Q. What is the official name of your company?
A. ClearSpan Fabric Structures
Q. Is your firm a subsidiary or affiliate of other companies? If so, please name those firms and their relationship to your company.
A. ClearSpan Fabric Structures is a division of Engineering Services and Products Company and has three affiliate companies, FarmTek®, Growers Supply and TekSupply®.
Q. What do you most want people to know about your company?
A. Whether a temporary or permanent building is needed, we can provide cost-effective, turnkey solutions for the oil industry. We offer many flexible financing options and can fast track any project to meet deadlines. Applications for our ClearSpan Fabric Structures include housing, recreation facilities, manufacturing and maintenance facilities, storage and more.
Q. Where is your company located?
A. We have two locations. Our corporate headquarters is located in South Windsor, CT. Our manufacturing facility and distribution center is located in Dyersville, IA.
Q. What year was the company founded and by whom?
A. The company was founded in 1979 by Barry Goldsher and Chuck Clark.
Q. What is your company’s primary business activity?
A. ClearSpan designs, engineers, manufactures and constructs tension fabric buildings. Our structures are used in almost every market, including industry, recreation, military and agriculture.
Q. Are there important projects the company is currently a part of or has done recently?
A. Our structures have been rising in popularity in the oil industry over the past few years. Frac sand storage is becoming a popular application, as well as temporary housing and maintenance facilities. We have also done multi-million dollar projects for companies such as Fibreco Export Inc. in North Vancouver, B.C. and Global Terminal in New Jersey.
Q. How many employees does your company have?
A. We employ about 400 people between our two locations.
Q. Describe the equipment your company uses and are there any new equipment purchases planned?
A. Currently we use the following to manufacture our structures: laser-guided fabric slitting and rewinding machines, radio frequency fabric sealing machines, hot air fabric sealers, laser steel sheet cutters, laser tube cutters and robotic welders.
In 2013, our new capital equipment purchases will include a tube forming mill and steel slitter and decoilers.
Q. Is your company expanding any of its operations or locations?
A. We are planning to open our Canadian and Latin American manufacturing and construction services groups in 2013-14.
Q. Is the company changing any of its services or products?
A. In 2013, we will add general contractor services, which will allow us to handle projects truly from concept through completion, if a customer requires it.
Q. What is your company’s main strength or its edge over the competition?
A. We have an edge over the competition with our cost-effective and innovative Helical Anchoring Systems. These helical pile foundations require no concrete, can be temporary or permanent, and can be installed in two to five days. By using a Helical Anchoring System, our customers can save up to 80% compared to using a traditional concrete foundation.
Q. What new markets, clients or projects did your company attract in the last year?
A. Fairly new markets for us include oil field construction, frac sand storage and processing, waste management and recycling and wastewater treatment. A few special projects that we’ve worked on in the last year include a structure for industrial cleanup after the tsunami in Japan, structures for the New York Sanitation Department, training facilities for the New York City Fire Department and a casino and event hall in Las Vegas.
Q. What is the most challenging work the company has undertaken?
A. We installed a 60’ wide by 250’ long building on the Alaska North Slope for ENI US Operating Company Inc. Our crew attended a one-day course through the North Slope Training Cooperative that dealt with the specific health and safety issues of working in such a remote area. Installing a building in the Alaska North Slope in the dead of winter brought many challenges due to the extreme weather and low temperatures. At -60°F, our equipment and vehicles would stop working. Operating tools with bulky clothing, gloves and goggles also slowed down the process.
To access the site, we had to drive on the ice roads. As spring approached, melting ice presented another major obstacle. Fortunately, ENI provided transportation on a hover craft. We also had a few days that we could not access the site because a polar bear and her cubs were there.
Q. What are the biggest obstacles to completing work your company undertakes?
A. The biggest obstacles occur during the installation process. Severe weather can impact installation, as well as lack of housing or heavy construction equipment near the jobsites.
Q. What do you see as your company’s biggest challenge in the next five years?
A. Our biggest challenge will be keeping up with the growing demand for our products and services.
Q. Does your company have an anniversary or other landmark event coming up?
A. By December 2012, we will have built our 40,000th structure.
Q. What is the average length of time employees’ work for the company?
A. 15 years.
Q. What is your company’s safety record? What steps does the company take to ensure a safe work environment?
A. We have an excellent safety record. Our team attends trainings when they first start with our company, as well as refresher courses as needed. To ensure a safe work environment, we offer forklift certification training, welding certification training, OSHA-required slips, trips and falls training and more.
We also have safety glass, steel toe shoe, back brace and proper lifting policies that employees must adhere to.
Q. Has your company been involved in any community projects or charity events?
A. Every year we are involved in the CT Race in the Park and the Free to Breath Walk, raising funds for breast cancer and lunch cancer research, respectively.
Q. What is the address of your company’s website?
A. www.ClearSpan.com/ADPN
