About Us
Our People Are Our Purpose
History and Philosopy
What is now Lake Erie Construction started from very humble beginnings over 90 years ago in 1930 when Paul Bleile began operating a tree service out of his garage. To survive the depression Paul decided to diversify into residential landscaping. But when the Highway Program went into full swing after WWII, Paul was quick to take advantage of the opportunity that had opened up in the highway seeding market. Initially brought to his attention by A.J. Baltes, founder of one of the largest highway construction companies in Ohio at the time, Paul quickly positioned the company as one of the premier highway seeding contractors in the State of Ohio.
Paul had a legendary work ethic and would do anything for, and was extremely loyal to his workers. In return his workers returned the same. In the years that followed the company flourished and established a reputation for its hard working and productive workforce. Paul felt so strongly that the productive efforts of the employees were primarily responsible for the company’s success, that in 1959 he implemented what would become one of the most generous and successful Profit Sharing/401K plans in the U.S. Since the Plans inception more of the company profits have been contributed to the Employees Profit Sharing Plan than the company has cumulatively earned in Net Income. Today our average balance per participant is among the highest of any profit sharing or 401K plan for construction or manufacturing companies nationwide. Long term employees who let their balances grow are retiring with 7 figure balances in the Plan, in addition to retiring with a full union pension for our traveling Foreman and Crewmembers. Because our field personnel are covered by two separate retirement plans, they are making significantly more in retirement after 30 years of service than they did when they were working. We continue to believe our employees who make up what we believe is the best workforce in the State, are the key to our success. We view employees as partners and are just as committed to their financial success as we are to the companies.
Our 150 employees are the most productive and conscientious in the industry. We continue the tradition which Paul started almost a Century ago, to make the company’s employees the cornerstone, purpose and drive behind everything we do as an organization. In addition to seeing our employee/partners thrive personally, professionally, and financially, our approach to work and life, centers on being friendly, down to earth, and not taking one's self too seriously. We strive to be a company our customers, as well as our employee/partners, enjoy working with.
OUR CORE VALUES
SAFETY
Our primary goal is to make sure every employee/partner comes home safely to their family after every hard day’s work. Safety is even more important than production. Everyone is encouraged to think safety first, every minute of every day.
TEAMWORK
Put the team ahead of self. Help foster a work environment to optimize safety first, then productivity.
COMMUNICATION
Communicate in a manner that is transparent, honest, respectful and effective.
MAKE WORK FUN
Have a sense of humor, be approachable, friendly, and able to show grace under pressure, both in the office and in the field.
INNOVATION
Think outside the box for problem solving and keep finding better ways to do everything we do. Be adaptable and flexible to achieve shared goals
BE HUMBLE & OPEN TO CHANGE
​Be open minded to different viewpoints.
REPUTATION & DEDICATION TO SELF-IMPROVEMENT
Anticipate and communicate needs and ideas up the chain of command to help contribute to company and team success. Seek out and take advantage of opportunities for personal development. Be honest and consistent. Honor your commitments and keep your word. Remember that it takes a lifetime to build a great reputation and a fleeting moment to lose it.
Over Time
We Aim to Build a Safer World
Over time the company has diversified into a broad range of other highway safety product lines. Today Lake Erie Construction Co., formerly known as the Paul E. Bleile Co., is the market leader in the State of Ohio in the installation of our Highway Safety Products. We provide installation services for guardrail, signs, fence, raised pavement markers, noise barrier walls, impact attenuators, along with seeding, sodding and a full range of landscape services for roadways. We work on 400-600 projects annually, both as a general and sub-contractor for ODOT, counties and municipalities primarily in the State of Ohio, but also in surrounding states.
