Cross Country Infrastructure Services' story has been one of continual growth. In June 2013, a private equity investor called Odyssey Investment Partners, along with a group of smaller independent investors, invested in Cross Country Pipeline Supply, a leading supplier of materials, tools, equipment and parts for the pipeline construction industry. In the years following, Cross Country acquired several other businesses that have allowed it to expand across the U.S. and into Canada, offering its infrastructure-related services across the industry. In 2016, Cross Country Pipeline Supply rebranded itself, officially changing its name to Cross Country Infrastructure Services. CEO Gerald Plescia said, "The rebranding better positions our family of companies to pursue opportunities throughout broader infrastructure and industrial markets while continuing to support our core business related to pipelines."
In 2013, Cross Country acquired Power Associates International, and in 2015, acquired Sideline Specialty Equipment. Other acquisitions include N2, Stone Pump & Trench, Pipeliner's Warehouse Inc. and, most recently, Rain2Day Inc. in 2018.
Along with growth through acquisitions, Cross Country has been able to expand its service opportunities, developing integrity services capabilities and infrastructure rental expertise while also adding to its product offering of equipment rentals such as pipe layers, dozers, excavators, etc. The company offers dewatering pumps, trench plates and trench safety equipment and is the exclusive distributor within North, Central and South America for SCAIP, a premier equipment provider manufacturing industry-leading pipeline and agricultural equipment.
"We have certainly begun winning more and more business once we assimilated all the acquisitions into our work," Plescia said. "For instance, if an individual customer was only renting equipment from us in the past, they have already started buying supplies, or renting pumps or hydrostatic testing units, because we can now act as a one-stop shop for them. Speaking in real figures, 2017 saw us achieve 70-percent organic growth in revenue and another 40-percent organic growth in 2018 over 2017."
The company has also expanded geographically, opening a number of new locations. From its major hub in the Denver metropolitan area, Cross Country has opened four more hubs in Eighty Four, Pennsylvania; Houston and Midland, Texas; and the Edmonton metropolitan region in Alberta, Canada.
"In addition, we have opened other, smaller sites surrounding these hubs, and now all of these locations make up a well-connected network, which enables us to serve our customers efficiently," Plescia said.
Cross Country has been involved in a multitude of high-profile projects, such as the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) and the Rover Pipeline, a 713-mile-long line transporting up to 3.25 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica Shale production areas to markets across the U.S.
Plescia only sees continued growth for Cross Country in the future. Besides expanding services, the company is looking to build upon its expertise with new acquisitions in the coming years.
"The key theme in the long term will be the further diversification of the business. When we started about six years ago, pipeline rental and supply sales comprised 95 percent of our work," Plescia elaborated. "Today, it represents 65 percent of our business, while integrity and infrastructure rental has grown to 30 percent, and the rest comes from services and equipment sales. Five years from now, we should be even more balanced, having maintained our core competencies while also including new products and services in our offering."
For more information, visit www. crosscountryis.com or call (855) 955- CCIS [2247].
