It's been more than 65 years since Thorpe was first founded as a refractory contractor with strong in-house engineering capabilities in the Gulf Coast region of Texas.
Over the decades, the company has grown in many ways, but its core mission has remained the same: to be a trusted partner for extending equipment lifecycles and increasing productivity, providing specialty industrial service throughout the United States and Canada.
At the end of August, Thorpe Specialty Services announced the completion of a recapitalization of the business by KLH Capital, transitioning ownership from the CapStreet Group. The goal of this recapitalization is to provide the resources for Thorpe to continue its growth trajectory and strengthen its leading position in corrosion, refractory, scaffolding, insulation and other specialty services within the chemical, petrochemical, ag-chemical, refining, power, pulp and paper, natural resources, , metals, mining and other heavy industrial industries.
Thorpe differentiates itself from broader industrial service contractors by possessing unique, application-specific engineering expertise, recognized as subject matter leaders in their field. The integration of coordinating technical and engineering requirements, designing solutions, fabricating and providing required materials, as well as safely completing installations coupled with experienced project management and highly skilled field crews sets Thorpe apart.
"A significant accomplishment from our journey over the last few years has been to bring Thorpe's proven capabilities across multiple services bundled to solve complex challenges in a more comprehensive way for our valued clients. We are known for the differentiated specialty service offerings we have provided for decades, and our focus has been to galvanize Thorpe into one team, one culture and one vision focused on providing more complete solutions with the highest level of safety, engineering and technical expertise," said Chad Fletcher, CEO of Thorpe.
Thorpe has a belief statement that underpins everything it does: "We believe good people, focused on common goals, who feel valued, included and empowered to contribute to solutions, can accomplish great things that enrich the lives of our people, their families and the communities in which they live." This mindset is the heart of the company and leads Thorpe to be good stewards of its team, clients and the communities it serves.
Surpassing three million safe man hours
The company's first and most important core value is its people. This value says, "We deeply care about people–people are the lifeblood of our company. We take personal interest in the safety and well-being of our people, as well as growth and development to their fullest potential."
There is no greater commitment Thorpe can make than that of the safety of its team, its customers' teams and other contractors. As evidence of this commitment, Thorpe recently announced it surpassed three million safe man hours with zero recordables or lost-time incidents. This was possibly due to the Brother & Sisters' Keeper program, which Thorpe started to bring its safety commitment to the forefront of its work every day. The program starts with caring about people and doing whatever it takes to keep each other safe. Planning for safety is built into each project, ensuring all employees are on board and management's focus is to drive accident-free job sites and continual safety culture.
Thorpe Specialty Services
Thorpe's role as a trusted partner to forward-thinking companies has been instrumental in moving their businesses forward and reaching their goals. Providing value is foundational to engineered solutions, and it is in Thorpe's DNA to provide solutions, not just services. Value is defined by the client, so profoundly understanding client needs is the starting point. This is evidence of the natural alignment between stewardship of its clients and environmental preservation.
KLH Capital invests in Thorpe's growth
Founded in 2005, KLH Capital is a private-equity firm serving lower middle-market companies in the specialty services, value-added distribution and niche manufacturing industries. The firm makes majority and minority equity investments in U.S.-based businesses to support growth, provide ownership opportunities for key managers and allow owners to harvest the value in their businesses.
"We are very excited to partner with James Darnell and the KLH team to springboard Thorpe into the future," said Chad Fletcher, CEO of Thorpe. "Thorpe and KLH share a passion for the privileged role we both play as Trusted Partners; Thorpe as maintenance planning and solutions expert and KLH as not only a financial resource, but as a team of experienced business owners and leaders who add value to the companies in which they invest."
For more information, visit www.ThorpePME.com or call (866) 405-3726.
