Meco, 43 Years of History
QUALITY AND CUSTOMER SERVICE, STANDARDS THAT ARE PART OF THE HISTORY
In 1977, Ángel Américo Cerdas – known as Meco – and his son Carlos Cerdas founded the company that proudly bears the father’s name. This was the effort of a humble man who started as an unskilled workman to become, over the years, a successful businessman. It was a combination of vision, effort and work to turn into the most important construction company in the region.
Back in the day , the industry worked differently; manually removing sand from the river and selling it right on the spot; also taking the sand in a Ford truck wherever the customer wanted it; or renting a stone crusher and sell sand and stone with two small trucks and two dump trucks, a 922 and a 950. Over time, the company grew to the point of buying heavy machinery that was previously rented from the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) for the Cachí hydroelectric project. Moreover , the company set up a block factory that over the years would become the Meco aggregate plant in Cartago.
With the reputation of an excellent work, in 1977 Meco was able to rent more heavy machinery from ICE in large-scale hydroelectric projects, such as the Arenal hydroelectric project, projects that consolidated Constructora Meco as a leader in the construction industry in Costa Rica.
GOING ABROAD
In the 90s, after more than ten years of experience, Meco began to conquer other markets. Nicaragua in 1992 and Panama in 1996, would be perfect lands to expand the business. In Panama, the works for the Panama Canal would be key. Given the magnitude of the project, a participation during 21 years for the Canal project would end up consolidating Meco as the most important construction company in the region.
Today, Meco has three production divisions: Construction Projects, Industrial Processes and Concessions. In all three areas, Meco works for both the public and private sectors. Hydroelectric projects, marinas, shopping centers, airports and highways are part of a vast portfolio that began to be built in Costa Rica and later moved to countries such as Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama and Colombia.
By nature, Meco is a construction company specializing in a broad process range, from the asphalt, aggregates and concrete production plants, to the construction of the project itself.
Currently and according to the most recent ranking by the KHL publishing house – published in 2018 – , Meco is number 9 in the top Latin America construction companies, as per CLA50, next to construction giants from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Spain, Mexico, Peru and Portugal.
Recently, in February 2020, the New York-based credit rating agency Fitch Ratings, gave Meco an AA – (pan) rating, confirming the solidity of the company.