SPE CI AL ADVE R T I SI N G FE AT U R E
Jimmy Quick and Johnny Holifield
[ SPECIALTY WELDING AND TURNAROUNDS – SWAT ]
SWAT FOCUS ON PERSONNEL YIELDS QUALITY RESULTS FOR SPECIALTY WELDING and Turnarounds (SWAT), every project is personal. Since establishing SWAT in 2014, co-owners Johnny Holifield and Jimmy Quick have put the company’s relationships—with employees and with customers—front and center. In the three years since then, the Gonzalesbased company has seen both its operations and its customer base take off. In 2016, SWAT exceeded $100 million in revenue and expanded its general mechanical division, complementing its already well-established specialty welding division. “We’re not just specialty welding,” Holifield says. “We offer much more than that.” Indeed, SWAT provides complete turnaround services, along with specialty welding, piping, furnace re-tubes and erection, boiler repairs, exchanger/bundle services, Finfann re-tubes, tower revamps, and 24-hour emergency response. “We’re almost like two companies in one: specialty welding and general mechanical, with an emphasis on piping, bundle replacement and tower work,” says Quick, SWAT’s vice president. “One feeds off the other. Our customers see the value in that.” While most of SWAT’s projects are in the Gulf Coast region, the company works across the United States. During peak turnaround season, SWAT employs a staff of about 1,300. “We actively recruit the best craft and supervision in our industry and we really vet our people to make sure
they’re a good fit for us and our customers,” Quick says. “If you’re good, we want you to come work with us.” Those employees, he adds, set SWAT apart from the competition. “We’re an employee-first company,” Quick explains. “Our employees can call Johnny or me anytime day or night and they’re going to get what they need. We make a commitment to the team because they’re making a commitment to us. We can’t be successful without them.” Both Holifield and Quick spend much of their time on job sites, ensuring their employees and customers have what they need to successfully complete a project. “We have a tremendous office staff who take responsibility off Johnny and me, so we’re able to go out on job sites to assure projects are meeting our expectation and above all the expectations of our customers. We do that on every project, no matter the size,”
Quick says. “We want to make sure our employees and customers know they’re important to us.” That commitment has also helped the company compile an exemplary safety record. “Our people and our safety culture,” he says, “that’s really the nuts and bolts of what sets us apart from the competition.” SWAT’s customers take notice of the emphasis the company puts on its employees and safety. “Our customers see that we’re hands-on and interactive. They know that we have a feel for what’s going on day-to-day on their project, and I think they appreciate that,” Quick says. Indeed, feedback from SWAT’s customers has all been positive. “Our customers comment on how professional our project management team and employees are. They recognize the effort our staff makes.” Given the size of projects and the cost incurred for shutting down industrial operations for
AT A GLANCE
turnarounds and other maintenance, this customer confidence in SWAT is critical. “This is typically the biggest expenditure our customers are going to make all year, so you want to get it right,” Quick says. “You don’t want to let them down.” In his view, SWAT’s reputation for being honest and transparent with customers, making sure customer needs are met, and building strong relationships with customers are the main reasons SWAT has experienced such incredible growth in just three years. “We’ve done some significant, large jobs, with up to 500 people at one site; the project involved piping, furnaces, and general mechanical exchanger and tower work,” he says. “When you take on a project of that size it shows the level of trust the customer has in your ability to perform and deliver.” To accommodate its rapid growth, SWAT purchased 5.5 acres of land off La. 44 in Gonzales for a new 12,000-square-foot facility. The facility will more than double the size of SWAT’s existing office once it opens in May 2017. SWAT’s growth will not stop any time soon. The company continues to expand its general mechanical division’s footprint, while performing highly productive, elite service for customers. “We don’t do anything halfway,” Holifield adds. “Our employees have knocked it out of the park on every job they’ve done.”
PRIMARY PRODUCT/SERVICE: Industrial turnarounds and maintenance • TOP EXECUTIVES: Johnny Holifield, President, and Jimmy Quick, Vice President NO. OF EMPLOYEES: 550 • YEAR FOUNDED: 2014 • PHONE: 225.644.1200 • WEBSITE: swatservice.com EMAIL: jquick@swatservice.com • FACEBOOK: SWAT Specialty Welding and Turnarounds
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