Summer Edition 2013

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G R O U P
“Let ’s Learn From Others’ Successes”
Success.
Isn’t that a great
word? Just saying it
out loud makes one
feel good. It means
something different
to each one of us and
yet we all want it. Success!
There are many stories of successful people all around us. By
studying their routes to success, we can discover some of the key ingredients to attaining
success for ourselves, our families, our company and, yes, our country.
One of those stories concerns Erle P. Halliburton, who as a young man, learned and
improved the technique of oil well cementing. He was fired from his first oil industry
job for making unauthorized changes to cementing procedures. He promptly hocked
his wife’s wedding ring to finance his own
cementing business, “The New Method Oil
Well Cementing Co.” in 1919, now known as
Halliburton. He started with one mule-drawn
wagon. Business boomed when he developed
a mechanized mixer that ended the need for
hand mixing cement, a tedious chore given
that reinforcing a single well requires up to
thousands of bags of cement. By the 1950’s
the business had cemented 100,000 wells
worldwide, and purchased all of its key rivals.
Mr. Halliburton’s worth was estimated to be
between $75-100M, making him one of the
richest Americans by his 1957 death.
On June 5, 1946, Mr. Erle P. Halliburton
wrote a letter to a business associate outlining his ideas on “taking care of business.”
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World War II had been over for almost a year
and he noted that, “The utopia that each of us
somehow expected to exist after the war had
failed to materialize.”
He pointed out that, “…a man must work
and produce his own individual prosperity
and happiness. So many people have yet to
discover that there is virtue in honest work.
They have shut their eyes to the fact that economic security can only be gained through
production. Sound familiar? It’s a lesson that
many have still failed to learn.
Halliburton went on to point out that, “…
we make our living by taking in one another’s
wash.
“The money which you receive is only a
medium of exchange by which you trade your
production for the production of some other
workman. If there were no other workmen
producing things that you like to buy, the money you receive would be of no value to you.”
The same is true for companies such as
ours. We spend money on steel, equipment,
trucks, etc. that other companies produce in
order to make our products and a living for
our families. The products we buy and sell
provide other companies and their employees the opportunity to prosper. We depend
on each other to do the very best we can do
every day.
Your company understands that we all
must produce, be competitive and customeroriented to survive. We regularly look to successful people and companies for good examples to follow. We like the comments made
by Joe Swinebank, co-founder of the Sprint
Companies. In discussing his keys to success
as an entrepreneur, he said his guiding prin-
WILL CRENSHAW, CHAIRMAN & CEO
ciples are, “Leadership starts at the top; be
passionate—live and breathe your goals; find
and encourage the best from your Team; empowerment—Team Members in the field know
more than the office; let people fail--the first
mistake is on the house; set measureable
goals—open books, budget, bonus system;
look for the opportunity in bad news; when in
doubt, tell the truth; know your critical numbers; the numbers do the talking; and never
forget the power of praise.”*
Our year to date has been a challenge, but
filled with opportunities. It is up to each of us
to seize the moment each day when the decisions we make are the difference between
success or failure. Let’s be ever aware, as
Halliburton so aptly stated, that “economic
security can only be gained through production.” We each have a job to do and each one
of us relies on the other for our mutual success.
Thomas Wolfe, a highly successful American author who wrote such novels as “Look
Homeward Angel” and, “You Can’t Go Home
Again” had this to say about success, “If a
man has a talent and cannot use it, he has
failed. If he has a talent and uses only half of
it, he has partly failed. If he has a talent and
learns how to use the whole of it, he has gloriously succeeded, and won a satisfaction and
a triumph few men ever know.”
As we look forward to the second half of
2013 let’s learn from other successful people…let’s renew our promise to each other
and our customers to do our best every day,
no matter our job, and success will follow us.
*Bulk Transporter, Feb. 2013, pgs. 12-13
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Team RepoRTs
HR UpDaTe
TRaDesHow pHoTos
TigeR picnic
anD mUcH moRe!
Rick Mitchell,
Plant Manager,
Lathrop, CA
California
Upbeat
Always optimistic, upbeat and ready to re
report Rick cheerfully acknowledged, “We’re
actually doing pretty well, all things considered. We are not where we were in 2012 but
we are not far from it.
“We are hanging in, despite of the current
demand for Frac tanks is somewhat down. We
are producing plenty of Roll Offs…TCT’s and
ST-6’s...they are hot sellers along with the 55Ton Heavy Hauls.
“We started a new product line, Winch
Trucks, for hauling Frac Tanks. Customer
Winch Trucks, and Winch Truck Kits. We
recently sold these to a good customer, Rifle
Corp. They send us the trucks and we install.
They also bought a number of kits.”
Rick says they are maintaining their equipment well and have not had to add any new
items this year. He has the same number of
Team Members as reported earlier. He says,
“We are busy but uneventful.
He predicts the next six months to be about
the same as the first but is hoping Frac business picks up soon, “Not just for us, but for all
the plants. As long as they keep drilling, we’ll
be producing the support equipment. I don’t
see drilling stopping any time soon…if ever.”
“One door closes…another opens.”
SON OF
LATHROP
PLANT WELDER
WINS
NATIONAL ART
COMPETITION
Fabian Chavez, Lincoln High School
senior, won first place with his entry in
the Congressional Art Competition. His
work was chosen over dozens of entries
for the 9th District. Rep. Jerry McNerney,
D-Stockton, hosted the showcase at
the Gary & Janice Podesto Impact Teen
Center in Stockton. Chavez’s artwork
will hang in a corridor at the U.S. Capitol
and the contest’s grand prize winner will
be flown to Washington to attend the
awards ceremony in June. Sacramento
Chavez, Fabian’s father, has been a Team
Member since July 13, 2011.
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Mike James,
Plant Manager,
Los Fresnos
A Beehive of
Activity
“We began to increase our Frac Tank pro
production in January. However, at the same time,
we launched our 400 and 500 Barrel API Production Tanks line,” Mike began.
“Our line was rearranged to accommodate
this move and we brought some Team Members back on board. We have also been getting
some of our Team Members certified to weld
API Tanks.
“Installation of a new Submerged Arc Welding set-up, manipulators, and Turning Rolls to
produce Production Tanks has been completed
on our first line.
“We have one line up and running and a
second one being installed to handle 12-foot
diameter tanks.”
Gary Markham,
Chief Engineer
Engineering
Our Future
Gary announced that several new engineers
had joined the Team since January.
They are: Kent Palculict, Mel Peters, and
Brad Whitehead all working out of Beaumont’s Highway 90 Plant. The fourth, Tyler
McWhorter is based at the Silsbee-North plant.
“For the last six months,” Gary began, “We’ve
been dealing with Canadian Trailers, Double
Conical Tank Trailers…which have been a big
entry market for us.
“We’ve been working closely with a Canadian Dealer meeting customer needs and making
every effort to better understand cold weather
impact on our products. We are building our first
insulated and jacketed 200-Barrel Aluminum
Vacuum Trailer. It’s been a challenge and learning experience but we have delivered the first
one. We are getting good reviews.”
He said the Engineering Team had also spent
a great deal of time working on Production Tank
design and manufacturing methods with multiple plants and getting great exposure to a number of major users.
“We did fill and order for Northern Canada
for a customized Production Tank. That project
as completed with the assistance of several of
our plants.
“The special projects on the drawing board
now are a special Double Pumper… continued
work on the Production Tank design…Production Tank transportation equipment such as specialized trailers. We are also working on a de-
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Mike continued with the news that they are
currently demolishing and remodeling parts of
the plant in order to install cranes and equipment for two 15-ft. 6-in. diameter production
tank lines.
“Also, at this time, we are waiting arrival of
a new larger paint and blast booth to accommodate the larger tanks.
“As you can tell, there is a lot of activity
here and we are also working hard preparing
for our first API Audit. It’s a lot of paperwork
and documentation. There is also training and
procedures to establish. Michael Haggard has
been a tremendous help to us throughout this
process.”
He said, “Over the next two months we’ll
be getting all that installed and up and running…training, building fixtures and jigs. Our
Shop Foreman, Hector Uballe, has been very
engaged and productive getting new set ups
done, Team Members lined up and a hundred
other chores. He is a real ‘go-getter,’”
“The plant is buzzing.”
sign for Heavy Haul Trailers for Liberty and a
hydraulically-driven Guar Tank. The Guar Tank
is a really neat package, but has been a challenge
to get perfected. We think it offers really significant advantages over current systems. It will be a
good package for the specialized Guar market.”
Looking ahead, Gary said, “Coming up over
the next 6 months, we’ll definitely be working
on a number of new aluminum trailers including
more insulated and jacketed designs.
“We think variations of Production Tank designs will be a bright spot and we look forward
to assisting the plants in meeting their production
demands. More specialized pump equipment
will also be a great market for us.’
In closing, Gary said, “We’d like to welcome
all the new guys to the Engineering Team and
the Dragon family. Let’s get after it and make it
happen!
“Challenge made…and accepted.”
ANNUAL DRAGON-VENDOR
GOLF TOURNAMENT
Took place the Sunday before OTC.
It was a great lead-into another
well-attended and OTC Show.
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grow and control the quality of our expanding rental fleet. He joins Casey Ardoin,
Matt Hebert, Clint Hudson and Jarvis
Lister. Our High Pressure rentals are on a
record pace with a promising second and
third quarter forecast.
“South Texas is as busy as ever with
Brandon Chaumont and Domingo Diaz
managing and multi-tasking like a circus knife juggler. Kym Nino and Mellissa
Monse have landed several master service
agreements this quarter adding EP, Swift,
Marathon, Penn Virginia, and Lucus energy.
Keep up the great work.
“David Lacombe and Kelly Marceaux
have several large jobs out in the gulf right
now, the biggest being Helix and Walter
O&G along with the Chevron Lineham
Creek.
“Vickie Mathews is stirring up work in
Houston and Shantell Landry is putting out
Safety Technicians for Anthony Sagrera
and Hunter Andre’.
“Remo Abraham stated “I like it when
we are hitting on all cylinders like this”. Don
Ludvach is getting us ready for the big OTC
show in May and I’m sure he will have some
surprises for us.”
Bob concluded his report with, “All in all,
the state of the Tiger Safety Union is healthy
and balanced.”
“Safety is Secure On All Fronts.”
“2013 promises to be a challenging year.
We have seen a fundamental shift in the
posture of various regulatory agencies that
has compelled us to become increasingly
detail oriented in all measures of compliance.” Benito began, “In addition, our safety record is a point of interest to a growing
number of those we do business with. It’s
more important than ever that we be able to
deliver on both counts.
“While incident rates are down across the
company, we still need to strive to improve.
“Our goal for 2013 is to reduce the number of injuries occurring at our facilities by:
• Using leading indicators to measure
proactive performance:
• Ensuring our personnel are properly inducted and trained.
• Combat complacency in routine tasks
through refresher campaigns.
• Maintain focus on high risk areas such
as process equipment and machine guarding, electrical safety, and lifting operations.
• Foster a Safety culture.
“On the compliance front we are looking to stay out ahead of changes in regula-
tions that impact our industry and continue
to improve our best management practices.
We are currently instituting some machine
guarding initiatives that in some cases take
us beyond what is required by the federal
standard, and there will be other areas of
equal focus in the coming months.
He concluded with, “Continuous evaluation and improvement of our work processes will be key to the success of our program.
We have the tools, and we have bright and
capable people. I’m hoping we look back
on 2013 and say that’s the year we set the
bar.”
“…and set it high.”
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Bob Luke,
Tiger Safety
New
Facilities
Bob reports that, ”Tiger Safety had their
Grand Opening of their new facility in
March and it was a big success. Over 400
customers enjoyed boiled crawfish and live
music while they toured the new facility.
The Safety group has already seen an increase in business from the event.
“Jeff LeMaire has joined our high pressure rental group and plans to help our team
Benito Bennett,
H.S. & E ManagerThe Modern Group
Safety is in
the Details
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Colby Crenshaw,
Tiger Offshore and
Industrial Rentals
New Product In
Development
“A lot of good things are happening with
Tiger Offshore and Industrial Rentals,” according to Colby.
“Our customers are active in the markets
where we operate. New Team Members have
joined us in both operations and sales…from
the Gulf Coast, and West Texas to South
America and East Africa.
“Our primary task is to train our Team
and execute our plan of providing first class
equipment, first class service, and first class
accounting, consistant invoicing, tracking of
our assets and taking care of our fleet.
“We think the outlook for the balance of the
year is strong. We are excited about the Tiger
Odessa yard getting up and running. A fine
young man, Parker Echols, has done a brilliant job of business development and sales.
A veteran performer, Mike Weatherford, has
moved out there to help support operations
and we sure appreciate him making the move.
“We also thank the Dragon Rig folks for allowing us to work off their facility.
“Our sister companies have been great in
cross-selling and providing leads. It has really helped us to get off to a great start in the
Odessa area. Our gratitude goes to the entire
Team for all their support.
“In South Texas, we added some Team
Members who are also doing an excellent job.
“We have a new product development coming out that we really excited about. That’s all
I’ll say about it at this time, except that it is
for the offshore market. We will announce that
development when it’s fully integrated in our
fleet.
“I want to say thank you to Mandy Nelson
for her excellent organizing and creative contributions to our organization, especially at the
OTC Show.
“Finally, on a more informal note: I want
to thank Jeff Edwards, Dragon Products-Alvarado, for his outstanding planning and execution of our ANNUAL DRAGON-VENDOR
GOLF TOURNAMENT before the OTC
Show. (Photos Page 2) A great time was had
by all. It was a great lead-into another wellattended and OTC.
“We participated in several international
shows including Kenya and Columbia, as
well as another great local industrial show in
Galveston
“Finally, we had a fun family picnic for the
Tiger Companies on a beautiful Saturday in
April (see below).
“We are looking forward for the next 6
months of continued demand for our equipment and services.”
“Tiger’s On The Move.”
Tiger Company Picnic
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Drew Barnes,
Distribution Center &
Mat Production Manager
Well Received
New Product
Drew quickly gave credit to others for the increased production of Oil Field mats at his plan.
“James Stone is supervising our welding operations and Jerry Edwards manages the wood
crew. They are a finely tuned team that really
work together to do a terrific job. They make
sure, for example, that we meet the specifications
of what we’ve been asked to build. That’s particularly true when we are asked to customize the
specs on some orders
“When we get those special orders they really
pull together, push hard and get them out to the
customer,” he said.
“We added a new type of mat just recently
and it’s really been accepted in the market. It’s
our Synthetic Mat. Instead of wood, we use a
recycled plastic material that is really tough and
durable and it doesn’t rot. The material is tough
as nails and practically unbreakable. It has a
grainy surface that gives rolling equipment more
traction. When it subjected to water, it is skid-resistant unlike wood when it gets wet. A nice feature and a safety factor to boot. Another excellent
feature is that these units are bolted together. No
nails to cause flat tires.
“The company owns the plant in Wisconsin
that makes the material and we are its only customer so we are assured of a constant steady supply. We also get some of the material from a plant
in Cypress, Texas.’
Drew noted that the first prototypes for the
new mats were made in October, about the time
he returned home from his last military tour. They
went into production in December 2012 and since
they have multiplied their daily production by a
factor of 6.
“We have been shipping a lot of these and we
are getting a lot of positive feedback from customers. Tiger Offshore and Industrial call us almost daily to ask how many we have that we ship
to them because they are ready to put them on a
truck and ship to a customer.”
He pointed out that Jay Quebedeaux supervises the production of the Synthetic Mats and
continues to do a great job even when faced with
sometimes daily changes.
“We are waiting delivery of a large air compressor at this time,” he noted. “We use a lot of
pneumatic equipment and we are limited to just
4 tables now. Once we get that bigger unit in,
we will be able to increase our current production tables exponentially…up to 30 or 40 tables
if needed. We want to get up to at least several
hundred mats or more a week.”
He stated that to date the number of Team
Members has only increased by 6 and production
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can significantly increase without a lot of additional manpower.
“We are continuing to work with Beaumont
Quality Mat Company. They distribute our
wood mats and are assisting with our research
and development of our synthetic units. We are
still seeking ways to improve them, such as the
way they interlock, different sizes and flexibility.
“We seem to have settled on producing one
size, a squared off 8-Ft. X 16-Ft. model with DRings for easy lifting. They are selling as fast as
we can make them.”
Drew paused for a moment to make a special
note that Jerry Hafford, Shipping Supervisor,
celebrated 23 years with the company in January.
“You know,” he added, “We are still shipping
Farm Equipment from here. So there is always
something going out and Jerry does a fine job of
keeping up...keeping ahead of things.
“Innovation and Sweat=Success.”
Thanks for you
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service, Drew!
We first met Drew when he joined the Team
in Oct. 2010. Marine Captain Barnes had
just been released from active duty after __
tours in Afghanistan He was managing the
Tilson plant when he was recalled to active
duty on October1, 2011. He spent a year
in Eastern Europe helping train our Partner
Nation’s military. He was released from active duty on December 30, 201 and came
back “home” to The Modern Group.
Jim Newsome,
Marketing-Dragon
Keeping Up
With Growth
Always quick to give others credit, Jim began
his comments with, “Deb Christoph is working
out very well as my assistant. I’m spending some
23 weeks out of the year out of the office working
on Trade Shows.
“Now when I’m on the road, things don’t come
to a complete stop. She keeps things going making
sure production gets done.
“We are also fortunate to have Mandy Raps.
She is handling much of the negotiations with
magazine and trade show representatives. She has
an accounting background and also handles most
of the clerical work for us including tracking and
keeping up with what we are actually spending in
marketing.”
Switching gears, Jim said, “My goal for this
year was to improve internal communications. We
have done a creditable job in communicating who
we are, what we do, and what we make to our customers.
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We have not done a very good job of communicating marketing strategies and what all we manufacture within the company.
“Part of that is due to how much we have grown
and how quickly it has happened in multiple areas
and directions. The number of locations and employees has increased dramatically.
“Up to now, we have communicated with the
department and managers and relied on them to
spread the word among their Team Members. With
the increase in business and the number of different geographic locations and time zones, we had to
come up with a better solution and in meetings with
upper management we decided to take advantage of
the technology available to us.
“Every Friday, we e-mail a Media Blast to all
who are directly involved in Sales and Marketing.
The content includes upcoming trade show, product development, and downloadable spec sheets
on all new products. That precludes anyone on the
list from saying, ‘I didn’t know we sold this or that
product.’
“At one time the Sales Reps sold everything we
made, but we realized that to be more effective
we needed to specialize various departments. The
problem with that is, not every division knows what
the other divisions may or may not be making. Consequently some product lines were not marketed as
well as they should have been.
“Everything we build has ad inter-relationship in
the market place, even though we are concentrating
on the oil and gas industry at this time. Even though
our Team Member may not be selling a particular
product, he or she will likely encounter a prospect
who can utilize one of our products from another
division.
“Now as soon as we know about new products,
product improvements, and so forth our Team
Members know, even it’s not their product to sell.
They have spec sheets, ads and other pertinent material at their finger-tips.
“A perfect example is that if, in December, you
had said Dragon would be in the LNG transport
business, I would have said, ‘No way.” Today we
are a major player in that business.”
“I also want to remind our Sales Team, that we
always want and welcome any suggestions they
may have for us.”
In an aside Jim Said, “By the way, the marketing Department was gifted with the van which was
originally designed for Pump Parts and Service.
We use it haul trade show equipment and materials
which saves us quite a bit in delivery charges. It is a
great travelling billboard and is a standout in trade
show parking lots.”
He saved a choice bit of news to the last when he
announce that Martin Rodriguez was joining the
Marketing Team to manage all trade show logistics
and set ups. He has over 20 years experience in the
business and comes to us from Skyline Displays
where he was our primary contact for a number of
years.
“We will now be handling all our trade shows
needs in-house,” Jim concluded.
“Show and Tell is Our Game.”
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Chuck Childress,
Vice PresidentMG Finance
Yes,
we finance!
“Our purpose is to facilitate the sale of the
products manufactured by the Modern Group
and their family of companies. MG Finance
is a reflection of the business generated by all
of the Modern Group. As our companies grow
MG Finance grows.” A simple explanation offered by Chuck to explain the important role of
MG Finance.
Chuck came to the Modern Group in 2007
after years in the banking industry and managing his own business. In addition to managing
MG Finance, Chuck has responsibilities for
Modern’s real estate management and development.
In reviewing the first 6 months of 2013,
Chuck said, “We’ve had a good start and our
business is growing. We only finance our products…all of the different kinds of equipment
we make.
“We are a lease company and we provide an
alternate means of financing, other than standard bank financing, for our customers. Our
lease financing attracts all kinds of customers from the large New York Stock Exchange
publicly traded firms, to the small one vacuum
trailer and truck operator. We are more flexible
and can tailor specific terms to suit the needs of
each customer. That’s a major customer benefit
over normal bank financing.
Our process is simple. Our Sales Team member provides the customer with our MG Credit
applications and sends them to us along with
the required financial information.. We do our
due diligence, visit the customer, if necessary
wherever they are, and do the deal. Much of
our effort is by mail and telephone. We finance
over 12, 24, and 36 months.”
Chuck reported that MG Finance’s growth
is in direct proportion to the Modern Group’s
growth which has been excellent over the last
several years. “As we all recognize, our mutual
growth is directly related to the growth in the
oil and gas industry,” he added.
Chuck splits his time between his Beaumont and La Porte offices. “I rely on my assistant, Cindy Nelson a great deal. She offices
in Beaumont which is where we keep our files.
No matter where I might be in the country we
can keep a deal moving forward just as quickly
as if I were sitting behind my desk in Beaumont. Our normal turn-around time in getting a
deal done is one day.
“If there is a delay, it’s normally in the process of getting all the information we need in
order to make a decision. It’s usually a case of
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us waiting for the customer to submit all the
required financial information. As a rule, we
keep things on a fast track and that’s what our
customers have come to expect. It’s good for
them and us.”
In closing, Chuck said he anticipated 2013
being a very good year.
“Have financing…will travel.”
Harold Johnson,
Plant Manager,
Center
Need Repairs?
Harold didn’t waste any time in announcing
that as of January 1, the plant was now a fullfledged refurbishing shop.
“We are doing multiple product builds from
galvanized product cages to cuttings boxes to
frac tank repair. Then, about the first of March,
we began building new frac tanks again, along
with all our refurbishing work.
“The really good news is that since the first
of the year we have increased our number of
Team Members by almost 3 times. Our new
business has brought new Team Members and
new opportunities for us.”
As far as the plant’s future, Harold said, “We
hope to expand building the new Frac Tanks
and doing more refurbishing work. We want
to continue work for all the various company
components from the Ag Division, to Tiger
Safety to the main Frac and Trailer Divisions.
Whatever they send us and ask us to refurbish
we will do our best to put it back in ‘like new’
condition.
Harold reported his plant had acquired new
saw about the first of March and it was up and
running.
Harold said no changes or revisions to the
shop had to be made to accommodate the increased production. “We are fortunate that this
plant is large enough, wide enough and room
enough to do whatever management asks us to
do.”
In commenting about his Team, Harold
pointed out that he had been fortunate to retain
his key multi-talented personnel although some
had to transfer to other departments as lead men
and have done well with the opportunity. We
have several leaders, such as Kirk Lewis, our
Maintenance Supervisor who has also helped
with Quality Control and Finishing. Jerry
Falkenberry, our Production Supervisor, has
been doing an excellent job. Roger Jackson is
taking care of the Finishing Department and is
also doing a fine job.” Finally Griseldo Guardado has taken control for Leadman in the refurbishing and remanufacturing building and
his group is putting out great work.
Harold closed with, “We look forward to
more business and finishing the year productive and profitable.”
“Multi-Tasking.”
WasteExpo 2013
New Orleans, LA
Tiger & Dragon
exhibited in the
WasteExpo Show
May 2013.
Tiger members shown:
Kelly Cheramie, Cary
Walker, Mandy Nelson
& Kerry Baumgardner
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Eric Brown,
Michael Haggard,
General Manager,
Dragon Rigs
V.P. ManufacturingDragon ESP
Good News
“Things are going great!
Those were the first words out of Michael’s
mouth. He then he went on to enthusiastically
report that the Oklahoma Production Tank line
was moving and that Shell Oil, a new customer,
had just issued a P.O. for a significant order.
“We are focused on obtaining an API Monogram for Oklahoma and 2 or 3 other plants.
We are weld testing employees and looking
for certified Team Members,” he added. “We
have some new welding equipment, a crane
truck …and we are counting on Production
Tank orders to come in as expected. We anticipate going to 3 lines and we are really excited
about that possibility.”
As far as personnel, “Michael said, “We have
maintained the same number of Team Members
for some time now and we are expecting to add
a Safety Director in the near future.”
“Thanks Shell.”
Jackie Hartman,
Plant Manager,
ESP-Oklahoma
New Line
“We are busy getting ready for our API audit and making Production Tanks,” Jackie said,
“and that’s pretty much what we are about
these days.
“Our production for the first six months was
primarily Frac Tanks, but we are phasing out
that line to make Round Bottom Fracs. The
first of those just rolled of the production line
and we will be producing those as well as the
Production Tanks.
“As far as new equipment, we did receive
a new Kenworth with a Knuckle Boom to deliver Production Tanks.
Jackie pointed out that his Team numbers
had remained level but he is currently looking
to hire a Safety Coordinator. “We are blessed
that our entire Team has been working together
to maintain a safe work place but it’s time to
make this change,”
He ended his report on a happy and personal
announcement. “My daughter Brittley is getting married June 1st . The ceremony will be at
our Baptist Church in Milo. The lucky groomto-be is Chris Gayanich.”
Best wishes from your Dragon Products
Family!
“Good news on all fronts.”
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Creativeness at
Work
“We finished last year very strong,” was the
announcement Eric made to begin his midYear report. “The first quarter of 2013 began
with excellent pump and rig sales…probably
our best start ever.
He went on to say, “The service business
was up as well but tapered off a bit in April.
We expect it to pick up before mid-year. We
see lots of busy customers who are putting off
service in order to keep their rigs producing.
“We see our year being strong in new
equipment sales and continuing to increase
from there.
“For the past several months we have been
in the process of re-opening the Corpus Christi
facility. We’ve had a demand for heavy specialty fabrication type work that takes a lot of
time and space and this move provided us with
that opportunity.
“LeRoy Lewis is managing that operation.
He brings years of experience in the industry
with him to the task…probably 40-45 years.
He’s done it all, including sales for Dragon
when he was on our Team the first time. We
brought him back last year to oversee the operation of the big GDI Rig projects for Qatar.
When he successfully completed that job it
was perfect for him to take over the Corpus
operation.”
“We have expanded our sizes offerings
for our masts…three new sizes over the past
6-to-8 months. In addition we are working on
a free-standing 96-foot derrick primarily for
Canada and California markets. We started
doing the design and engineering the last of
April and it’s an entirely new concept. We’ll
get it API certified as quickly as possible. This
process will take at least 2-3 months. We already have a commitment from a California
firm for the first two to come off the line.”
In closing, Eric said “Gabe” Norris, Head
of Engineering and Design deserved a “well
done” for his work on all the Mast’s design
and engineering. “He was the brain-trust behind the 550 Class Rig which made the news
when it was sold in California. It was the first
one ever to receive a “Purple Permit” by passing all of the state’s regulations including
being road worthy. It took us about a year to
complete the unit that’s how difficult it is to
meet all the requirements for the permit.
“Where there’s a Dragon Rig…There’s a
way.”
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Rodney Harris,
Sales & ServiceLaPorte
Creativeness at
Work
Rodney reports that they have to get more
creative in his area. “We are working with
MG Finance to be more creative in closing
sales. We are doing Contract Back programs
with some owner-operators. Good operators
who have been laid off by some contractors or
transport companies.
“Business was slightly off, but we are still
optimistic based on the number of good quotes
that are still going out. We did have a bit of
resurgence in early March. There is just a bit
more to the decision process going on with
the buyers. We have to work the quotes a bit
more… we follow up a bit more, for example.”
Looking ahead, Rodney said, “We see some
continued market fluctuation but we are still
optimistic about what the balance of the year
holds for us. It is still incumbent on us to be
creative and think outside the box.
“Currently it seems most of our products
are moving well. There doesn’t seem to be
one thing that’s working better. South Texas is
ramping up specifically on the 8400’s. North
Dakota and Canada have been a little slower
primarily due to the awful winter months in
those areas but we are getting more action as
the weather improves. The Team has worked
well developing new suspensions and axle
configurations designed to get drivers on the
road quicker in cold climates. Smaller tanks
were moving well at the first of the year but
our larger tanks are already moving better.
“All in all it was steady the first six months
and we anticipate that 2013 will end up as a
good year. The times call for us to be more and
more customer oriented, more creative in production and sales, and more aggressive in following up on leads.”
“Cre-Action at work.”
SEND US YOUR
NEWS!
Send us your wedding announcements,
engagements, honors, births, deaths,
birthdays, retirements, graduations,
promotions, new home, baptisms,
Bat and Bar Mitzvahs, etc.
Send your items to:
1655 Gulf Street
Beaumont, Tx 77701
Attn: Marketing Department
or Email to Mandy.Nelson@ModernUSA.com
7
James Fregia,
Plant Manager,
Silsbee South
Customized
Fracs
“We have shifted gears a bit the past six
months. Certainly we are continuing to produce Frac Tanks, but we have really targeted
and emphasized and buckled down on our
quality and safety programs,” James began.
“Obviously we have always stressed quality and safety, but we have been making more
and more specialty tanks for customers. Each
one is somewhat different. It demands careful
and constant vigilance by our Team to continue produce a quality product. With so many
variations, it’s imperative that we do just that.
To that end we put some new quality controls in place to keep a watchful eye on every
step of our manufacturing process.”
James said he had about the same number of
Team Members as he had at the beginning of
the year working one shift.
“The Lord willing, we will see increased
production the balance of the year. but we will
maintain our safety and quality controls as we
expand the Team and production.”
“Priority One…Quality and Safety.”
Mark Peterson,
Plant Manager,
Provo, Utah
Ready for the
Next 6 Months
Right to the point, as usual, Mark reported
Production Tanks were keeping his plant busy.
“We are turning out 100, 200 and 400 Barrel
units at a good pace. We are turning out about
10 percent more units now than at the end of
2012.
“We have also been busy installing a new
plate roller from Colorado. It’s now up and operating. We also installed a new Alltra high definition burning machine…Down Draft burning
bed and table... wire rack track and ducting…
and dust collector.
“We are reorganizing our space in order to
get the best production lines by integrating the
new equipment from Colorado with our present
set-up including new Lincoln Welding Equipment. We took out our planer, roller and revamped the shop.
“Gary Schmedt has coordinated installing the
new equipment and contacting the necessary
vendors to create our pressure vessel line. Lester Molyneux, our new Head Draftsman, will
be designing the jigs and fixtures needed for the
line “We have our ASME stamp now and We
Houston Pipeliners Fishing
Tournament
Tiger Industrial members Hadley
Cohen & Brian Rice cooked at the
Houston Pipeliners Fishing
Tournament in Aransas Pass, Tx.
They also displayed the
synthetic mat materials.
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are ready for our drawing review and then we
can start building pressure vessels. I can’t say
enough good things about Gary Markham
either… for his guidance and leadership in this
process to get us ASME Certified.”
Mark completed his comments with, “Safety and quality along with producing and delivering on time are still our priorities. We are
looking forward to the next 6 months.”
“Teaming Up For Success.”
Tom Inman,
Vice President,
Pump Division
High
Expectations
Tom says, “The first six months of the new
year have been good and steady. The Service
Centers after-market parts and service has
been good
“Capital equipment, such as frac pumps,
has been down slightly, but it’s hard to compare an outstanding year like last year to
anything. Product lines have changed somewhat. We’re seeing more Cementers, Double
Pumpers, Coil Tubing Support Equipment,
and Pumping Equipment activity,
“We are continuing to move some Frac
Pumps and overall the Stimulation Equipment continues to be a good line for us.
“We have also enjoyed some success with
our 600 HP Skid Units for the International
Market.”
Tom went on to say, “Today we are perfectly positioned to offer a full Frac Spread
to the market place and that is no small feat.”
Looking ahead, Tom predicted a strengthening of the market later in the third quarter…especially for Capital Equipment. “The
best thing indicator we should note is the fact
that our customers are busy in the oil field.
The oil field is strong. Places such as the
Permian Basin, the Eagle Ford area, and the
Northeast area busy. We are seeing a steady
rise in activity. As long as our customers are
working, they are going to need more of our
equipment and services.”
Tom announced that there are plans to
open the 8th Service Center in the Colorado
Rocky Mountain region during the 3rd quarter.
He concluded his report with the fact that
the Frac Pumper Leasing Operation utilization is high and he expects the leasing operation to continue to be strong through the rest
of the year.
“A Full Spread of Optimism!”
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Bill Hines,
Plant Manager,
Highway 90
Multiple Lines
The list of products being made at Hwy 90
plant just keeps growing. According to Bill,
“We are currently building Frac Pumps, 600
Short Pump Skids, Water Heaters, Heavy Haul
Trailers, Sand Dragons, Guar Tanks, Double
Pumpers, and Flare Stack Trailers. Also Hwy
90 is excited about starting new production
which will include Twin Cementer, Production Tank Trailer, Special Purpose Pump Unit,
and Controls and Data Acquisition.
“With over a dozen different products the
Hwy 90 plant has developed an organizational
structure to support our customers. A special thanks to our supervisors / crew: Joshua Simmons (Frac- Pumpers and 600 Short
Pump Skids), Dale Hernandez(Water Heaters), Will Renfro (Sand-Dragon), and Jason
Hamilton(Heavy Haul). These products are
all sent to Alvarado to be painted and have all
the options added.
“Royce Richards’ current project is Guar
tanks. Royce will assist in the new product
introduction as well on Double Pumpers once
Jerry Pease is done heading up the welding
stage on Double Pumpers. Jerry is also heading up the Flare Stack Trailer going to Tiger.
“The Process Shop and Weld Shop are su-
pervised by Pete Floyd. This particular area of
the plant produces the trailer frames with the
beams that come from Liberty. This as well
will put the new Production Tank Trailers in
their area. They have been busy supporting all
the product lines.
“LV Grove has taken over the paint shop.
With Water Transfer products booming for
Liberty and Pipe Rack for Tilson the paint
department has geared up to the challenge of
painting their products.
“The test pad under Shaun Young and
Kevin Herrera will see new challenges in
testing all the new products. They will enjoy
the new exhaust system being installed this
summer when the temperatures soar while
running 2,500 horse power diesel engines.”
Bill closed his remarks with, “Highway 90
appreciates the sister locations. One of the big
keys for Hwy 90 Plant is the coordination and
cooperation of Alvarado, Tilson, Liberty, Silsbee North, Silsbee South and LaPorte. All the
plants share parts of the production process
with Hwy 90. From Guar tanks that start at
Village Creek and are painted at Silsbee North
to Heavy Hauls starting at Liberty and shipping out of LaPorte.
“As usual April Coleman keeps HR going
with Luke Lamendola coordinating the material and Steven Coleman helping pull everything together. We consider ourselves lucky to
be part of the Dragon family and hope everyone shares the feeling.”
“A Smorgasbord of Products.”
The McClave Cardinals basketball Team, Lamar, CO. captured the Class 1A
State Championship on Saturday, March 16. They beat Shining Mountain
60-40 to gain their school’s first state championship.
Welding Foreman, Gildo Salazar’s twin sons are members of the team.
Pictured, second from the left, first row Gabe Salazar and second row,
second from the left, Abel Salazar.
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Mike Eberwein,
Plant Manger,
Lamar, CO
API Certification
Next
“We are anticipating more Production
Tank Orders during the balance of the year,”
Mike began. “The first six months were marginal but, with the final approval of our API
Certification in the works, we anticipate a significant increase in these in the short term.”
Mike went on to report the plant is still
turning out Ranco End and Belly Dumps and
he forecasts an increased demand for these
units.
“We have stabilized number of Team
Members and at this time and we are running
one shift which keeps us productive and competitive.”
Included in Mike’s report was the good
news that Gildo Salazar’s twin sons’ high
school had won the state championship
“Lean and Mean Production Machine.”
CONGRATULATIONS!
Chad Eric Ward,
Safety Coordinator, at the
Dragon Highway 90 Plant in
Beaumont and Valerie Jane
Singer were wed on
May 4, 2013 in
Savage, Maryland.
Congratulations Chad and best
wishes to you both for a long
and happy marriage from your
Dragon Products family.
9
Roderick Blueitt
Plant Manager,
Tilson
Improve on
Good
Roderick began his review of the year with
the statement that they were in the midst of their
Spring Ag sales and they were going “fairly well”.
“January and February were active months for
sales and that’s not historically the case.
“We are currently producing offset discs again
for CASE. They normally built discs once a year,
but our plan calls for us to build in the spring and
the fall. That keeps us from being inundated with
one item and we can merge them with the production of our other products. The sales people like
two production slots and we produce 30 per cent
of our order now and the balance in the fall. We’ll
ship these units in June.
“We recently built the jigs and implemented a
new Gang Line for production and that seems to
be going very well.
He went on to explain that a special effort had
been made to increase awareness of the extreme
value of quality control. “We must all be constantly aware of identifying any mistakes that could
happen, finding the reason why and correct the
problem
“To that end, we are in the process of up grading all our drawings. Micah Enard and Glen
Aguiling have done a great job with this project.
“Our Quality Control Team Member, Frank
Gober and Bret Chamblee and our Engineering
Team are getting the proper prints to production so
we can have parts made accurately. It’s my belief
that we have improved by leaps and bounds in that
area. We use “OPL”, One Point Lessons, to give
the Team Member a resource at his work station.
It becomes their guide or refresher.
“Our plant is not so large that we cannot
achieve excellence and we must. It’s not enough
to be good at what we do. Good is the enemy of
best. We must improve on good and be the best at
what we do... We have to look after one another
to make the best product in the safest and most efficient way we can.
“All it takes is a good effort and a great attitude.
That’s all our Team can control. If we do that we
can accomplish our goals.”
Quality also entered the picture when the Tilson office and related spaces were recently refurbished.
All work was accomplished in a month and
done totally in-house. The results, besides being
more attractive and professional in appearance, is
a more secure, efficient, and practical arrangement
of all spaces.
“Our timing was good on the refurbishing. We
had a large delegation from the CASE people here
for a meeting. Their group included a number of
their key personnel. They also visited several of
our plants. They reviewed our current products
and are pleased with the results. They also are dis-
10
cussing new products they would like us to bid at
the end of spring.”
Shifting to what lies ahead, Roderick said,
“We are seeing a shift in our current offerings. A
lot of our customers are changing from the standard 3-point cutter to a quick-attach cutter. Some
of our Dealer Reps have completely changed
over to the quick-attach model.
“We are currently up-dating all the literature…
owners and operator manuals… for these units to
support this movement.
“Our smooth top Bat Wing Cutter, our Raptorr, is getting a lot of interest right now. It’s not a
new product, but it’s being asked for, and getting
market penetration. This changes our production
Adam Baylor,
Plant Manager,
Silsbee North
Big News from
Silsbee-N
Adam suggested that his report simply read
“Working diligently.”
He continued, “It’s true, we are, but as to what
happened during the first 6 months of the year,
we saw steady growth in all our markets. Recently we have experienced a stabilizing of the
market. However, with our Frac Tanks, Double
Conicals, 150 Barrel and 165 Barrels, we have
tried to meet any customer need….no matter
how specific. We are going to build whatever fits
the market.
The big news out of Silsbee-North is Adam’s
announcement of the plans to expand the facility.
“Land was purchased next to us on the East
mixture to a degree.
“In the next 6-months, we anticipate a great
summer. Some areas in the country still need rain
but we had a long spring. We expect healthy grass
that should grow well with all the rain. We will
have our Off-Set Disc spring build out of the way.
It bodes a strong season for us.
“In 6-months we will be back in heavy production for CASE and that should close out year out
with a bang.”
“Best Beats Good…Every Time.”
The Bluietts welcomed a new grandson on
April 9, 2013. Jace Trevon Bluiett was born in
Montgomery, Alabama weighing in at 5 lbs. 1
oz, 18 ¼ in. Congrats!
side. A shop will be built on the site to run only
stainless steel products. It will be a really large
plant. We’ll have all new process equipment,
all new welding equipment, and we will require
more Team Members. It will be a great boost for
the local economy. It’s planned to be up and running by January.”
As far as the balance of the year, Adam said,
“We will need to be more creative and more
flexible and really tuned in to our customer’s
needs. I see us continuing to tailor our products
to customer specifications. We may not get big
orders for a hundred tanks, but an order for five
with a certain piece of equipment attached to it.
It will likely be different from anything we’ve
ever built.’
Adam closed his remarks with, “We have
a great Team but I want to single out Tommy
Thompson for his work as our Inventory and
Shipping and Receiving Manager. He has a
heckufa responsibility and is doing a great job.”
“You Name It. We’ll Build It.”
Devan Ray
Chancey,
Roy Carter
La Porte
Plant Manager
New
Equipment
Roy reports that LaPorte is continuing to make
130-Barrel Roll Offs.
”They are not a hot item in the market at this
time. Our other product, Mud Tanks, continues to
move but not as fast a clip as our Roll Offs.
“We did not have to make any changes in our
shop in order to accommodate a new saw and
multi-purpose Iron Worker. It shears angles and
punches holes. It is a real time saver and we have
put it to good use.”
Roy went on to say that regards to his Team
numbers, everything was status quo and he was
still running one shift.
We are looking ahead to the balance of 2013
with one desire. We want more business and we
are doing all we can to maintain quality and deliver on line, on time, every time.
“This Team is experienced, talented, and hardworking. I’m proud of each and every one of
them.” “Seasoned and Eager.”
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son of Linda
Chancey-Parker,
will
graduate
from Pasadena
Memorial High
School, Pasadena
TX, on June 7th.
He plans to attend
San Jacinto Central Campus in the fall. Linda is the LaPorte plant’s HR/Payroll Clerk.
KRISTEN DOMINY placed 6th out of her
class of 29 and made
auction. Her steer was
one of only 420 that
made auction out of
1800. She and 9 other
students from Channelview
competed
with 100 other chapters for the Good Herdsman Award and won
first place. Finally, Kirsten’s hog won Reserve
Grand Champion at Channelview’s Fair while
her broilers placed third. Kirsten is the daughter of Tammy Rowe, Laporte’s Billing Clerk.
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This year’s aggressive marketing of our health insurance plan to many major insurance markets
has resulted in a renewal with Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS). There are changes to all of the
prices and to the coverage for the 2013 to 2014 plan year, so please pay close attention
to your
Richmond
selection this year. As you will see, only two levels of coverage had small increases while the
Bennett
rest will see small decreases. We fully expect to see more cost increases next year (2014) and
HR Manager
the following two years (2015, 2016) as the health care law becomes fully implemented.
Medical Plan Update
and 401K Open Enrollment
This
year’s
aggressive
marketing
of our health
Modern will continue to offer any employee with 2 or more
One
thing
that hasn’t
changed
is theinsurance
2 year plan
discount!
to many major insurance markets has resulted in a renewal with years of service a considerable reduction in their medical inBlueModern
Cross Blue
(BCBS).
Thereany
are employee
changes to allwith
of 2surance
costs.
Adjustments
to thea discounted
rate following a
willShield
continue
to offer
or more
years
of service
considerable
the prices and to the coverage for the 2013 to 2014 plan year, covered employee’s second anniversary with the company will
reduction in their medical insurance costs. Adjustments to the discounted rate following a
so please pay close attention to your selection this year. As you continue to take effect twice per year, on the first full payroll folcovered employee’s second anniversary with the lowing
company
will continue to take effect twice per
will see, only two levels of coverage had small increases while
June 1st and on the first full payroll following December
st
on the first full payroll following December 1st.
onseethe
firstdecreases.
full payroll
following
the year,
rest will
small
We fully
expect June
to see 1
moreand1st.
cost increases next year (2014) and the following two years
A summary of employee contribution rates for each plan folA summary
employee
contribution
rates for each
plan follows:
(2015,
2016) as theof
health
care law becomes
fully implemented.
lows:
One thing that hasn’t changed is the 2 year discount!
2013 Employee Medical and Dental Premium Schedule
PREMIUM Medical Plan
($2500 deductible)
Tier
ULTIMATE Medical Plan
($1000 deductible)
Dental Plan
Only available with Medical plan
Per Pay Period
Per Year
Per Pay Period
Per Year
Per Pay Period
Per Year
80
2080
121
3146
25
650
57
1482
93
2418
25
650
169
4394
253
6578
25
650
119
3094
195
5070
25
650
153
3978
229
5954
25
650
108
2808
176
4576
25
650
250
6500
373
9698
25
650
175
4550
287
7462
25
650
Employee Only
< 2 years service
Employee Only
2+ years service
Emp & Spouse
< 2 years service
Emp & Spouse
2+ years service
Emp & Child(ren)
< 2 years service
Emp & Child(ren)
2+ years service
Emp & Family
< 2 years service
Emp & Family
2+ years service
These 2013 premiums reflect Modern’s efforts to keep costs as low as possible for our employees. We will continue to
These
premiums
reflect
Modern’s
efforts
to keep
as low as
possible
ourHR/Payroll
employees.
We
work
hard2013
to provide
competitive
benefits
to our
employees
andcosts
their families.
Contact
yourfor
local
representawill
continue
to
work
hard
to
provide
competitive
benefits
to
our
employees
and
their
families.
Contact
tive should you have any questions concerning your insurance or its cost to you.
your local HR/Payroll representative should you have any questions concerning your insurance or its
costOpen
to you.
The plan allows for all of Modern employees (if eligible)
401k
Enrollment
The opportunity to enroll or make changes to your 401k plan to participate in a great savings and investment plan and take
Open
Enrollment
will 401k
soon be
with us
again. At the beginning of July (July 1), charge of their financial future. Please see you local HR/Payroll
we will be able to enroll new members and increase or decrease representatives today for plan eligibility and enrollment packets.
Thecontributions
opportunity
or make
changes
to your
plan will
soon
us Modern
again. aAt
theplace to work.
for all
yoube
do with
to make
great
payroll
to to
theenroll
plan. This
opportunity
happens
four 401kThanks
of July (July
be ableWe
to are
enroll
increase
or decrease payroll
It’smembers
going to beand
a great
Summer!
timesbeginning
a year in January,
April, 1),
Julywe
andwill
October.
alsonew
contributions
the
This opportunity
happens
pleased
to announceto
that
theplan.
new mutual
funds are doing
well! four times a year in January, April, July and October.
We are NEWS
also pleased
to announce
are
doing
well!
LADIES,
YOU SHOULD
KNOWthat the new mutual funds
•
Stress
Management
The American Heart Association wants you to know that
•
QUIT SMOKING!
MORE WOMEN DIE FROM HEART DISEASE THAN FROM
HEART ATTACK SIGNS
ALL CANCERS COMBINED. Be aware of it and ways to avoid
•
Discomfort in center of chest Lasting more than a few
it such as:
minutes
•
Practicing Good Nutrition
•
Pain that comes and goes
•
Physical Exercise
•
Pain in other areas such as your left arm
•
Weight Management
•
Shortness of breath
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11
OTC SHOW
2013
The indoor Dragon & Tiger booth
Jim Newsome & Mandy Raps
Stuart Ritz & Cary Walker
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The outdoor dragon booth
Ricky Plymell, David Cowan & Glenn Bryan
Mandy Nelson, Rachel Odem & Lisa Martin
William Drost & Stephen Mouton
Rodney Rivera, Roger Lui & Dennis Latiff
Anthony Segura, Bob Luke & Remo Abraham
Hadley Cohen & Wayne LeJune
TOP: Dragon team members in front of the Frac Pumper.
BOTTOM: Paul Fussell with ladies from Anadarko inside the
Tiger Cargo Container.
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Gary Maingot & Charles Baker
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