ultimately, though, Hill decided that was not the path he wanted to take.

Instead, Hill got his MBA at Trinity College Dublin, where he did his third year of undergraduate and completed his degree in 1980. As it turned out, the director of his MBA was also a director at CRH, who presented him with an opportunity in aggregates.

“I was hired Jan. 1, 1980 by the U.S. CEO of CRH,” Hill says. I was sent to Ogden, Utah, to CRH’s first acquisition – a company called Amcor, which was a pipe and precast business.”

Hill, who spent 28 years with CRH, was named head of the materials division at Oldcastle, CRH’s North American arm, in 1992. From 1992 to 2006, Hill helped to increase sales at Oldcastle from $100 million to $7 billion.

A large part of that growth was due to mergers and acquisitions.

“We built up these contacts with the object of when it was time for business to sell for various reasons, they call us instead of JP Morgan,” Hill says. “That was tremendously successful. Between 1992 and 2006, we did 187 acquisitions. We got pretty good at it.”

Hill took over as Oldcastle CEO in 2006. In 2008, after nearly three decades with Oldcastle and with a young family at home, he decided it was time for a new venture.

Starting Summit

Tom Hill started Summit Materials after nearly three decades with CRH. Photo: Tom Hill

Hill founded Summit Materials in 2009, calling upon friends from the industry and former CRH co-workers to make up his management team.

One of those co-workers was Damian Murphy, who worked with Hill at CRH from 2006 to 2008. Murphy, who currently serves as CEO of Peckham Industries, joined Summit as regional president and remained with the company until 2018.

“Tom always had a vision of where he wanted to go with things,” Murphy says. “Having the ability to reach for the stars is a good skill set to have. Having a mission and enthusiasm [is great], but [Hill] also delivered by getting there. Working closely with him was a great experience for me.”

Founding Summit was a blast for Hill, even when weathering the challenges that came with it.

“Getting [Summit] started was the most stressful thing I’ve ever done,” Hill says. “But I must say, stepping back and starting over from scratch, I found invigorating. Going back to doing the things I really love … that I hadn’t done in 10, 15 years – calling on companies, looking for things to build a business – was great.”

Hill served Summit as president and CEO until 2020. During nearly 12 years there, he transformed the company from a small, private construction company into a public company with annual net revenues of $2 billion.

Staying involved

Tom Hill says one of his top memories is Summit Materials’ initial public offering at the New York Stock Exchange, where he had his wife, children and senior partners at his side. Photo: Tom Hill

Murphy had nothing but praise for Hill as he reflected on the many things his friend accomplished in aggregates.

“[Tom] had a stellar career with CRH and then turned around and started selling materials from scratch,” Murphy says. “Throughout that time, he’s been a positive force in the industry. As somebody who has been around for so long, his name is synonymous with the industry.”

Murphy says Hill’s induction into the Pit & Quarry Hall of Fame is a testament to the reputation Hill holds.

“When you’re in mergers and acquisitions and you do as many transactions as Tom has done, to maintain a positive profile is a testimony to the quality of the man,” Murphy says. “I’m pleased that the industry had a positive view of his contributions.”

More than three years removed from Summit, Hill currently serves on an advisory board at Foley Concrete Products, a pipe and precast business based in Georgia, with locations throughout the U.S.

Still, Hill doesn’t see his involvement in the industry as over quite yet.

“I will get involved in the industry in some manner over the next couple of years,” he says. “My No. 1 focus is family, so I’m not going to do anything like Summit again. But I do want to stay involved in the industry because I love it so much.”