Eighty Years Strong: Closner Celebrates a Milestone Anniversary at the Ballpark

Eighty Years Strong: Closner Celebrates a Milestone Anniversary at the Ballpark Closner Equipment got its start in 1946, when brothers Jack and George Closner opened their doors in Edinburg, Texas, selling Barber-Greene bucket loaders and asphalt plants in the years just after World War II. The company moved to San Antonio, took on the Closner name in 1952, and spent the following decades becoming a fixture of Texas road building — installing the state's first automatic screed control systems, leading the shift to drum mix plants, and eventually growing into a statewide network of sales, rental, and service centers. Bennett Closner took the reins in 2003, and his son, J.B. Closner, joined in 2006 and now serves as president and COO — three generations of the same family, still running the business their grandfather and great-uncle started. That kind of history deserves a real celebration, so this month the entire Closner team packed up and headed to Arlington, Texas, for a Texas Rangers vs. Houston Astros game, watching from a private suite the company reserved for the occasion. It was the rare chance to get everyone together in one place — sales, service, rental, and everyone in between — away from job sites and branch locations, just to celebrate how far three generations have carried this company. Prizes went out throughout the night, the Astros came away with the win, and the room was full of the kind of laughter and pride that eighty years in business earns. Companies don't make it to 80 without people who care enough to stick around, and Closner has had no shortage of those — starting with the family at the top and running through every branch across the state. Here's to the three generations who built it, the team that keeps it running, and the next 80 years still ahead.