Farmers Alloy Fabricating, a full-service fabricator with a pipe facility in Texas City, Texas, and a vessel and equipment shop in Galveston, Texas, has recently experienced a noticeable increase in activity for local refinery and chemical plant customers directly. General Manager of Operations Ted Farmer explained, "Our plant customers report increased spends in 2018 on both turnarounds and maintenance work, and our recent orders reflect that." For the past 100 years, Farmers Alloy has served the oil and gas, chemical, power and aerospace industries' fabrication needs from Corpus Christi, Texas, to the Golden Triangle.
In addition to the plant direct work, capital projects that have been shifting to the right for the past two years are beginning to materialize. "Our long-term client relationships, with both owners and EPC firms, were very active in the 4Q 2017 planning, and that momentum has carried into the new year with orders and reservations of shop space," said Farmer.
In fact, Farmers Alloy anticipates easily doubling manpower at both locations in early 2018 and continuing to increase all the way into 2019. "We are looking to our labor partners to continue to support the recruiting and training needed to fuel our growth and expansion to meet our customer needs in 2018 and beyond," Farmer said. "Much of our fabrication is code work and quite complex. Our demand for manpower carries with it additional requirements for highly specialized combo welders, as well as the need to carry many certifications and skills."
Answering the call for this manpower is Lance Albin of the United Association (UA). "At our own expense, we are recruiting, training, certifying and deploying to Farmers Alloy the qualified welders and machinists needed to support operations," Albin said. "And if those needs change, we will continue to upgrade the training and certification of his employees in the shop."
With a labor partner in place and the capacity to continue to expand, Farmers Alloy is positioned to grow to support its customers -- both old and new.
For more information on Farmers Alloy, visit www.farmersalloy.com or call (409) 765-6361.
For more information on UA, visit www.ua.org or call (410) 269-2000.
