Approaching 70 years in business, Archrock is distinctive for its fleet of natural gas compression equipment, certified technicians, unparalleled customer service, safety culture, and forward-thinking sustainability initiatives. Along with long-time partnerships with original equipment manufacturers and distributors, Archrock lives by its motto, “Our Time Is Your Uptime®.”

Superior services
Since its founding in 1954, Archrock has remained committed to providing its customers with the best natural gas compression services possible. Conducting itself with professionalism, honesty, and integrity, Archrock has grown to become America’s compression services leader, operating the largest fleet in the nation, consisting of more than three and a half million horsepower. “Moving gas is what we know,” states the company. “And as the leader in natural gas compression, it’s what we do best.”

Among the company’s many advantages are its decades of firsthand experience, says Eric W. Thode, Senior Vice President, Operations. Part of a dedicated leadership team, Thode’s experience with Archrock goes back to 2004. Serving in different commercial and operations roles, he was promoted to his current position in 2018. “Virtually all our competitors—especially our primary competitors in the industry—have all started since the year 2000,” says Thode. “No company has the decades of experience we have in the industry, and we have relationships with top customers that extend more than 20 years.”

As a compression services company, the bulk of Archrock’s more than 1,000 employees are operations-based, with over 700 of them in Thode’s organizational chart. From field service technicians skilled at working on engines and compressors on location, to shop mechanics getting units back into operations for customers, to supply chain and administrative staff, Archrock’s team can handle any challenges that may arise.

With a customer base that is the who’s who of the oil and gas space, Archrock works with the largest producers and midstream companies in America. As the leading provider of natural gas compression services in the oil and natural gas sector, Archrock focuses on the midstream segment of the market, with its large horsepower compressor stations primarily supporting natural gas gathering operations. Forming partnerships with leading manufacturers like CAT, Ariel, and Waukesha, Archrock serves customers across all major oil and gas plays in the U.S.

Respecting the environment
A good deal of oil and gas service companies talk about sustainable practices and respect for the environment, but Archrock puts those words into action. A great believer in giving back, the company is also investing in helping its customers reduce their environmental footprint.

In March, Archrock published its 2022 Sustainability Report, which detailed its ongoing commitment to the company’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance. At the time of its release, President and Chief Executive Officer Brad Childers stated: “This sustainability report reflects our commitment to aligning our corporate strategy with our purpose to power a cleaner America. This includes maintaining robust governance practices and integrating quantifiable ESG goals into our compensation plans, connecting our employees’ actions to our pursuit of a sustainable future. As the leader in U.S. natural gas compression, we remain dedicated to our critical role in transporting affordable and cleaner energy for the benefit of America and the world, and to continue doing so in a safe and environmentally responsible way.”

Some of the highlights in the 45-page report include Archrock achieving “a 12 percent year-over-year reduction in 2021 Scope 1 and Scope 2 CO₂ emissions intensity,” investment in electric drive compression horsepower, developing a unique patent-pending methane capture technology, and securing minority investment in a methane-emissions monitoring company.

“For years, we’ve been doing the essentials, like recycling and things of that nature,” says Thode, “but an area where we can have a big impact is in electric motor drive packages.” Focusing on large horsepower compressors between 400 hp up to 5,500 hp electric motor drive packages, Archrock keeps adding to its fleet to keep up with customer demand.

In April of 2022, to further its commitment to sustainability, Archrock acquired a minority equity stake in ECOTEC International Holdings LLC (ECOTEC), a worldwide leader in methane notification, identification, and qualification (NIQ). The move will enable ECOTEC to get its products into the oil and gas arena. “They are the only company that has all three aspects of the NIQ,” states Thode. “A lot of companies are into notification, and some are into identification, but no one has a suite of products that deals with notification when there is an issue, identification of the issue, and then the ability to quantify how large the issue is.”

Archrock is investigating how to take methane leaks and put them back into the gas stream. The result is a patent-pending product—known as the Methane Mitigation Skid—that gathers up certain operational losses of methane and re-injects them back into the stream of gases being compressed. Customers can then sell the captured gas that would have otherwise been released into the environment, thereby realizing dual benefits. Additionally, Archrock is looking into CO₂ capture and sequestration.

Closer to home, the company is focused on other ways to preserve the environment. This includes reducing the amount of driving its fleet of vehicles through telematics. A combination of telecommunications and informatics, telematics technology gathers real-time data and uses GPS. Through telematics, Archrock can send the nearest vehicle to customer sites being provided compression services by the company, reducing drive time and saving gas. And through telematics on compression units, the Archrock team monitors pressure, temperature, and more, and can react immediately if there are any issues.

A strong team
In 2022, Archrock was named one of Houston’s Leading Companies in the Houston Chronicle 100, with good reason. Fostering a company culture of respect and work-life balance, Archrock believes in the “whole employee experience.” This includes Friday work from home days at the Houston office and various bonus programs.

In support of the broader community, Archrock’s charitable initiatives include the Houston Food Bank, Toys for Tots, and employees maintaining a two-mile, highly trafficked stretch of a Farm to Market road near its headquarters through Texas’ Adopt-a-Highway program. “The family atmosphere and camaraderie that both garners participation in these charitable endeavors and that is exhibited during them means a lot,” comments Thode. “We always focus on our employees. Great ideas, including each of those employee-sourced charitable opportunities, percolate up from our employee base rather than originating or being mandated from on-high. At Archrock, opinions and ideas count and great ideas are put into action. Archrock employees recognize that and appreciate being a big part in moving the company forward.”

To help start all new field-based employees off on the right foot, Archrock provides a two-week orientation and technical training program before stepping into the field. All aspects of this training are infused with the Archrock safety culture and its Target Zero safety program. A source of pride for Thode, he tells each NAFO (North American Field Orientation) class that the only thing keeping him up at night is making sure that every employee goes home exactly the same way they arrived in the morning.

“Safety is more than a slogan or something we paint on a wall, talk about at a meeting, or put into an annual report,” he says. “I don’t want an employee to even [need to] get a Band-Aid; our Target Zero program is going to make sure we have the policies, procedures, and personal protective equipment (PPE) in place focused on keeping people safe. This includes staff, customers, customer locations, our equipment, our customers’ equipment—I want everything protected every day.”

Future goals
Not content to rest on its soon-to-be 70-year history, Archrock’s executive team continues to build a resilient business to ensure the company’s success in the years to come. This includes further embedding sustainability in the company’s corporate strategy and everything it does.

For customers, Archrock will continue adding electric motor drives to its fleet and evaluating ways to capture and sequester carbon and mitigate methane leaks.

“You can retrofit your current fleet to meet those needs, or you can continue to move into the electric motor drive direction,” explains Thode. “We’re currently exploring parallel paths, because you don’t just replace a billion-plus dollars’ worth of equipment overnight, so that has to be a gradual transition.”

Along with adding additional products and services to its existing contract compression and aftermarket service business, Archrock plans to keep building its team. “We are confident we are the most experienced, most financially sound compression services company in the business, and we intend to continue to build on that.”

The post Leading the Way<p class="company">Archrock</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.

This synergy, fueled by unwavering commitment to excellence, offers clients a single source for all their contracting needs, whether it’s remediation, repair or new industrial development solutions. The Patrick Group of Companies stands as a testament to the transformative potential of collective expertise and shared dedication, setting a new standard for industry collaboration.

Comprising PSL Patrick Sprack Ltd., Patrick Mechanical Ltd. (PML), Greater City Concrete Works (GCCW), Bisschops Industries, Legend Mining Contracting, BadRiverBoats, One Source Home Services, and S2 Metal Fabricators, the group’s success lies in its commitment to quality service, workmanship, and dedication to employee engagement.

“Our strength lies in our diversity, and we celebrate the uniqueness of each member company, upholding their individual identities and areas of specialization,” says Emilia Pauze, Manager of Continuous Improvement.

From mechanical, oil and gas, concrete, buildings, and rehabilitation of dams and critical infrastructure, to fabrication, HVAC-R, metal works, mill expansion, new mine development, and more, the group’s services cover the industrial, institutional, and commercial markets. “We deliver a seamless, single-source approach to projects of any scale, tailored to your exact needs,” Pauze says. “Our arsenal of distinctive skills, strategic partnerships, vast experience, and unwavering dedication places us miles ahead of the competition.”

Patrick Mechanical Limited (PML)
Patrick Mechanical Limited (PML), established in 1989, is a pioneer in addressing the industrial, commercial, and institutional contracting requirements of diverse authorities, businesses, and sectors across the province of Ontario.

Based in Sudbury, Ontario, PML is staffed with more than 125 highly skilled workers, including engineers, craftspeople, and professionals working together to guarantee that every project is tackled and completed utilizing the highest calibre of knowledge and craftsmanship.

“For more than 30 years, Patrick Mechanical has been the leading company in Northern Ontario for large-scale construction, contracting, mining, and industrial projects,” says President Doug Patrick. “PML is a leader in meeting the industrial, commercial, and institutional contracting needs of governments, corporations, and mining industries across the province.”

In specialist disciplines and trades such as mechanical contracting, bespoke steel fabrication, plumbing, heating, and process piping, as well as millwrighting and allied services (with a completely equipped fabrication shop and fully qualified employees committed to offering the highest quality of workmanship available), PML is acknowledged as a leader.

Utilizing more than three decades of experience, the company has worked with clients from all over the province and nation to develop and effectively complete large-scale, exceedingly complex projects. In completing construction designs and strategies for its government, corporate, and industry partners, Patrick Mechanical is renowned for its in-house ability to grasp the complexity of a project, regardless of size or scale, and overcome any challenges, issues, or technical barriers.

PSL Patrick Sprack Ltd.
PSL Patrick Sprack Ltd. is one of the fastest-growing mechanical service providers in Northern Ontario, providing exemplary work and a superb reputation coupled with extensive experience in the mining, commercial, industrial, and institutional markets. Established in 2006, PSL has grown into one of the most highly regarded contractors in Ontario, offering its services both regional and globally.

“We are an ever-expanding and diversifying HVAC company with a record and reputation for steady customer growth and satisfaction,” says Scott Sprack, Owner and General Manager. “We focus on the use of the latest technologies and mechanical diversity,” providing innovative industrial energy solutions in mine ventilation, oil and gas, overhead garage doors, electrical, petroleum, indoor air quality, rental equipment, and its new division, generators.

PSL’s HVAC-R division has been exceeding the needs of Northern Ontario customers with a variety of heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration, and rental HVAC equipment on a 24/7 schedule, offering services that range from planned maintenance—both preventative and full-coverageؙ—to inspections, diagnostic services, repairs, retrofits, and new installations for commercial and industrial mechanical systems.

Greater City Concrete Works (GCCW)
GCCW was founded in 2007 in Lively, Ontario, to deliver concrete forming and placing services to the local industrial, commercial, and institutional construction markets.

“Under a gradual growth plan, the group has expanded its capabilities into small scale earthworks and the company also offers general contracting and design-build services while retaining a focus and expertise in complex concrete sections’ forming and placement,” explains General Manager, Andre Auge.

“As we expand our service offer, we are better able to safely manage deliverables, control costs and consistency, and manage risks that are discovered through the life of projects for our clients. This is a critically important value proposition especially with supply chain and resource constraints on complex remote projects. As an example, dam rehabilitation projects we’re undertaking in remote areas in Northern Ontario require: fine-tuned plans; timely collaboration with our vendor partners, engineering consultants, and client representatives; and the assignment of a well-equipped, versatile, and creative workforce that can propose and safely execute solutions often resulting from the discovery of unexpected circumstances,” Auge explains.

Bisschops Industries
Bisschops Industries—founded in 2007 in Sudbury, Ontario as a sheet metal and HVAC contractor—has shown steady growth ever since and now provides refrigeration and air conditioning as well as electrical service and maintenance.

“Bisschops continually works to improve and upgrade existing mine ventilation systems,” says Jason Bisschops, Operations Manager. “We provide construction and maintenance service to all sectors of the mining industry, including surface buildings, process areas, and underground environments.”

Currently, “being a part of the single largest mine development site in Northern Ontario has allowed us to prove that we are capable of handling such projects of this capacity,” he says. “We’ve achieved a unique status in Northern Ontario serving the commercial, institutional, and industrial sectors and we proudly remain committed to our customers locally and across the North.”

S2 Metal Fabricators
Focusing on the industrial, institutional, and commercial structural steel segment has allowed the S2 Metal Fabricators staff to achieve expert status in those fields. With a total capacity per shift of 200,000 tons per year, this company participates in steel fabrication for mining, mineral refining, petrochemical, hydroelectric, private, and governmental environments.

“S2 Metal Fabricators can accommodate customized, heavy load structural steel for any application,” says General Manager Jeff Crump. “When it comes to industrial painting, we don’t just deliver paint; we deliver perfection,” he says. “With our specialized expertise in prepping industrial coatings, we’re not simply a service provider—we’re your strategic partner in achieving impeccable quality steel fabrication and finishes.”

BadRiverBoats
Founded in 2020 by the Patrick Group of Companies, BadRiverBoats was formed in response to a need for its workers to access remote worksites in Northern Ontario, Canada.

“We build custom, high-quality aluminum workboats for construction, Ministry, and commercial applications,” explains Guy Gallipeau, General Manager. “We specialize in aluminum boats, but we can take any customized orders, like carbon steel and more,” he explains.

“Our handcrafted aluminum boats embody the perfect blend of form and function, resulting in a stunning visual appeal that’s matched only by their practicality. Crafted for performance, their superior handling capabilities make them the ultimate solution, setting a new standard in versatility and reliability that no other option can rival.”

Eye on The Patrick Group
Of course, this dynamic and ever-evolving group of companies also focuses on promoting the many opportunities it offers, via recruiting efforts to maintain its growth, which includes hiring more welders.

“Our search for exceptional talent never stops,” says Pauze. “Whether it’s an experienced professional or a fresh face in the industry, we go beyond the ordinary to match a profile with the right role… we accommodate and support them based on their strengths.”

“Our focus is to seek out experienced individuals from different backgrounds and ethnicities who want to learn the trades while we provide opportunity, education, and training through government apprenticeships and programs,” agrees Bisschops.

The group of companies proudly embraces diversity, which is reflected in its multicultural workforce comprising individuals from Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and beyond, bringing a rich tapestry of perspectives and experiences, adds Pauze. “Our recruitment philosophy is about the long term,” she says. “We’re not just filling positions; we’re inviting them on a journey of growth within our group of companies.”

To that end, the group actively participates in a variety of events, not sitting and waiting for talent to come to them but seeking them out via job fairs and networking events, providing a platform for prospective candidates to engage with the team directly.

The hardest place to mine
“Our journey continues to be one of growth, innovation, and collaboration,” Pauze adds. “We are tremendously lucky as a group to cut our teeth in the eminent mining centre of the world. Since we have growth as a big team, we can go out of the Sudbury basin and bring value to mines. It’s a world-class mining centre, not only the best in the world but the hardest place to do mining.”

By taking on and succeeding in these challenges, the group of companies has forged a solid reputation in the industry, with an unyielding commitment to quality at the core of its operations.

“By aligning with the client’s standards, we earn the privilege of collaborating with anyone, regardless of the complexity of the task,” Pauze says. “Our reach extends to building a robust supply chain, capable of custom manufacturing that fuels innovation.”

Pushing the envelope
The client base the company services features major market shareholders including companies from Brazil, Switzerland, Africa, and the U.S. “As they continually push the envelope in health, safety, and quality, we’re entrusted with the task of meeting and exceeding their expectations,” says Patrick. “Working alongside industry trailblazers, we’re not just service providers; we’re collaborators in their pursuit of being the best in class.”

As with all companies in all industries over the past few years, this group experienced challenges during the pandemic but emerged successfully by joining forces, aligning its efforts, and growing its workforce.

“Over the years we’ve been part of many exciting and reputable projects in the industrial, commercial, and institutional sectors,” says Pauze, “including a single largest mine development site in Northern Ontario that’s proof that we’re capable of handling large-scale projects.”

Other challenges include, as always, securing talent, particularly among the young workforce, and the industrial capacity of real property, going outside the regional marketplace. Moving forward, the companies look to continue to add employees, maintaining stability while growing sustainably, says Patrick.

Inspiring people
“We’ve shifted from an owner-operated to an employee-operated company,” he adds. “We have KPIs to support that movement, self-monitoring for the stakeholders, the most important ones being the employees.”

The companies are also focusing on improving and building efficiency within the organization to help them better market their strategic partnership while also growing their team and continuing to be the best companies to work for, says Pauze. “We want to inspire our people, and we’re always looking to secure more talent.”

“In the mining industry, success is a result of seamless coordination and strategic partnerships,” adds Crump. “We can coordinate and integrate strategic design and engineering partners.”

Patrick agrees: “A group movement is better than an individual movement.”

Maintaining its solid reputation in the industry is also vital, and will continue to help set the group apart from its competitors. “We have synergy within our internal strategic partners and the ability to work together to execute any project scale,” Patrick says. “Our reputation with our client base is one of delivering our promises, honouring and managing our own risk, bringing a problem-solving approach, and learning from our challenges.”

It is the result of that internal synergy, commitment to precision, an unshakable reputation, and a penchant for problem-solving that will keep the group of companies successful moving forward.

“We have a thirst for knowledge,” Patrick says. “We’re not just setting the standard; we’re raising it, and creating a legacy of excellence that’s truly unparalleled.”

The post Celebrating the Uniqueness of Each Member Company<p class="company">Patrick Mechanical Limited</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.

The company provides, but is not limited to, Geo-technical, Environmental, and Hydro-geological drilling services throughout Ontario, using a variety of drill rigs mounted on truck and tracked carriers. Geo-technical drilling is a type of drilling that is performed as part of the construction process. This is mainly carried out for structures like buildings, bridges, cell phone towers, roads, city infrastructure, et cetera. Soil samples are retrieved by GEDI and analyzed by engineering firms. Data can also be gathered, via this soil sampling process, for environmental and hydro-geological purposes.

When the groundbreaking ceremonies take place, drillers and Geo-technical engineers “don’t get the limelight like the architects and politicians do when they put the silver shovel in the ground,” notes Dave Gunn, GEDI’s Principal and Co-Owner. “But it’s the data that makes these things work,” Mr. Gunn adds, “whether it’s a water line being buried, a tunnelling project, or someone buying a $100 million piece of property, we have to make sure the data accurately represents the soil being tested.”

From conception to completion, GEDI is a one-stop shop for their clients. GEDI can assist with utility locates, daylighting operations, traffic control services, drilling services, water well services, and so much more. The company has a fabrication department in-house and can sustain itself when it comes to retrofitting rigs and building tooling. “We have been able to stay competitive, while offering a superior service, by performing most of the services ourselves,” says Mr. Gunn. “On large or specialized projects, work is occasionally partnered with trusted third parties.”

Before the company’s inception, Mr. Gunn was once employed as an Environmental, and Geo-technical, technician. It was then he and his business partner Ron Barnhardt, who also worked for the same firm, launched GEDI back in 1991 in response to a lack of good health and safety work practices and low customer service within the industry.

“At the time,” says Mr. Gunn, “health and safety, and customer service, were almost non-existent.” With Mr. Gunn’s knowledge of soil sampling data and Mr. Barnhardt’s drilling systems and mechanical knowledge, Geo-Environmental Drilling Inc. was born.

In its infancy, GEDI mainly performed soil investigations and installed remediation equipment for energy companies such as Imperial Oil and Shell Canada, who Mr. Gunn speaks highly of by praising them for their “unwavering commitment to safety and professionalism.” Over time, the bulk of GEDI’s work shifted from the energy sector to the construction industry.

Today, their workload is more or less evenly divided between geo-technical and environmental drilling. “People are buying land to build on,” begins Mr. Gunn, “and an environmental assessment is required when dealing with the banks. Then, before they build on the land, a Geo-technical investigation has to be completed. When the refinancing needs to be done, ten years later, the banks want to make sure the soil isn’t contaminated. It isn’t uncommon for us to drill a site numerous times over the decades.”

So, what sets GEDI apart from other drilling firms?

Mr. Gunn attributes GEDI’s success to the quality of their overall service, their relationships with their clients and employees, and the production of accurate data for the engineering firms that hire GEDI. “Everyone here is concerned with our client’s next drilling project,” he states. “Our goal is to safely, and efficiently, complete a client’s drilling program within the time and budget estimated. We need the engineers to be successful in their business so we can perform their next job.”

But doing a great job for its clients isn’t the only contributing factor to GEDI’s success.

Geo-Environmental Drilling is very proud of its environmental safe-work practices. Mr. Gunn says,” there are many small tasks and practices that have to be completed for a job to be successful—proper handling and disposal of waste and running newer, well-maintained equipment,” to name a couple. These practices cannot be implemented properly without the employees.

GEDI, currently, employees 35 to 40 employees and is always looking for good people to join their team. Mr. Gunn explains what he looks for in a new hire: “We are looking for someone who is willing to learn, wants to advance, and is able to follow policies and procedures. We can train them to do everything else.”

According to Mr. Gunn, it usually takes three to five years to go from a green horn driller’s assistant to a fully licensed driller. This journey includes new employee orientations, on-site training, stringent health and safety training, an operator training program, well licensing training, MOE training, a driver training program, and most importantly, the hard work and dedication in providing an unparalleled drilling service.

Of course, there are benefits to maintaining a high level of qualified staff and services. Mr. Gunn says he has never advertised because he been able to rely on word of mouth, referrals, and repeat customers to obtain work. This strategy has been successful for GEDI. Some of its past projects include the Gordie Howe Bridge spanning the Detroit River in Windsor, Ontario; the Port Lands Toronto project, which will be a revamped waterfront at the bottom of the Don River; and numerous transit infrastructure projects for Toronto, Hamilton, and Mississauga.

“All of our projects are important,” Mr. Gunn states. “The Gordie Howe Bridge required a great deal of preparation in case artesian conditions were encountered within the bedrock formation. Other projects require us to accurately drill and sample to depths of 150 meters. Some projects require us to deal with potential contamination, traffic control, homeowners, tenants, civilians et cetera.” Some projects are also sensitive because of nearby buried utilities.

GEDI operates a subsidiary, Geo-Daylighting, responsible for exposing the buried services so they are not damaged during the drilling process. The day-lighting process consists of a large truck equipped with an “Air-Knife” system that uses high-pressure air to safely break apart the soil around the services while simultaneously containing it in a large holding tank via a high volume vacuum system. This system ensures that buried facilities aren’t damaged, but more importantly, that no one is hurt during the drilling process because of a utility strike.

GEDI is partially responsible for raising the standards in the industry over the past 30 years. In the early 1990s, when Mr. Gunn worked for a consulting firm, drill crews wore shorts and running shoes on site. Although this made for good backyard barbecue attire, it didn’t protect the worker from heavy equipment or potentially contaminated soil. By contrast, Geo-Environmental Drilling has always taken a “safety first” approach to its operations.

GEDI performs numerous on-site safety audits and safety meetings to make sure all safety protocol is being followed, not only by its employees, but its clients too. In addition to maintaining their tools and equipment, GEDI reinforces the “safety first” approach through their safety culture and mentoring programs. This safety culture is ingrained in everyone’s minds through constant encouragement for employees to speak up if they come across any safety concerns. Mr. Gunn believes it is this type of transparency and awareness that helps GEDI overcome unforeseen challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The initial stages of COVID-19, in early 2020, were scary for everyone,” he says. “We dealt with these stages within the company in several different ways. We had daily morning meetings to discuss the virus’ progress. We tried to figure out what was false information on social media and countered that with what we hoped was correct advice.” While GEDI remained open for business throughout the pandemic, as a designated essential service, it did have to get creative with how to keep its employees, and the public, safe.

“Despite the government assistance, and continuance of drilling,” he says, “we did have to absorb some additional costs due to COVID-19 procedures. We had crews driving in separate trucks and we staggered morning start times to reduce employee contact,” to list a couple. Despite the challenges, Mr. Gunn is very proud of the company’s past and is excited about its future.

Geo-Environmental Drilling will continue to find ways to enhance its products and services. “My main goal,” says Mr. Gunn, “has been and will always be to have Geo-Environmental Drilling synonymous with high quality work and unparalleled commitment to the health and safety of all its employees and the people who hire us.”

The post Raising the Bar for the Geo-technical Drilling Industry<p class="company">Geo-Environmental Drilling Inc.</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.

“As of now, we have a total rental fleet of just over 275,000 horsepower, and out of that total, we are 98.5 percent electric-driven. We still have a miniscule percentage of legacy compression units that are driven by combustion engines, but we are getting closer and closer to the one hundred percent figure,” states Chief Executive Officer Brian Green, son of the company founder.

TOPS also offers comprehensive service, support, and maintenance for the roughly nine hundred advanced compressors in its fleet. Its customers consist of energy companies in the Permian Basin—a region in the south-western U.S. with abundant oil and gas deposits.

Gas compression—which increases the pressure of natural gas by reducing its volume—is not a new technology. TOPS, however, has established itself at the forefront of the compression field. Instead of driving the compressor with a traditional gas combustion engine, its compression skids have two electric-powered motors for nearly emissions-free operation.

Compressors from the company also feature custom-designed supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) technology. A SCADA system uses sensors, software, programmable logic controllers (PLCs), and other devices to enable process automation, data collection, and remote performance monitoring.

This type of innovation helps it stand out. “I think the biggest piece for us is automation—what we are able to do control-wise with an electric motor and a PLC. It’s far more advanced than what can be done with a gas engine. Everything is simpler—from restarts to monitoring operational ability,” says Green. “Secondly, there is the amount of data and analytics we’re able to collect from this system. Pretty much everything on that skid we can track in real time,” he shares.

“We have roughly 125 data points that we’re capturing in real time from each of our compressor skids. All that data is being funneled through our control room. It’s being looked at with statistical models to see if temperatures, vibration, pressures, or anything is out of norm or out of standard deviation.”

If a mishap is detected, or if a unit is down, TOPS can dispatch technicians to investigate and fix the problem or even restart the system remotely.

In addition to being highly efficient, the company’s compressors are better for the environment. Gas compressors typically run continuously, every day of the year, so traditional systems create a lot of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions and other toxic fumes. Removing a gas combustion engine from the equation “is a significant benefit, not just for our industry but for our customers and everyone, from an ESG (environmental, social, governance) perspective,” says Green. TOPS compressors are also less noisy and costly and offer greater run-time than their gas-powered counterparts.

From its Midland headquarters, TOPS maintains a satellite office in Carlsbad, New Mexico and a facility in Yukon, Oklahoma. The Carlsbad branch primarily supports field personnel in the region, while the Yukon facility “gets our units ready and does major overhauls and such,” Green explains.

Equipment handled in Yukon is intended for use elsewhere. “Our operating area is all within the Permian Basin. Every one of our compression units is located in West Texas or southern New Mexico,” he says. Business is booming at present, so there is no need to expand outside of the Permian Basin.

TOPS has “a tremendous backlog for equipment that’s already contracted out to a blue chip customer base. So, right now, we are as busy as we can be servicing needs in the Permian. It would have to be a pretty good opportunity for us to move outside because we’re doing really well here,” he states.

The company gets most of its gas compressor units from Ariel, an Ohio-based firm that describes itself as ‘the largest manufacturer of separable reciprocating gas compressors worldwide.’ Green explains that there are “only a handful of manufacturers of natural gas compressors. The gold standard in the compression industry is Ariel. So, roughly eighty percent of our fleet is Ariel gas compressors.”

Ariel will build a compressor frame with cylinders and other equipment. Then, the product is sent to a network of Ariel packagers who work with TOPS “on the design of the overall compressor skid and compressor package, adding the cooler, motors, piping, pressure vessels, et cetera,” says Green.

Once the packagers’ work is done, the compressor goes to TOPS which installs instrumentation and other technology, then adds the finished product to its fleet.

Brian Green’s father L.D. Green founded the firm in 1996. When Brian came on board in 2006, the focus was on traditional, natural-gas-driven compressors which were “the industry standard,” in that period, he remembers. It has “definitely been an evolution.”

By 2008, shale gas had become a much sought-after commodity in the Permian Basin. “We were getting involved in the gas-lift compression market around that time. We began to see a lot of problems popping up with traditional compression units with natural gas engines. They weren’t really designed to run well in the Permian Basin. They weren’t really designed to handle the wet, saturated, heavy-gravity gas that we see up here,” recalls Green.

Around 2011, TOPS began delving into electric-driven compression as an alternative. “At the time we had all the naysayers who were saying, ‘Electric doesn’t make any sense.’ Fast forward, and we’ve completely flipped that metric,” says Green. “We’re doing business with the who’s who—blue chip customers in the Permian Basin—so I think we’ve proven that the concept for our area makes a lot of sense.”

L.D. Green worked as president and chief executive officer of TOPS until recently. In January of this year, he decided “to enjoy a much earned retirement, but he’s still involved with the company as chairman of the board,” his son states.

Brian Green, who has handled just about every facet of the business, moved from chief operating officer to chief executive officer. The company is now partnered with private equity group, Apollo Global Management, Inc. and is no longer a family business.

One consistent theme throughout the years has been a commitment to customer service. As business expanded, the company invested in new compressors and staff. “As we grow our fleet size, you have to have enough technicians to keep up. You have to have additional engineering support, project management support, all the back office support to make sure those guys in the field have the parts they need when they need them and where they need them,” explains Vice President of Sales and Marketing Misty Ingle.

TOPS currently has 165 employees. When considering a new employee, particularly for work in the field, the company wants people “who are technically inclined, who are not afraid to learn new things, who can embrace working with electronics and automation. It’s not something they’re intimidated by,” says Green.

A strong work ethic and the ability to take on challenges and “wear several different hats,” is also important, he continues.

“We love an employee who will challenge our preconceived notions. A lot of companies will squash that in their employees but we welcome somebody to challenge us and help us grow and do things differently,” adds Ingle.

For all its upward momentum, the company faces many challenges, including COVID. When the virus began spreading rapidly in March 2020, it introduced controls on people entering and leaving its facility, temperature checks, and social distancing to keep its workforce safe.

The pandemic “was an incredibly tough time for our industry,” but TOPS got through the worst of it intact and grew during the crisis, says Green. “I think it is a testament to what we’re doing and the benefits our customers see with our products.”

While the virus might have peaked, the fallout from shutdowns continues to wreak havoc on supply chains. Like many companies, TOPS has been dealing with long delays in part shipments, especially electronic components from Asia.

Still, the forecast for the future is bright. When interviewed, the company was preparing to ship a 2,000 horsepower compressor—its biggest unit yet. This fully electric system is quite a leap for the firm, which previously only handled compressors that went up to 800 horsepower.

“We see this as an opportunity for us to continue to grow, to put out some larger compressors. The same things that made us so successful with the smaller compressors, we think are going to be game changers for the larger units,” says Green.

Five years down the road, “We want to be seen as the leader of not just electric compression but the leader in compression in general. We’re constantly adapting and innovating. We want to see our horsepower totals continue to grow. We want to continue to grow our team and take advantages of opportunities as they come up.”

The post This Texas Company Expands its Gas Compression Business<p class="company">Total Operations & Production Services (TOPS)</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.

This commitment to safety and performance is backed by a reputation that spans 114 years. Throughout this time RegO Products has consistently invested in its capacity to innovate to address the needs of its customers and their industries. The result is a catalog of over 5,000 active SKUs, many of which were first to market.

Despite a storied history and a robust product portfolio, the future has only just begun for RegO Products as it embarks on a new chapter under new ownership. Recently, Dover acquired both RegO Products and its peer in the market, ACME Cryogenics, Inc., to better meet market needs.

The two entities are in the process of synergizing operations into a single platform as part of the OPW Global operating unit, within Dover’s Fueling Solutions business segment, which will draw on the particular strengths of each: RegO Products’ reputation as a clean energy solutions provider and ACME’s strength in the cryogenic liquid and gas markets.

A path to new energy solutions

As President and CEO Mike Lucas says, “The hydrogen economy is a significant focus for us, as it was before the acquisition. ACME has a strong position with hydrogen in the current industry, so bringing us together has helped accelerate what we can provide to the hydrogen industry as it builds out and develops new industry applications,” and, he adds, ultimately a pathway to net zero emissions.

One clear opportunity is the LNG (liquefied natural gas) market, particularly in end uses like heavy-duty trucking where there are challenges when refueling vehicles that are transporting cryogenic liquids. Since gas in liquid form needs cold and pressurized conditions to maintain that form, it becomes more dangerous and challenging than the diesel alternative.

“With the current technology, because it’s cryogenic, the nozzles want to freeze to the truck. The drivers were having a difficult time operating them because they were experiencing leaks and maintaining this equipment would create downtime at the station,” explains Senior Vice President Product Portfolio Chad Thomas.

To address this challenge and improve the process for both the driver and the station operator, RegO Products went out into the industry for driver feedback to help develop a solution. The result was a product that keeps the equipment clean and dry, simplifying refueling, and putting an end to human error by automating much of the process.

“The driver only has to hang the nozzle on the truck and press a button, so all the other critical factors are automated, taking driver influence out of there,” says Thomas of this advance that has transformed the process, and which will encourage greater adoption of LNG heavy-duty trucks.

With the industry in mind

As the focus at RegO is on both the end user and the industry infrastructure, the company is deeply involved in the development of new industry standards and regulations to ensure safe adoption of these advances in procedure and technology.

Lucas aptly notes, “For the hydrogen economy to take place, you have to be able to produce it. We provide many products and solutions on the infrastructure side, supporting all those products that are needed to expand production capacity globally.”

The innovation doesn’t stop there. RegO Products introduced a custom-developed app that connects end users with digitized resources like the invaluable Serviceman’s Handbook, which is imperative for the installation and servicing of propane equipment.

RegO Products recently took everything a step further by including reference information, product availability, and essentially, “all the tools they need to do their day job,” in the app, says Thomas. Every possible issue has been considered to optimize its complete suite of offerings. This full-service approach has been key to the company’s longevity and success.

To be in business for over 100 years is a testament to RegO Products’ ability to remain relevant as a solutions provider. Time and again it demonstrates that it can evolve with the industry, and even lead. Especially now as the economy moves to alternatives like LNG and LP, cleaner fossil fuels that are often overlooked.

From Lucas’ perspective, “As people move away from sources of power like gasoline and diesel fuels and coal, LNG and LP will have a role as clean fuel. There are also newer technologies where you can make propane from renewable resources, or you can put additives into propane that reduces the carbon emissions.”

The ultimate clean source

While hydrogen is the ultimate clean source of power, it will take time for it to grow into its full promise, and in the meantime, LNG and LP will support countries around the world as they strive to meet ambitious emission reduction requirements.

“When you think of the alternative energy and the CO₂ emission reduction targets, LNG is a critical player, especially in Europe when it comes to meeting some of those targets adopted by the Paris Accord and EU regulations,” says Thomas.

While the economy continues its green evolution, the goal at RegO Products will be to integrate with ACME under Dover to increase their collective impact on the industry.

As always, RegO Products will emphasize innovation and operational capacity to maximize productivity and nurture its culture of success to ensure that its legacy stays in great shape for the next 100 years.

Speaking of a timeline of 100 years, how confident Is RegO Products, really, about the company, its market, and its future? Well, it recently wrapped up $7 million in capital investments and announced plans to invest $6 million more over the next few months. There’s a signal.

The post Cleaning up Clean Energy Solutions<p class="company">RegO Products</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.

The company’s latest product, the cutting-edge VortexPrime™ system, offers high-powered pumping, a small footprint, low operating costs, reduced emissions, and ease of use. “VortexPrime™ is a technology that we say checks all the boxes,” states Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Seth Moore.

Released earlier this year, VortexPrime™ is the first frac fleet of its kind to use direct-drive turbine technology. The term “frac fleet” is industry lingo for the equipment used in hydraulic fracturing such as trucks, pumps, mixing equipment, manifolds and vehicles.

VortexPrime™ offers power and efficiency in a single package. Moore measures efficiency in terms of fuel consumption and human capital— the number of workers required to transport, install, operate, maintain then dismantle a hydraulic fracturing system.

This revolutionary solution can be directly attributed to Catalyst’s spirit of innovation and open-mindedness. The company was officially founded on April 23, 2018, by Moore, Chief Executive Officer Bobby Chapman and Chief Financial Officer Mike Morgan. From the start, the co-founders aimed to do things differently in a traditionally conservative industry.

“When we came up with the idea for the company, we had a blank canvas. We could kind of do what we wanted to. We searched out a lot of different technologies and possibilities,” he recalls of the company’s early days.

At first, the company used conventional Tier-4 final diesel-powered hydraulic fracturing systems to serve clients. However, the desire to break the mold remained strong. Out of this came an idea: why not couple a military-grade turbine powered by natural gas directly to a pump? Other companies have tried to develop similar systems, but Catalyst was determined to take the lead on this concept.

“We partnered with some great people, sat down with whiteboards and markers and designed the VortexPrime™ from the ground up. It wasn’t something we purchased off the shelf. It wasn’t something that we gave to an equipment design company to go build for us. It was something built by us and the partners we contracted with,” says Moore, with a touch of pride.

Creative as they were, the development team was also cautious. A VortexPrime™ prototype was built and put through extensive field tests to see if it fulfilled expectations. Only after testing was complete did the company create a final version which was released commercially in February of this year.

VortexPrime™ generates plenty of horsepower but is also “very agile. We can move it. This equipment moves every two to five weeks, so you need a fleet that can be set up and taken down in a relatively short time frame,” states Moore.

He stresses again that most of the work on this solution was done in-house. “We manufacture it ourselves. We have a manufacturing center in Odessa, Texas where we build these units.”

The fully-self-contained VortexPrime™ solution is compact, requiring eight frac pumps, versus twenty on conventional frac fleets, and offers up to twenty-percent-reduced systems cost compared with a conventional system. VortexPrime™ requires less maintenance, produces up to forty percent fewer CO₂ greenhouse gas emissions than conventional Tier-4 fracturing fleets and can be set up in hours rather than days, as with a traditional fleet.

There are fewer pieces to haul, and fewer trips back and forth from the worksite are required. The system can reach a maximum treating pressure of 11,900 psi with an average treating pressure of 9,210 psi and a maximum treating rate of 120 barrels per minute, with an average treating rate of 95 barrels per minute. Using VortexPrime™ also results in a “ninety-plus percent reduction in waste stream,” adds Moore.

Other benefits include a kill switch feature that drastically limits idle time—it takes roughly five minutes to get the system back online compared with potentially hours for conventional frac fleets—automated software, and the ability to access small, remote locales.

While it is a revolutionary product, VortexPrime™ is not currently available for sale; instead, the system, along with Catalyst crews, can be rented out on an hourly basis. Using VortexPrime™ or convention diesel equipment, the company performs hydraulic fracturing for clients.

“We’re focused on providing a service. We charge typically by the hour. The customer is not buying the VortexPrime™. They are renting our service, and we use the VortexPrime™ to complete that service,” Moore explains.

The company has kicked around the idea of producing VortexPrime™ frac fleets that customers could purchase for themselves but has not pursued the notion yet. Among other things, COVID-related supply chain woes have made Catalyst a bit wary about moving into large-scale manufacturing for the hydraulic fracturing marketplace.

“The global pandemic really upset the supply chain… We had a case a while back, where we needed a water pump for a diesel engine. That water pump took us almost 120 days to get. We had this very expensive unit waiting on a very inexpensive water pump… That’s been a challenge, being able to keep things running at a time when the supply chain has been so stressed,” Moore says.

Content to remain a technology company and service provider, for the time being, Catalyst is also firmly focused on the Permian Basin. Located in Southeast New Mexico and West Texas, the Permian Basin contains vast oil and gas deposits. Catalyst has worked on projects in other places but finds there is “so much growth potential for us here, we’re not actively marketing outside the Permian Basin. We see a lot of opportunity within our backyard,” he states.

Indeed, there is so much opportunity that Catalyst has been growing at an explosive clip. From roughly 110 employees this time last year, it now employs between 175 and 180 people. Employee benefits include dental, vision, and major medical insurance, 401(k) savings plans, paid holidays and vacations, competitive salaries, an Employment Assistance Program, and more.

“I think the VortexPrime™ has driven our growth. I think the market has driven it too. There’s an old saying that a rising tide lifts all boats,” notes Moore.

Anyone interested in joining needs to meet some high standards. The firm wants new hires who demonstrate “a desire for excellence. We also like people who are competitive, who hate to lose. These are intangibles. People can have experience, and we value experience, but it goes much beyond that. You want people to share in a vision of greatness, a vision of innovation,” he says.

It also values hardworking people who can focus on routine tasks. Transporting, installing, operating, then dismantling hydraulic fracturing fleets requires close attention to detail and consistent results. Catalyst aims to always provide top-notch service, including maintenance and troubleshooting.

Employees undergo rigorous safety training and receive regular safety updates. This makes sense, given that the firm specializes in equipment that extracts oil and natural gas. Having said that, “the most dangerous thing we do is drive. We move a lot of equipment,” notes Moore.

VortexPrime™ is not the only alternative fracking solution on the market. Electric-powered fleets or e-frac, are another contender. These use electric-powered pumps rather than diesel-powered ones. Not hugely common at present, e-frac systems do offer certain benefits; according to Drilling Contractor magazine, e-fracking drastically reduces greenhouse gas emissions and fuel consumption.

Environmental benefits aside, e-fracturing has its disadvantages, says Moore. Simply plugging an e-frac system into an electrical grid is not a practical option for large-scale hydraulic fracturing, he says. The resulting power draw would cause strain on any grid and would pose a particular challenge in Texas, which has an independent electrical grid that is not connected to grids in other states. Onsite generators can produce electricity for e-frac systems, but they are expensive and such equipment adds more steps to the hydraulic fracturing process.

Given Catalyst’s rapid growth and the launch of the VortexPrime™ frac fleet, it is not a surprise that Moore is bullish about the future. “We’re excited about the industry. We’re excited about the direction we’re headed, and we’re excited about the role we play. We are a small player and have to try hard. We look forward to continuing to grow,” he states.

He makes it clear, however, that Catalyst has no intention of resting on its laurels and relying solely on VortexPrime™ to build revenue. “We’re going to continue to innovate. This isn’t the last cool technology that Catalyst is going to release. We’re going to do other things.”

The post This Visionary Company Offers Cutting-Edge Hydraulic Fracturing Technology<p class="company">Catalyst Energy Services</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.

These offerings include geotechnical design, construction inspection and materials testing, building condition surveys, contaminant management, hydrogeological and ecological studies, and environmental, health and safety compliance and management systems audits.

Terrapex works in both the public and private sectors and is a company that noticeably sets clear standards of integrity, technical quality, respect, personal service, and putting people first, whether client or employee.

As well as dealing with the ongoing challenges of COVID during the past few years, the company has experienced its own considerable transformation, with a recent management buyout. “It’s been one of the most exciting things that’s happened to the company in the last year or so,” says President Jennifer O’Grady.

Beginning in late 2019, Mike Osborne—who founded the company and was majority shareholder—decided it was time to take action on his exit strategy.

“He had always wanted to sell the company to key employees and maintain it as an employee-owned company,” O’Grady says. “He and I talked about it a number of times in the past, but we were never sure it was financially feasible or if we had enough people who’d be willing to take on that kind of financial risk.”

A way was found, however, and although the pandemic slowed the process, in August 2020, key senior staff who had more than 15 years tenure were approached.

“We ended up with four, including myself and Peter Sutton, who was Vice President at the time and still is,” O’Grady says. “It took 11 months to get it finalized, and in July 2021 we signed all the final documents.”

Osborne stayed on as CEO until the end of October to help with transitioning before he resigned but now acts as a senior consultant advising the management team. “I’m happy to say he was fully retired by the end of July of this year, so he took the final step back and he’s pretty excited about that,” says O’Grady.

“It was great that he was able to transition that way,” adds Sutton, Vice President, Environmental Services. “It made it a lot easier for us.”

The pandemic not only affected the ownership change but also initial business dealings, particularly at the start, a time when Terrapex fully expected to be shut down by emerging COVID regulations.

“No one back then expected this to go on for as long as it has,” says Sutton. “That initial period of shutdown only affected part of our business, though, as a lot of the environmental work we do was considered essential.”

The company did see a fairly significant drop-off in March and April of 2020 but was fortunate to have a big project in April that kept their environmental team largely engaged. “Our other service lines were a little more strapped, but we were in a very good position at that point after a successful fiscal year, and we made a decision not to lay people off,” says Sutton.

“Even if there was nothing for them to do that was billable to our clients, we would find something. We just simply weren’t willing to do that to our staff. We wanted to keep them safe and that meant economically safe as well.”

That dedication and commitment to employees is a cornerstone of Terrapex’s vision, even during the challenge of COVID. While the company finished the fiscal (and COVID) year of 2021 with a small decrease in revenue, helping staff stay afloat was a top priority. Since then, revenue has been impressive.

“We now have a 29 percent total revenue growth from April 2021 to March 2022,” says Sutton. “We had a flat year and then we grew, and then some, for two years, and we’re continuing to grow.”

That growth includes people: Three years ago the company had a staff of 80 and is now at more than 100, some of whom have made a transition to working from home due to COVID restraints.

“It’s changed our business quite a bit because we’ve seen an uptake in remote work, but only about 15 percent of our staff are on a hybrid schedule,” says Sutton. “An extremely small number of people are completely remote. From a cultural perspective, we’ve managed to have people who want to be with their co-workers, but we’ve also increased flexibility for our staff for those whose roles permit work from home on a slightly greater frequency than we used to see.”

While historically the company felt strongly about the need for face-to-face interaction in the office, advancing technology in the past few years has made this pivot easier.

“It’s a testament to our good office culture that people want to be in the office at least part of the time,” says O’Grady, though she adds that maintaining and developing relationships throughout COVID has been a challenge. “We’ve always had a real sense of community amongst our staff, so seeing almost everyone have time in the office, even if it’s just once or twice a week, shows how strongly people feel about wanting to be part of Terrapex.”

While both O’Grady and Sutton enjoy being in the office full-time, they appreciate that not everyone feels that way, and while COVID is still affecting daily work and personal lives, they also realize it may be some time before social functions return completely to normal.

The company is also still accustoming itself to an entirely new board of directors post-buyout, and while the board has been active in meeting and discussing growth plans, at the same time it has exercised a caution that befits its first year.

“We’ve been benefiting a lot from development in the real estate business, in particular, and our services are growing quite rapidly, so we’re focusing on stabilizing those,” O’Grady says. “We’re also working to develop an ecology business and that has taken off in the last little while. We see a lot of opportunity for growth in ecology services, most of it related to the real estate redevelopment market, so we’ll continue to invest in that.”

Health and safety services have also taken off in the last six to eight months, due largely to Terrapex’s partnership with the Inogen Alliance.”

An alliance of specialists offering comprehensive coverage through a single point of contact for companies’ initiatives in sustainability, health, and safety, Inogen works with Terrapex and its multinational clients looking to have operations in all, or a select few, of the countries they work in, to ensure operations run correctly.

“During COVID when rules were changing, some companies were having difficulty making sure they complied at a local level,” says Sutton. “On some projects we were called in because maybe the head office didn’t consistently follow local regulations.”

Inogen Alliance also offers a help desk with global access to which clients can submit questions electronically, adds O’Grady. For instance, if you have a question about COVID rules, whether in Zimbabwe, Indonesia, or Canada, you submit it through the help desk, which routes it to an associate in that country, and you get your answer.

Other growth plans for Terrapex include geographic. While the company has a solid presence in southern Ontario, it wants to expand in the eastern area of the GTA, particularly Whitby and Oshawa.

“The Alliance is forcing us to think a little broader,” says Sutton. “We’re a very strong regional player right now, although we’re a bit of a unicorn. We’re not a large company, we’re not a small company, and we offer all these services that you generally find at large companies. We tend to focus only on what we do now and can do in the future. It’s a good impetus for us to start thinking a little bigger.”

A recent achievement of the company was associated with the development of affordable and supportive housing in the Toronto area.

“When the pandemic hit, one of the things that was impacted was the shelter system,” says Sutton. “In the space of two weeks the system required place separations and screening for entrance and the impacts on the city’s shelter system were enormous. It ground the system to a halt.”

Special city council meetings and emergency declarations approved projects for supportive housing to find a permanent alternative to the shelter system for those at risk of or experiencing homelessness, with several projects green-lit as a result. Terrapex provided environmental, geotechnical and hydrogeological consulting services for one property that was a former brownfield.

“We managed to secure all the environmental permits, both provincial and municipal, which allowed for the facility to be constructed and inhabited in less than nine months which is insane,” Sutton says. “We had a lot of assistance, and it was an amazing accomplishment not only for Terrapex but for the project team.”

It is successes like that that win Terrapex recognition for its outstanding work. In recent times, the company has been involved in several projects which have won Brownie Awards from the Canadian Brownfields Network.

The awards acknowledge “builders, innovators, and visionaries who are dedicated to the rehabilitation of brownfield sites that were once contaminated, under-utilized, and undeveloped, into productive residential and commercial projects that contribute to the growth of healthy communities across Canada.”

“We’re working on some interesting, unique, and high-profile projects, and it’s been good for us,” says Sutton. “We compete with much bigger companies. They have thousands of employees in Canada alone and tens of thousands across the world, and we’re competing on equal footing with them for projects in our markets, and we’re helping our clients win awards.”

Having that kind of visibility and profile in the real estate development industry is one of the reasons Terrapex is growing, he adds. The company may be smaller, but its impact is noticeable.

“Our size is one of our advantages in some cases,” says Sutton. “We can be a little more agile in responding to our clients’ requests.”

Historically, Terrapex has experienced low staff turnover, especially with senior staff, adds O’Grady. With some environmental projects tending to go on for many years, Terrapex has employees who, in some cases, know more about those projects than the clients. “They can always call us up and ask, ‘why did that happen, or when?’ And we can pull up our files and give them all the answers.”

While staff turnover did rise during COVID, it was still remarkably low and continues to drop, a statistic Terrapex is proud of.

Respecting employees and putting their needs first is also an ongoing point of pride, particularly during the past several years of uncertainty.

“We were trying to do the right thing for our staff to the extent that we could provide them some reassurance in what essentially was a very un-reassuring time,” says Sutton. “We couldn’t promise them they wouldn’t get sick from COVID, but we could say, ‘you don’t need to worry about being laid off.’ So one less stressor.”

It’s clear that this company culture has directly enhanced employee dedication and a will to work diligently and keep clients happy on every job.

“As a company, we’ve always focused on encouraging people to develop relationships with their clients so they understand what the clients’ drivers are,” says Sutton. “Ultimately we need to provide a service, and our service has to provide value to our clients. When we fully understand how we can provide value to our clients, we’re much more likely to provide that kind of personal value in services.”

The post Thinking Bigger: Growing with Integrity, Quality and Respect<p class="company">Terrapex</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.