Trade Construction Keeps on Building

CENTRAL — Since 1982, Trade Construction Company has been providing consistent, quality fabrication and construction services to customers in Greater Baton Rouge and beyond.  In the three decades since Will Easley and a few partners started the company, Trade Construction has steadily grown into one of the Baton Rouge area’s most successful family-owned businesses.
The company began as a full-service industrial construction contractor primarily for the petrochemical industry.  Today, Trade Construction offers a broad range of services in the areas of pipe fabrication, pipeline equipment, and industrial construction.  Over the years, the company developed a niche in pipe fabrication.  Performing pipe fabrication directly for external customers now accounts for 50 percent of the company’s total volume.  Trade Construction can fabricate for simple projects as well as complex, large-scale jobs.
Will Easley retired in 2011, and today Trade Construction is owned by his children, president Brennan Easley and CFO Andi Kirkpatrick.  Under their leadership, the company is experiencing a period of significant growth.
In January of 2012, Trade Construction acquired Four Star Industrial Contractors, a Baton Rouge-area business that, like Trade Construction, was primarily in the pipe fabrication industry.  Brennan Easley says Four Star fits well with Trade Construction’s culture and corporate philosophy.  “We have the same regard toward quality, safety, and simply doing things right,” he explains.  With the addition of Four Star, Trade Construction now has 115 full-time employees.
Since joining the company in 2000 and taking over operations in 2008, Easley also has expanded the company’s customer base.  “Historically, we’ve worked in the Gulf Coast region,” he says.  “Now, we send our pipeline equipment all over the country.  We’ve worked on projects from Idaho to Pennsylvania.”
Trade Construction’s clients include BASF, Williams Gas Pipeline, Northwest Pipeline, Cajun Industries, Boh Brothers, James Construction, Turner Industries, and ExxonMobil, among others.
The company, which is headquartered in the city of Central, recently added a new 16,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art pipeline equipment manufacturing shop next to its existing pipe fabrication facility.  This will not only expand Trade Construction’s capacity, it will also improve production efficiencies, as employees will be better able to share resources and knowledge.
That’s important because Trade Construction boasts an experienced staff, some of whom have been with the company since day one.  And, despite technological advancements in the industry, “At the end of the day, you still must have solid craftspeople to execute the work,” Easley says.
Kirkpatrick, who joined the company in 2011, says the company has come a long way since her dad founded it in the family’s backyard.  “Our dad had a small shop in the backyard that he used to get the company started,” she says.  “We’ve seen how much the company has grown because we literally grew up with it in our backyard.  We’ve been around this type of work our whole lives.”
Despite its recent growth, Trade Construction’s priority remains making sure clients are satisfied.  “We’re not looking to grow just for the sake of growth.”
And the company is well-positioned to begin its next 30 years.  “We’ve been around 30 years and had very natural growth,” notes Kirkpatrick.  “There are opportunities for growth within our three areas of business, but, it’s essential that we take care of our existing clients, too.  Ninety percent of our work is repeat business or referrals.  That speaks to our record of satisfaction—our customers trust us and that keeps them coming back.”
The company takes pride in the reputation for quality and service it has built.  “Reputation, safety, and how you do things in this business are extremely important,” Easley says.  “We’ve got a tremendous reputation to build on.  Everyone here really cares about the company because our name is on everything we do.  It’s been that way for 30 years.”