Rudolph Libbe Group

Rudolph Libbe Group is a Walbridge, Ohio contractor that pairs construction with facility management and energy services, so a client can hand it site selection, the build, and the decades of operation that follow. Rudolph Libbe Inc. was founded in 1955; the group now includes GEM Inc., GEM Energy, Rudolph Libbe Properties and Lehman Daman under a holding company formed in 1986. It self-performs civil, carpentry, masonry, electrical, ironwork, millwright, pipefitting and sheet metal trades. ENR ranked the firm No. 76 on its 2025 Top 400 Contractors list on $1.731 billion of 2024 revenue, making it the second-largest Ohio-based contractor by revenue. It is general contractor on Kimberly-Clark’s $800 million plant in Warren, Ohio.

Rudolph Libbe started in 1955 in Walbridge, Ohio. The group’s headquarters is still at 6494 Latcha Road in the same village, and Rudolph Libbe Inc. now ranks among Engineering News-Record’s Top 400 Contractors.

What sets the Rudolph Libbe Group apart is the range of trades kept in-house. Mechanical, electrical, carpentry, masonry, civil, boilermaker and structural steel work is self-performed by the group’s own tradespeople, which gives project managers direct control over sequencing and site safety rather than leaving it to a chain of subcontractors.

Project size runs the full spread. Rudolph Libbe Inc. can carry several simultaneous jobs valued above $100 million each, and it also runs a special accounts group for small work starting as low as $500, closing out more than 500 projects a year in the $100,000-and-under range. Across its last 21 guaranteed maximum price projects, final owner cost came in roughly one percent below the budgeted figure.

Working inside live facilities is a normal part of the business. Since 2011 the company reports more than 10,000 jobs completed alongside ongoing operations, with only three instances where those operations were disrupted. In 2022 it logged over 500,000 hours without a lost-time incident.

Services span preconstruction, project and site management, civil and sitework, concrete, masonry, carpentry, building systems, an in-house fabrication shop, virtual design and construction, and FM360 facility management once a building is running. Sister companies extend that reach: GEM Inc. and GEM Energy handle mechanical, electrical, structural and power generation work, GEM Service staffs a 24/7 support line, Rudolph Libbe Properties handles real estate, and Lehman Daman covers central Ohio.

Offices sit in Walbridge and North Ridgeville, Ohio, with additional locations in Lima, Columbus and Westerville, Ohio, Livonia in southeast Michigan, and Ithaca, New York.