The Brock Group has declared throughout the market, “Others claim it … we do it.” Well, Brock has done it again by continuing to take aggressive, innovative ideas and make them a reality.

Since 1947, Brock has been an industry leader providing specialty maintenance services and programs. Every year for the past 60 years Brock has raised the performance bar in order to deliver exceptional customer value.

2006 proved to be another Brock banner year. The Brock family recapitalized the business to help position the company for future growth with new investor partners — Lindsey, Goldberg & Bessemer LP — who bring strengths to Brock that will help fuel growth and continue to provide opportunities for Brock employees. And, 2007 began with key corporate advances including the strategic acquisition of XServ Inc.

“Over the years, The Brock Group has accomplished impressive milestones in becoming the premier specialty crafts contractor in the country,” said President Jeff Davis. “We will continue to enhance our service offerings throughout 2007 and exhibit how our innovative, award-winning solutions bring top and bottom-line value to our customers.”

Success fueled by challenges

As industry has grown over the past few years, so have the issues facing refining and petrochemical facilities.

Hurricanes devastated parts of the Gulf Coast in 2004 and 2005 — causing craft labor and qualified supervision for industrial maintenance and construction exceedingly difficult to come by as many went to rebuilding efforts.

In addition, a highly skilled generation is retiring and taking their years of experience along with them. Fewer young people are entering the construction field, so as a result, industry is suffering from not only a shortage of labor, but a lack of qualified labor with the necessary skills to usher in a successful future.

These challenges and more have had a significant effect on projects in industrial facilities. Effective management has also been hard to come by. Facility owners are demanding more from contractors, but most contractors are unchanging in their management style and approach, which in effect offers the owners less.

Brock undeniably doesn’t fall into the category of “same-old, same-old.” Instead, the company continues to come up with new approaches in order to meet and exceed the needs of its customers.

“We must continue to stay ahead of the demand curve in all business facets in order to service our customers and separate us from our competition,” Davis said.

With recent growth and improvements, Brock is even better suited than ever for the ultimate success in service.

Success through acquisition

With the acquisition of XServ, Brock has combined the capabilities of two of the nation’s leading multi-craft specialty services providers.

The Brock Group is the premier provider of scaffolding, coatings, insulation, abatement and specialized shoring for the country’s industrial market. This allows Brock to bundle services in innovative ways that provide better productivity, greater safety and lower total installed costs for customers, which is not available as a total package from any competition.

“The acquisition allows us to take our 60 years of faithful service to our customers and add a company having similar values. Brock and XServ are dedicated to customer service, safety and integrity, and together we will be even more capable of fulfilling our customers’ growing needs,” Todd Brock, co-CEO of The Brock Group, said.

Brock’s operations, supported by nearly 7,500 employees, extend throughout the United States with additional capabilities in the Caribbean and South America.

“Our combined philosophies are completely aligned,” said Mike McGinnis, The Brock Group’s COO. “Brock and XServ are two excellent companies that are dedicated to fulfilling our customers’ needs, and we are not going to lose sight of that.”

Success with services

The Brock Group’s service line has now expanded to deliver additional expertise in the strategy, planning, design and implementation of project lifecycle processes and technology. Brock works with customers to improve asset lifecycles — from basic asset coating protection to detailed maintenance management programs. The company has also carefully positioned itself as a true multi-craft/multi-site contractor in a market that does not have a comparable competitor.

Brock’s services include scaffolding, insulation, painting, specialized shoring, abatement, custom sheet fabrication, facilities maintenance, janitorial services and grounds maintenance.

A few of these services are truly unique in the industry. For example, The Brock Group now exclusively offers the XPS-60, giving customers a significant way to improve speed, cost and safety of projects involving scaffolding and shoring. XPS-60 is lightweight, user-friendly, easily transportable and has a higher weight-bearing capacity than traditional shoring.

Success with a multi-craft approach

Brock not only has a complete offering of industrial specialty services, but is also a leader in training and developing its employees to be capable of performing multiple maintenance services (multi-craft or multi-skilled) functions.

“There is a large misconception in the industry regarding multi-crafting. Many contractors use the term ‘multi-craft’ in their marketing approach, but they do not actually have employees who are qualified in more than one craft. They only offer a variety of crafts,” Bill Brossart, corporate director of marketing for The Brock Group, said.

Brock is always coming up with new approaches. Its employees are qualified in multiple crafts — meaning that they are trained in more than one craft, so they are flexible in a project to perform scaffolding, painting, insulation or abatement. Brock’s ability to meet the work force needs of industry isn’t unexpected. The company was the first to perform a multi-craft project utilizing a flex-crew (meaning that they were flexible to the crafts being performed), back in 1979.

Brock has found that the standard concepts of “multi-crafting” do not reduce the number of handoffs or the amount of people needed to perform a job. In addition, the standard concepts don’t improve the experience for the employee. Brock seeks to help its employees further their career growth by creating opportunities in multiple disciplines. That, in turn, creates a satisfied, productive worker who truly wants to contribute to an owner’s bottom line. It also effectively trains multi-skilled craft workers to be more efficient supervisors and managers.

Even in the wake of the work force shortage, Brock is in an excellent position. Brock now has 7,500 qualified employees and access to a database of more than 10,000 across the country. Labor isn’t the only concern in industry; management resources are also at a minimum. Brock has a deep bench of industry professionals with specific expertise in the management and management systems of specialty crafts.

“We invest in our employees and give them an opportunity for a solid career, and our customers benefit from their superior performance,” Davis said.

Not only does Brock have an incomparable pool of employees, but the company has access to equipment and other necessary resources strategically located throughout the United States.

An impeccable reputation built over six decades has also helped Brock to develop strong partnerships with others, allowing the sharing of knowledge and best practices for the benefits of customers. Brock can bring to the table a synchronized effort of serviceability from the East Coast to the West Coast.

All projects receive corporate engineering support as well as the financial strength of the company itself. A well-oiled machine, Brock’s projects include a greater coordination of methods and standards, systemwide.

Success through consolidation

Consolidation reduces cost by combining overhead structures and increases efficiencies in management responsibilities. It also results in better utilization of indirect personnel and infrastructure. And, consolidation has the potential for streamlining the owner’s coordination resources.

While Brock offers services in addition to its core offerings of scaffolding, insulation, asbestos and coatings, the company carefully chooses other functions where its methodologies and strengths are applicable. Examples of such include facility maintenance, janitorial, roofs and ground maintenance where condition-based programs are directly applicable.

Consolidation of services under Brock’s management programs has achieved significant cost savings. In numerous cases, actual cost of putting work in place was reduced by more than 30 percent in the first year through a combination of multi-crafting, overhead reduction, barrier analysis and management, work bundling, and improved communications.

Success in safety

The Brock Group has demonstrated its outstanding safety performance time and time again at industrial facilities across the country.

“To list all the industry organizations including NPRA and customer-specific safety accolades would require many pages of small typed print,” said Tony Huval, corporate EHS director for the Brock Group. “But, we can not rest on our success. It is only another step in our quest for perfection. It all starts with treating our employees with dignity and respect, which is the first step to a safe and effective workplace.”

Brock recently received Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) Star status by OSHA at the ConocoPhillips site in Borger, Texas. In the past few months, Brock also received Star status at the Bill Greehey Valero Refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas, and the Valero Three Rivers Refinery in Three Rivers, Texas. The VPP recognizes exemplary safety and health efforts demonstrated by company management and its employees in a cooperative effort pending government review. Brock also is in a partnership agreement with OSHA and ABC in the Texas Coastal Bend Region.

“It requires a collected effort by our employees, our customers and other site contractors to actually have a safe environment,” Davis said. “The OSHA Star status recognizes this effort and sets a benchmark that we must diligently strive to maintain and exceed.”

Success for years to come

With its growth, reputation and continued commitment to offering unique solutions, Brock has gained additional momentum in offering customers incomparable ways to significant savings in the utilization of specialty crafts.

For more information, contact Marty Stamey at (866) 280-7601 or visit www.brockgroup.com.