Bomanite
Encyclopedia
Bomanite is a private company formerly headquartered in Madera, California
Madera, California
Madera is a city in and the county seat of Madera County, California, United States. It is a principal city of the Madera–Chowchilla Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Madera County, and Metropolitan Fresno. It is located in California's San Joaquin Valley. As of the 2010...

, founded in 1970 by Brad Bowman, the creator of the Bomanite process for coloring and imprinting decorative concrete
Decorative concrete
Decorative concrete is the use of concrete as not simply a utilitarian medium for construction but as an aesthetic enhancement to a structure, while still serving its function as an integral part of the building itself such as floors, walls, driveways and patios.The transformation of concrete into...

 paving, Dan Sieben, a freshly returned Peace Corps
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an American volunteer program run by the United States Government, as well as a government agency of the same name. The mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand US culture, and helping...

 volunteer, Frank Shallenberger, a Stanford Business School
Stanford Graduate School of Business
The Stanford Graduate School of Business is one of the professional schools of Stanford University, in Stanford, California and is broadly regarded as one of the best business schools in the world.The Stanford GSB offers a general management Master of Business Administration degree, the Sloan...

 professor, and John Wilcox, a former student of Professor Shallenberger and experienced business manager. Today Bomanite can be found at hotels, shopping centers and homes in almost every country of the world.

Brad Bowman, an artist by nature, a concrete contractor by profession and a camouflage
Camouflage
Camouflage is a method of concealment that allows an otherwise visible animal, military vehicle, or other object to remain unnoticed, by blending with its environment. Examples include a leopard's spotted coat, the battledress of a modern soldier and a leaf-mimic butterfly...

 expert in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, conceived “ornamented concrete” (Bowman’s phrase) in the early 1960s by creating cast-aluminum cookie cutter-like tools to impress the patterns of brick, tile and cobblestone in freshly placed concrete flatwork. He practiced and improved the idea by imprinting patterns in wet sand on the beach at the end of Ocean Avenue in Carmel, California
Carmel-by-the-Sea, California
Carmel-by-the-Sea, often called simply Carmel, is a small city in Monterey County, California, United States, founded in 1902 and incorporated in 1916. Situated on the Monterey Peninsula, the town is known for its natural scenery and rich artistic history...

, and soon found himself installing ornamented concrete driveways for luxury homes on the 17-Mile Drive
17-Mile Drive
The 17 Mile Drive is a scenic road through Pacific Grove and Pebble Beach, California, much of which hugs the Pacific coastline and passes famous golf courses and mansions. It also serves as the main road through the gated community of Pebble Beach. Inside this community, non-residents have to pay...

 and sidewalks in Carmel.

The company, originally headquartered in Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto is a California charter city located in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. The city shares its borders with East Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Stanford, Portola Valley, and Menlo Park. It is...

, grew rapidly by franchising
Franchising
Franchising is the practice of using another firm's successful business model. The word 'franchise' is of anglo-French derivation - from franc- meaning free, and is used both as a noun and as a verb....

, the very first two franchises consisting of Sullivan Concrete Textures and Bay Area Concretes, established concrete contractors around the world and promoting Bomanite as a cost-effective design tool with near infinite possibilities for employment of color, pattern and texture in the creation of decorative concrete paving and flooring.

Over time new products and techniques were introduced, most of them conceived by the franchisees themselves. Various other companies have introduced competitive products, giving architects, landscape architects and builders a variety of sources for architectural paving and flooring. Indeed, a new industry—Architectural Concrete Paving—was created as the result of Brad Bowman’s invention.
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