At Austin Industrial, the company’s people are also its owners. As a 100-percent employee-owned company, Austin believes in doing its best, creating the safest workplace possible, and upholding integrity every day and in every single job its employee-owners do.
Austin Industries, Austin Industrial’s parent company, was founded in 1918. Throughout its history, Austin has prided itself on its proven ability to align its services with current needs and trends. Austin Industries started off as a bridge construction company, and as demands grew, the company entered the industrial market, forming Austin Industrial.
Austin Industrial has been a provider of construction, maintenance, turnaround, specialty and plant services for more than 50 years. Its services spread throughout the U.S., serving the oil, gas and chemical, power, pulp and paper, and manufacturing industries. Austin is committed to delivering exceptional service with particular emphasis on safety, qualified teams and performance.
Owning customer-centricity
At Austin, being customer-centered isn’t just something employee-owners say; it’s something they promise. Austin’s growth relies directly on the growth of its customers. “We keep our customers at the heart of our decision making and base our company’s goals on the goals of the customers we serve,” said Barry Babyak, Austin Industrial’s president. With this in mind, Austin uses a customer-centered approach consisting of eight main components:
1. Zero safety incidents. Safety is at the top of Austin’s list of core values and is thoroughly embedded in its company culture. Austin is committed to the safety of its people, and its No. 1 goal is zero incidents. Safety performance is managed, measured and required on a project-wide basis, recognizing and rewarding excellence among employee-owners as well as subcontractors.
2. Superior customer experience. Providing a superior customer experience is a key component of Austin’s sustainability, growth and success. Austin provides this experience by taking ownership of each aspect of its customer-centered approach.
3. Engaging employee-owners. Like most contractors, Austin has a robust workforce of fully qualified and skilled personnel who have been trained to do the job for which they were hired. Unlike most contractors, Austin gives its workforce partial ownership of the company. This means every person you contact within Austin is a partial owner and has a personal, vested interest in the success of your project and fulfilling your needs. All of Austin’s owners know the safety, quality and performance they deliver to their customers form the foundation for everyone’s success. Austin challenges all owners to be able to answer the following questions to ensure they have a complete understanding of what their customers need:
• Do you know your customers’ keys to success?
• Do you know their business outlooks?
• Do you know their needs today and tomorrow?
• Do you know something they might not know they need?
• Do you know how to make their lives easier?
• Do they know all of our capabilities?
4. Understanding and solving customer needs. Encouraging employee-owners to develop a high level of communication with its customers has allowed Austin to build lasting relationships. These relationships have enabled the company to really understand what it is each customer wants and respond quickly with the best possible solution.
5. Forecasting future needs. Austin has a dedicated strategy team tasked with tracking and analyzing market data and trends. Once the company uncovers trends that could affect or benefit its customers, Austin creates a solution and communicates recommendations to affected parties.
6. Adaptability and alignment. Since the company’s beginning, Austin has shown a proven ability to adapt as markets and needs transform. In the industrial industry, most contractors focus on what services they provide and how a project can align with what they do. Austin differentiates itself by uncovering and understanding what its customers actually need and then aligning the company’s services accordingly.
7. Customized delivery. The success of a project starts with selecting the appropriate mutually beneficial delivery method. Austin partners with its customers to tailor its solutions to their priorities, goals, specific scope and complexity.
8. Consistent, reliable results. Although the company customizes each project accordingly, Austin’s goals remain consistent. These goals are to complete each project with zero safety incidents, on time and within budget, while upholding the highest level of communication and integrity and providing each customer with a superior experience.
History of ownership
In 2018, Austin will celebrate its 100-year anniversary. Since its beginning in 1918, Austin has organically grown in size as well as capabilities, providing nearly every type of civil, commercial and industrial construction service. Austin originally began as a bridge construction company and expanded into road construction in the 1930s. When World War II was in progress in the 1940s, all work in the U.S. became war oriented. Austin adapted to these needs and began taking jobs with the U.S. Army to build airfields and army camps. The company continued to aid in war production efforts and began manufacturing magnesium bomb bodies.
After the war, the Federal Aid Highway Act created an extensive amount of work for Austin. From 1950 to 1975, the company entered the industrial, manufacturing and commercial markets. In 1983, Austin consolidated its services to the power and industrial markets and expanded into the petrochemical and refining industries. The Austin Industries Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) was established in 1986, transferring 60 percent of company ownership to its employees at no cost. By 2000, Austin was 100-percent employee-owned.
Today, Austin Industries capitalizes on its depth of expertise through its three operating companies: Austin Bridge & Road, Austin Commercial and Austin Industrial. Austin Industries is one of the largest general contractors based in the southern half of the U.S. and the third-largest merit shop contractor in America. The company, now celebrating 30 years as an ESOP, is one of the largest employee-owned companies in America and is consistently ranked in the top 50 of Engineering News-Record (ENR) magazine’s Top 400 contractors.
A culture of ownership
ESOPs can be structured in a company in various ways. Austin has a broad-based ESOP structure, distributed out to 100 percent of its people after each has worked with the company 1,000 hours. In this way, the company invests in all of its employee-owners, and everyone’s incentives are aligned.
“At Austin, the ESOP is the foundation for our ownership culture and is instilled from the top down,” Babyak said. Austin’s senior leadership team takes responsibility for fostering a culture of ownership throughout the company. “We openly share our performance with our employee-owners, train and invest in their careers, and encourage continuous involvement and feedback,” Babyak elaborated. “We empower our people to act and think like owners. We work hard for each other and for our customers to secure a future for generations to come.” Austin’s ESOP, paired with its strong ownership culture, has helped to build a robust and stable workforce.
Developing a workforce of owners
With industry workforce trends showing an increase in generation gaps and a lack of skilled employees, Austin Industrial takes ownership to help bridge these gaps and is continuously involved with workforce development efforts. These efforts stretch across today’s youth from elementary to college students, in addition to endeavors to recruit and train military veterans. Austin also works to build a future for its current employee-owners through training, mentoring and succession planning. Austin has a continuous presence in various organizations that are aligned in their commitment to workforce development.
Austin’s involvement with students before high school includes its participation in Junior Achievement. Austin’s employee-owners have contributed to numerous Junior Achievement programs by volunteering their time to instruct students on the fundamentals of business and to teach students about the career opportunities available in the industrial industry.
Austin continues its efforts to grow the workforce throughout local high schools and has a high level of participation in the Construction Careers Youth Committee (CCYC). Austin supports the CCYC through activities such as the Pasadena Expo (Industry Career Day with local high schools), Magic Camp (Mentor a Girl in Construction), Adopt-A-School partnerships and high school career fairs, and by providing subject matter experts to speak to classrooms about construction.
For high school graduates, Austin participates in various organizations to support colleges and students, and actively recruits and employs college interns and new graduates to help grow and develop their skills to prepare for the industry’s workforce and future growth. One of the organizations the company works with to do this is the East Harris County Manufacturers Association (EHCMA) Workforce Development Committee, which identifies and addresses manufacturing and refining jobs available, the amount of qualified workers needed and how to bridge these gaps. Austin supports colleges such as San Jacinto College and Lee College through contributions, and employee-owners donate their time to help educate and train students in courses directed toward process technology and craft skills.
Along with its increasing involvement in education through schools of all levels, Austin also aims to recruit and train retired U.S. military veterans as well as current and new employee-owners. The company invests in its owners through the Helper Progression Program, Supervisory Training, Austin University, the Keystone Leadership Development Group and the Cornerstone Emerging Leaders Group.
Experience the difference
There are numerous advantages in choosing Austin, a 100-percent employee-owned company, for all your contracting needs. As owners, Austin’s people are empowered to work harder and safer on all projects. They are committed to making the right decisions and upholding integrity in everything they do to ensure mutual success for their customers and fellow owners.
For more information, visit www.austinindustrial.com or call (713) 641-3400.
