In 1945, Chet Daniels returned from the Navy after serving as a mechanic at the Great Lakes Navel Station just north of Chicago, IL. He had been born in Rock, Kansas, knew the area and chose to return to his roots.

Chet came to Winfield in a 1942 model car with $300 in his pocket. That $300, plus another $300 borrowed, was the extent of his wealth. But Chet was no stranger to hard work, and he soon began hauling lime stone in the area. In the beginning it was one man and a $1,000 rock crusher bought with borrowed money that had to be repaid within 90 days. Chet made good on that loan.

In the early 1950s, Chet started Daniels Stone, working out of a quarry east of town. Building his company was a lot like pulling rock, it was a piece by piece process that took time, patience, and a good dose of ingenuity.

In the late 1950s Chet began renting a tract of land west of town, and began laying out what would become Daniels Ready Mix.

It wasn't until 1961 that Chet purchased the current location of 172 acres.

Business was good and this led to rapid expansion. Just three years later Chet owned 16 trucks, employed 10 men, and had expanded from hauling lime to crushing and selling rock, selling ready-mix concrete, hot-mix asphaltic concrete, and prestressed concrete.

In 1966 Chet welcomed his "baby", a 40-ton crusher planned and manufactured under his direction in the plant's shop. The crusher had been a dream of Daniels’, which would greatly enhance his business. At this time Chet's crews excavated, paved, constructed curbs and gutters throughout Winfield and began serving the area within a 25-mile radius. The company continued to thrive and grow.

In the mid-1980s the plant stepped up its asphalt production along with the help of its own lay down machine. On April 2nd 1994, Chet Daniels passed away after a short battle with cancer. The 1990s and 2000s brought many major projects to the company including Southwestern College, the Veterans's Home and cemetery, Rubbermaid storage facilities, Walmart, the industrial parks, county bridges, and a large number of commercial buildings and residencies in the area.

The Daniels Ready Mix shop, a pre-stressed concrete building constructed in the mid 1960s, paved the way for Daniels current precast department. With the addition of the Agricultural line of precast products in the last few years, the company will continue in its tradition of supplying quality products. From his meager beginnings in 1945 with a mere $300 in his pocket, Chet built a business that has not only stood the test of time, but that has continually grown and consistently adapted to better serve its customers.

Daniels Ready Mix is currently owned by Steve Ruud and Roland and Danielle Hovey. Danielle is the daughter of the late Chet Daniels.