Company News Archives - Page 5 of 10 - Thomas Industrial Coatings

Industrial painters Thomas Industrial Coatings featured in September issue of BIC Magazine

We’re excited to announce that we recently made the pages of BIC Magazine! Below is the story that ran in the September 2012 issue. A leading multi-industry and multi-departmental energy publication, BIC targets leaders and decision makers in the petrochemical, refining, construction and power generation industries. We hope you enjoy the coverage as much as we did.

Painting contractor adds to palette with storage tank services

For a company that has painted everything from fire hydrants to the country’s largest bridges, it really comes as little surprise Thomas Industrial Coatings continues to find success in the storage tank sector.

With contracts and projects under its belt with multiple municipalities around the country, including the U.S. Air Force and the coveted U.S. Navy, the Missouri-based industrial painting company has coated storage tanks all across the United States.

“We’ve found growth in the storage tank portion of our business in both the private and public sectors,” said Don Thomas, president of Thomas Industrial Coatings. “In today’s climate, that’s a very good thing. That’s something we want to continue to explore and develop. We’re extremely proud of this success and growth.”

To date, the company has recorded nearly $24 million in billings in the storage tank sector alone — a large portion of which came in the 2011-2012 calendar year with 10 large fuel storage tanks completed at the Point Loma Naval Base in California.

What is the reason for the recent surge in tank coating success?

“It’s our careful attention to detail, our outstanding painters and our pledge to only use the best equipment and the best technology,” said John Lohkamp, a general manager at Thomas Industrial Coatings. “Our experience and equipment give us the ability to coat everything storage-tank related — both inside and out.”

In addition to storage tanks, Thomas Industrial Coatings serves the following markets: bridges, locks and dams, power and utilities, wastewater treatment, commercial buildings and marine.

To learn more about Thomas Industrial Coatings, visit the company on the Web at www.ThomasIndCoatings.com and “like” them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ThomasIndustrialCoatings.

Industrial painters edging closer to unity at the NCSL

Last week we had the distinct pleasure of presenting to lawmakers at the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL) in Chicago. The event is a gathering of more than 5,000 legislators from across the country who come together to learn and share ideas for solving some of America’s pressing issues.

Our very own Ross Boyd, alongside industrial painting colleagues George Galis (IUPAT–General Secretary-Treasurer), Bill Shoup (SSPC–Executive Director), Robin Frye (NACE–Senior Manager), Tony Darkangelo (FCA–Executive Director), Dan Penski (FTI–Director) and Chris Sloan (IUPAT–Director of Government Affairs), spoke about the importance of certified union contractors and standardization across all 50 states.

While we work to ensure the highest levels of safety and quality on our job sites, we’re also working to help improve the industry as a whole. Certified contractors work more efficiently, safely and maintain a standard of excellence that everyone can benefit from.

Thomas Industrial Coatings named second safest industrial painter in US

Thomas Industrial Coatings is proud to announce that we were listed as one of the top ten – number two to be exact – safest industrial painting companies in the United States by the Finishing Contractors Association (FCA).

As noted by the FCA, the CREST Awards are designed to objectively evaluate contractors based on key leading and lagging measure using metrics that are associated with efforts that cause excellent safety performance.

Some considerations include:

years a company has had a written safety program
methods used to familiarize employees with the safety program
number of full-time safety representatives
number of supervisors, foremen and managers
number of management personnel that have completed advanced safety training
number of management personnel that attended competent person training

Thomas Industrial Coatings was awarded for our work in the 150,000+ category.

Congrats and thank you to each and every person that wears the Thomas name. We should all be proud.

As industrial painters, we continue to support our pledge to job-site safety

Safely – that’s how we strive to do business here at Thomas Industrial Coatings and as part of our long-running dedication to do such, we’re training and supporting our supervisors in exam preparation for the BCSP-sponsored Safety Trained Supervisor (STS) credential. All of our employees go through safety instruction beyond industry requirements, but this is an opportunity for us to push even further.

“This is one more step we can take to make sure our job sites are as safe as they can possibly be,” said Don Thomas, our president.

As detailed on the BCSP website, the STS certification provides a means for employers to verify safety and health knowledge of first-line supervisors and managers. The program requires applicants to meet minimum education and experience requirements and demonstrate knowledge of basic safety and health standards and practices.

This latest certification is part of the Safety Trained Supervisor (STS) program and is yet another notch on the belt of our job-site leaders. The Board of Certified Safety Professionals is on a mission to make everyone as safe as possible. We’re glad to be a part of this steadfast push for safety.

Learn more about other safety initiatives like our OSHA-30 training and why all of our employees are getting CAS-certified.

Thomas Industrial Coatings to have every employee CAS-certified by 2013

At Thomas Industrial Coatings, safety and training have always been at the forefront of all that we do. So we are working hard to ensure that by the end of 2013, each and every one of our employees at Thomas Industrial Coatings will have CAS (Coating Application Specialist) certification. That’s more than 150 industrial painters and workers. And that’s much higher than the 1-per-job-by-2013 requirement from the SSPC.

As detailed on sspc.org , the certification is designed to identify those who have experience and training in everything related to hands-on surface preparation and coating application of complex industrial and marine structures.

A special Thomas thanks to John Burcaw – apprenticeship and training representative/SSPC CAS exam proctor (IUPAT), Harry Zell (IUPAT), Tim Klotz (PDC district #2) and Dan Hink (PDC district #3). Also, thanks to Julie Pfeifer, Christine Rector, Andy Everding and Todd Cook from the Thomas Industrial Coatings’ safety department for making this possible.

We take great pride in the education and preparation of our employees. The CAS certification is a fantastic tool to have under our belts.

Eads Bridge painting officially underway

And we’re proud to say that we got an invite to the launch party. The event marked a kickoff of the revitalization of a landmark that bridges Missouri and Illinois. As we detailed in this article, we’ll be working in tandem with the St. Louis Bridge Construction Co. to complete the overhaul of this historic bridge.

For those unfamiliar with the St. Louis icon, the Eads Bridge serves as a gateway for pedestrians, automobiles and the MetroLink transit system. Revitalizing this structure that dates back to the 1870s will employ more than 300 individuals in the St. Louis Area as we all work together to restore the Eads Bridge back to its original luster.

“This is a great opportunity for our team to work on a bridge that is part of the fabric of St. Louis living,” said Dane McGraw, the project’s General Manager. “We’re very excited to get our bridge painters started.”

The Eads Bridge Rehabilitation Project will bridge the gap between historical prominence and modern safety and reliability. Thomas Industrial Coatings will supply a rust-inhibiting coating that will play a vital role in extending the life of the Eads Bridge for at least another 50 years.

The event took place on Tuesday, May 22, 2012. In attendance were Mayor Francis Slay of the City of St. Louis, St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley, Mayor Alvin Parks of the City of East St. Louis, David Dietzel of Bi-State Development Agency/Metro, Theresa McMillan of the Federal transit Administration, Jim McHugh from the Office of U.S. Representative Russ Carnahan, U.S. Representative William ‘Lacy’ Clay and John Nations, the President and CEO of Bi-State Development Agency/Metro.