Passion & Purpose: Winter 2025-26
Camdenton-based company streamlines its philanthropy through corporate grantmaking fund
Scott’s Concrete is about building community. It’s true in a literal sense, as the mid-Missouri company has been in the concrete business for more than 70 years. It’s also evident through the family-owned entity’s efforts to support its neighbors philanthropically, whether it’s by donating concrete or cash to projects that make the area even better.
“I was brought up being told that you get what you give,” says Jane Martin, whose parents started the Camdenton-based company in 1954. “We’ve always given local — concrete is produced and manufactured locally, so it’s really important to me that our money stays local.”
Those donations are funneled through the Community Foundation of the Lake, a CFO affiliate, where Scott’s Concrete has a corporate grantmaking fund. Having that fund available has streamlined the company’s giving, says Scott Martin, its third-generation leader — especially since it allows them to track and set aside funds for future distribution.
“I would say it’s 50-50,” he says of the company’s community contributions, which splits between monetary donations and concrete work. Its charitable projects include Hope House, a local food pantry, and Wonderland Camp, a destination for children, teenagers and adults with disabilities.
“I’m very proud that we have done just about every church in the area. If we don’t give it, we give a very substantial discount,” Jane Martin says. “It’s nice when people call us because they think we’re doing good things for the area.”
Part of the concrete company’s service ties to good business, but it goes deeper than that for the Martins, whose connections with the area predate the Lake of the Ozarks. The construction of Bagnell Dam enhanced local tourism and the area’s appeal as a destination. But that growth hasn’t eliminated great disparities and needs.
“We are an area where we have multi-million-dollar homes, and we have people living in tents,” says Jane Martin, mentioning others without any water in their homes. “It breaks my heart that people live that way.”
Understanding neighbors’ realities led the Martins to support the Camdenton R-III School District Education Foundation to provide food assistance for students in need. This focuses on the district’s “buddy packs” program that sends items like peanut butter, jelly, bread and canned goods home with kids over weekends and long breaks.
“We make sure and cover at least a month’s worth of the buddy packs annually,” Scott Martin says.
Portions of the company’s philanthropy have become easier through its corporate grantmaking fund, which allows the company to track which agencies receive funds.
“It was always one of those things — she was giving to something, and I was giving to something, and it was hard to track who was doing what or how much we even gave away — whether it be to this individual or this group,” Scott Martin says.
“Now, at the end of the year, instead of us going through our books and saying, ‘What did we do here; how many materials did we donate?,’ we can actually just go through our grant list and we can see exactly what we did and who we gave it to.”
—by Kaitlyn McConnel
