John Dunn is a different kind of venture capitalist.

Banyan Ventures, the Salt Lake venture capital firm of which Dunn is a partner, believes in discovering and developing outstanding companies. But its partners do more than provide capital to those companies: They also take active management roles.

Dunn formed Salt Lake-based Metro Ready Mix in 2004 as a local concrete-supply alternative to the big companies that had gobbled up Utah's local firms in the past decade or so.

With the help of industry veterans Paul Richards and Dick Chatterton, Dunn got the company off the ground only to discover that the industry was in the middle of one of the most severe shortages of cement powder in history — cement powder being the most important and expensive ingredient in concrete.

But Dunn and his team persevered, forming a relationship with Lafarge, a huge supplier of cement powder interested in expanding into Utah.

In that first year, Metro Ready Mix grew as fast as most start-up ready-mix firms grew in five years.

In addition, Dunn has chosen to grow the company using many "green" methods. Rather than Portland cement, Dunn uses cement made of slag, ground and granulated blast furnace waste.

This makes the finished concrete stronger and more consistent and workable. By using an industrial by-product, Metro also lessens strain on landfills and decreases the energy required to produce cement. Plus, slag cement in concrete reduces carbon dioxide emissions.