A business leader who left his mark on Tacoma is getting some much-deserved recognition from the city. During the March 9 Tacoma City Council meeting, Mayor Marilyn Strickland read a proclamation declaring March 11 as Arthur Anderson Day in the city.

The late businessman was born 100 years ago. He and his brother Thomas founded Concrete Technology Corporation, a major industrial company on the Tideflats. When the initial production facility opened in 1951, it was the first pre-stressing factory building in the United States.

Anderson had spent a year traveling across Europe, studying the handful of pre-stressed concrete structures on that continent at the time, before returning to Tacoma to start his own company.

Concrete Tech became a leader in its industry, and its success led to the building of its main structural plant in 1960. Increased demand led to a second building in 1967 and the 1970s brought about facilities for semi-automated casting of hollow-core slabs and a graving dock for construction of floating concrete structures.

Strickland noted that Anderson worked for 99 days on Cheney Stadium, a project that went up in an amazingly short period of time compared to modern stadiums.

Anderson was civic minded, serving on the Public Utility Board and led efforts to save old City Hall.

That tradition carries on in the family. His son Karl Anderson is a noted leader in the community who serves on the board of directors of the LeMay Museum.

Several generations of the Anderson family were on hand to hear the proclamation. Another son, Rick Anderson, accepted the proclamation on behalf of the family. He noted his father had political ambitions, losing the race for mayor 64 years ago. He said his father raised his children to love Tacoma and to be involved, traits that clearly have been passed along.