Insteel's history dates back to 1953 with the acquisition of a ready-mix concrete and concrete block plant located in Mount Airy, North Carolina by Howard O. Woltz, Jr., our founder. In the ensuing years, Insteel expanded into precast concrete and other concrete products. In 1974, we entered the wire products business in response to a shortage of welded wire reinforcement ("WWR") for our precast concrete operations. We subsequently expanded our wire products businesses through both acquisitions and investments in state-of-the-art greenfield facilities. During the 1980s, we divested our concrete operations and from 1997 to 2006, we completed a series of divestitures to further narrow our strategic focus to our concrete reinforcing products businesses, WWR and PC strand, in which we have ascended to market leadership positions. In 2010, we acquired the WWR business of Ivy Steel & Wire, Inc. and in 2014, we acquired the PC strand business of American Spring Wire Corp.