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Ike's Aftermath -- Bad But Could've Been Worse
That seems to be the general assessment of folks we've made contact with in the Houston area following the ravages of back-to-back Hurricanes Gustav and Ike in early September. Houston-based oilfield PVF distributor Wilson
announced on its website just a few days after the storm that hurricane recovery supplies were available from any of its branches in Southeast Texas or Louisiana. Wilson's Beaumont, Jasper and Freeport, TX branches all suffered some damage, but were being serviced by other facilities. Wilson's La Porte, TX Distribution Center remained open throughout, and Houston hq was back in business this week after being shut down about a week.
McJunkin Red Man's website also touted emergency hurricane supplies.
Regional plumbing/HVAC wholesaler Coburn Supply issued
a detailed status report shortly after the storm reporting that all Louisiana locations were fully open, and that many Texas locations were open for business but many were operating without power, phones or Internet and with limited access. Coburn's Galveston and Beaumont branches were closed and slated to reopen this week.
Although many Gulf Coast drilling platforms were knocked out of service, there was less damage to oil and natural gas facilities than feared. More than storm damage, power outages caused shortages of fuel both in Texas and along major pipeline networks. Flooding in the Midwest from the remnants of the storm also caused disruptions of transport for some materials.
"The combined damage from Ike and Gustav appears to be far less than from Katrina and Rita in 2005; even those hurricanes disrupted supplies of PVC and certain other materials for months but did not trigger any lasting surges in demand or labor shortages in other regions as some had predicted," reported AGC
Chief Economist Ken Simonson.
Industrial Info Resources
reported on Sept. 19 that more than 30% of industrial plants in the path of Hurricane Ike remained offline. Most of these plants suffered from extended power outages, lack of raw materials, supplies or fuel, and/or wind and water damage from the storm. Given the breadth of the storm -- extending more than 500 miles wide -- it's rather remarkable that so many plants in the region were able to stay open for business in the immediate aftermath. |
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McJunkin Red Man Names Halliburton Exec As CEO
Former Halliburton COO Andrew Lane has been hired as CEO of McJunkin Red Man (MRM), effective immediately. Former co-CEO Craig Ketchum becomes chairman of McJunkin Red Man Holding Corp., while the other co-CEO
H. B. "Bernie" Wehrle III will continue as chairman of PVF Holdings LLC. Read the full story of the MRM management transition here.
Anvil Announces Five Appointments
 Anvil® International
has promoted former Director of Sales John Smayda(left) to vice president, marketing. Smayda is a 38-year industry veteran with managerial experience in the industrial, mechanical and fire protection markets. Also, Shaun Dunn (right) of Concord, NH has joined the company as national engineering manager. He worked previously for McWane, Inc. as a territory sales manager and for Agilent Technologies as a technical sales engineer. Also, Anvil named 35-year industry veteran
Bill Gilliam as manager of the company's Energy Div. Wendell Hayes has transferred from Anvil's Mechanical Team to the Energy Division, where he will be responsible for sales to the oil and gas industry across the Gulf Coast region. Finally, John Dannaker
has joined Anvil as a mechanical specialist, working closely with PVF contractor on Anvil's Gruvlok and hanger product lines. He has 25 years of industrial and mechanical sales experience.
Deacon Industrial Hires Rob Laird
Deacon Industrial Supply Co. (King of Prussia, PA) has hired Rob Laird
as actuation & controls manager. He has 30 years of experience in the Delaware Valley, and comes to Deacon from Chalmers and Kubeck where he was responsible for the sales of Limitorque actuators. Laird will be working from Deacon's New Castle, PA branch. |
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Fantasy Politics
Last edition in this space we drew attention to an article about the leading edge of baby boomers beginning to collect Social Security, and what that portends for future indebtedness. But Social Security is only part of the problem. As usual, none of our politicians wants to face the stark reality of what lay ahead for our fiscal stability.
Robert Samuelson, as usual, tackles the issue in a non-partisan manner. |
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| AEC Store's FEATURED Product
Intro to Pipe, Valves & Fittings
This course provides employees new to the PVF/plumbing industry with an overview of piping products, fittings and valves. It includes definitions of common industry terms, descriptions of basic types of plumbing systems and explanations of specifications for pipe, valves and fittings. $134.00 CLICK HERE
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Visit AECstore.com
to view all of our Plumbing resources or all Stephanie at 248-244-1275 with any questions. |
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Tech Tips by Gregg Marshall
To help you make the most of the Digital Age.
How many conference calls have you been on where the discussion is so off topic the most productive use of your time is playing solitaire?
Having done conference calls for 20 years and webinars the last 4 or 5, I can say that the visual prompting of the webinar improves attention.
The last couple of years we've done a number of conference calls using Netspoke, which allowed the call leader to share his desktop with everyone via the web (still using standard conference calling for audio). The difference is amazing. Just putting the agenda on the screen, and taking notes into the agenda Word document, makes those conference calls twice as effective.
My problem with Netspoke is it is relatively pricey. Especially if you only want to use it occasionally.
An alternative is Vyew (http://www.vyew.com). It's free (with a small ad in the upper right corner) or very inexpensive.
It is a bit more complex for attendees to log in (you have to make sure you have flash and java installed in your web browser). It appears to be more stable for Mac users.
Did I mention it's free?
Pay attention!
Gregg Marshall, CPMR, CSP, is president of Rep Connection Inc. He can be reached by e-mail at gmarshall@repconnection.com, or visit his LinkedIn profile at
http://www.linkedin.com/in/greggmarshall. |
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What's The Industry Buzzing About?
One way to tell is to visit the website of Supply House Times
. If you scroll to the bottom of the lead page, you will find lists of the "Most E-Mailed" and "Most Popular Articles" (as measured by visitations). This gives a pretty good feel for what industry citizens regard as important.
For example, as of Sept. 23, these were the give "Most E-Mailed" articles accessed at the Supply House Times website and passed along.
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Introduction to Steel, Stainless Steel, Iron Pipe and Fittings
This course reviews the types, classifications and uses of steel, stainless steel, iron pipe and fittings. $134.00 CLICK HERE to order.
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MEC Webinar, presented by John Siegenthaler, PE
October 16 at 10am PT | 1pm ET
Register today for only $49!
This Webinar covers a wide range of tank applications and presents technical information on where the tanks are needed, how they are sized, and the best way to pipe them into specific systems. Although storage tanks have been part of some hydronic systems for years, this webinar will present unique and state-of-the-art applications that will help define the future of hydronic and solar thermal systems.
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