Carlisle & Bray Enterprises, LLC — and its subsidiary companies, C&B Marine, LLC and C&B Energy Services, LLC — were established in March 2011 as a result of the merger of Bray Marine and Greater Cincinnati Marine.

As is often the case in the close-knit river communities, the Bray and Carlisle families long knew each other and the work that their respective companies provided to businesses on the Ohio River.

“The merger just made sense,” Bill Bray, CEO of Carlisle & Bray Enterprises said. “Our utility customers asked us to do various things that we didn’t or couldn’t do, such as dredging, loading and unloading, and construction work, and the Carlisles were already helping us do a lot of those things for our customers.”

In November 2010, the families started discussing the possibility of a merger, and within four months, the merger was completed.

Today, C&B Marine is a full-service marine company providing a multitude of services to utility and aggregate customers in the Midwest, including towing, fleeting, shifting, and dredging, among others, while C&B Energy Services manages byproduct movement and management for utility waste.

“From the time we put it together, we experienced an extreme amount of growth,” Rob Carlisle, president of Carlisle & Bray Enterprises said. “We continue in growth mode.”

“It just shows that there was a great need for a company like ours — to be a full-service provider,” Rob said. “Time is a priority for everyone. I think if you can go to a turn-key operation like ours and get all the service you need from one company rather than three or four different companies, you are more likely to go with us, especially with the excellent service that we provide.”