After nearly 25 years as an industrial contractor, EXCEL continues to believe that the greatest compliment a construction organization can receive is repeat business. That belief is part of the basis of the company’s philosophy of “Building Excellence,” and it continues to be the company’s motivation and guiding principle.

Founded in 1983, Louisiana-based EXCEL began as a specialty contractor providing electrical and instrumentation (E&I) construction services to clients located throughout the Gulf Coast area. Today the company is a multifaceted industrial contractor offering its clients a truly unique combination of construction, maintenance, fabrication and transportation services throughout the United States and the Caribbean.

As the company grows, it continues to add capabilities that allow it to offer a more complete single-source contracting option to its clients. The acquisition of Bronco Construction of Denham Springs, La., in 2006, for example, allowed EXCEL to rapidly expand its scope of services. 

“The acquisition of Bronco accelerated EXCEL’s mechanical construction and pipe fabrication capabilities to help us achieve our long-term growth initiatives,” said David E. Roberts, president and CEO of EXCEL.

The new fabrication facility in Prairieville, La., increases EXCEL’s ability to provide quality pipe fabrication to individual clients and supports EXCEL’s construction projects. In addition, EXCEL formed a transportation division specializing in overland shipping of dimensional and time-sensitive loads earlier this year.

Still, at the core of EXCEL’s capabilities are its construction services. Unlike many of its competitors, EXCEL is capable of executing large-scale capital projects and turnarounds literally from the ground up.

“On a single project we can self-perform pipe fabrication and delivery, civil construction, piping system and equipment installation, structural steel, and all phases of the electrical and instrumentation work. We can also maintain and repair the facility after start-up. There is no other contractor we know of that is our size that brings so much to the table,” said Keith Gautreau, EXCEL’s vice president of operations. 

EXCEL’s combined services are backed by an owner/contractor approach and executed by a group of experienced professionals who share a wealth of experience and a commitment to client satisfaction. 

“Our team’s highest priority is the customer,” continued Gautreau. “We know that repeat business and long-term relationships are the keys to our success.”

Longtime customers such as Shintech seem to agree.

Successful maintenance contract leads to construction opportunities

Rick Hill, material handling superintendent at Shintech in Addis, La., met EXCEL in mid-2000 when his site was looking for a company for its contract maintenance work — including electrical and instrumentation, mechanical and material handling. Hill decided on EXCEL, and since then approximately 40 EXCEL personnel work on site as a permanent contractor source. Furthermore, in 2003 the Addis site’s sister plant in Freeport, Texas, also began using EXCEL for a portion of its material handling work.

“There are benefits to having EXCEL work at both sites,” Hill said. “It is more cost efficient to employ 200 people from the same company, for example, than 100 from one company and 100 from a different company. Also, if there is a change in policy, it is easier to go through one company with that change.”

Since EXCEL works at both locations, consistent communications between management and supervision are an advantage, said Rick Vallot, senior purchasing agent for Shintech Freeport. Vallot, who works out of the Freeport site, was recently assigned to the project team for the construction of Shintech’s new Plaquemine, La., site — which is expected to start up in early 2008 — as the purchasing manager.

“We awarded EXCEL a construction package for the electrical and instrumentation work in the construction of our new Plaquemine site, which is well underway,” Vallot said. “The work is in the utilities area of the facility, and EXCEL is providing the E&I scope of work for that section.”

According to Vallot, EXCEL is one of the companies being considered for contract work in the material handling area once the plant is operational.

“My dealings with EXCEL have all been very positive,” he said. “They are a professional, well-managed company that is very in-tune with customers’ needs. They provide quality work in a safe manner.”

A tradition of excellence starts with safety

“We operate under the assumption that all accidents are preventable,” said Roberts. “The EXCEL safety program is designed to accomplish one goal — to send its employees home every day in the same safe and healthy condition in which they report for work. It is the cornerstone of the ‘Building Excellence’ philosophy.”

The company’s unwavering commitment to safety policies and procedures has been, and continues to be, successful.

“Our commitment was recognized recently when EXCEL was awarded the Associated Builders and Contractors National Safety Excellence Award this June in Washington, D.C.,” said Danny Oubre, EXCEL’s corporate safety director. 

“ABC congratulates EXCEL for its success in maintaining construction workplace safety,” said Kirk Pickerel, ABC president and CEO. “Creating a safe workplace is an ongoing process that requires commitment and dedication. It is a pleasure for the association to honor this company’s high achievement with our National Safety Excellence Award.” 

EXCEL’s safety department — which incorporates a behavior-based safety and observation approach — is directed by experienced and skilled safety professionals who are dedicated to the continuous enhancement of the safety program. All EXCEL site managers and supervisors have, at a minimum, more than 100 classroom hours of formal safety and loss prevention education. There is an active promotion of safety awareness — from the top down — that includes ongoing employee development and skills training, employee recognition and rewards.

Continued growth

EXCEL has executed hundreds of projects for a variety of clients since its inception in 1983. As the company has continued to grow in size and capability, so has the scope and complexity of its projects. EXCEL’s complete range of services allows it to provide clients with the most cost-effective construction, maintenance, fabrication and plant services solutions available in the marketplace.  

“We have worked for many of our clients for nearly 25 years, and we look forward to continuing our relationship with them for many years to come,” Roberts said.

For more information, please call (225) 677-8700 or visit www.excelusa.com.