Q. What is the official name of your company?
A.MT Rigmat LLC
Q. Is your firm a subsidiary or affiliate of other companies? If so, please name those firms and their relationship to your company.
A. Individual sole ownership
Q. What do you most want people to know about your company?
A. We build the best rigmats for the best price for the Bakken and beyond!
Q. Where is your company located?
A. Between Missoula and Kalispell, MT in the little town of Charlo.
Q. What year was the company founded and by whom?
A. MT Rigmat LLC was founded 8 months ago in January of this year by myself, Travis Jordan.
Q. What is your company’s primary business activity?
A. We build the wide flange steel framed 3 or 4 beam rigmats with the sides plated. They can be built with pipe or square ends, depending on what our customer’s needs are.
Q. Are there important projects the company is currently a part of or has done recently?
A. Recently we finished up an order for Secure Energy of 10’ wide square ended mats that are welded together on site for a tank farm, and we are starting a large order for Total Oilfield Rentals for their Minot, ND rental division. We have done several custom jobs for Continental Resources this year including some Laminate Timber Rigmats and several Mousehole Rigmats, as well as several custom orders of steel skinned rigmats for Statoil/Brigham to skid the catwalks on between wells on the multi-well locations.
Q. How many employees does your company have?
A. We currently have 6 employees in addition to myself.
Q. Describe the equipment your company uses and are there any new equipment purchases planned?
A. We are implementing a new wood processing line to speed up the wood filling process.
Q. Is your company expanding any of its operations or locations?
A. We have been bursting our seams since the second month of operations, we have been able to re-organize and improve efficiencies, and are now in the process of adding another 30 percent of production space to our manufacturing facility to meet the orders we currently have.
Q. Is the company changing any of its services or products?
A. We feel the standard proven 6x6 rigmat is a difficult product to improve on. We have added top lifting slots that are compatible with standard 3/8” truck chain hooks to all of our mats to make them easier and faster to move around, as well as the standard half-moon chain cut-outs.
Q. What is your company’s main strength or its edge over the competition?
A. We are still a small company, and all of our crew are skilled craftsmen. We are able to build custom products very efficiently, and our standard products are superior to all of our competitors products we have seen. All production is done in a controlled environment with MIG machines using Dual-Shield wire and CO2 for the highest strength welds. Our timbers are custom notched at our facility for a flush top deck that normally has less than 1/8” variation.
Our location allows us to ship product quickly by truck, and we normally are able to complete standard or custom orders between rig-moves so they are ready for the next pad location.
Q. What new markets, clients or projects did your company attract in the last year?
A. All of them! I started the company in January and we shipped our first load of rigmats in February. Since then we have sold hundreds of rigmats into North Dakota and Montana. We are looking forward to supplying rigmats into other oilfields in the US and Canada within the next year.
Q. What is the most challenging work/contract the company has undertaken?
A. I am not sure which to list here, we have had numerous times where the phone rings and somebody needs something built and delivered tomorrow… Lots of late nights and overnight trucking! Currently we are working on an order that will once again double our annual production for this year, but we have been doing that every month since we started!
Q. What are the biggest obstacles to completing work your company undertakes?
A. Manpower and raw materials. Work always comes in surges, and being prepared for the larger orders can be a challenge as a new company.
Q. What do you see as your company’s biggest challenge in the next five years?
A. We are just looking forward to being a part of the oil industry and serving its needs. Endeavoring to ramp up production to meet the order volume will always be a challenge, but we do not expect it to be a real problem.
Q. Does your company have an anniversary or other landmark event coming up?
A. The first of February it will be one year since we moved tools into the shop and started production. We are already enjoying the view in the “rear view mirror” and expect the remaining months till our anniversary will only make it better.
Q. What is the average length of time employee’s work for the company?
A. So far, all the guys we have are here to stay.
Q. What is your company’s safety record? What steps does the company take to ensure a safe work environment?
A. With a background in industrial maintenance, I am a stickler for PPE and safe work practices. We are adamant that safety comes first, and if it isn’t safe, find another way to do it.
Q. Has your company been involved in any community projects or charity events?
A. Our biggest contribution to the community for this year has been helping to reduce the un-employment and raise the average wage expectations in our area. You have to understand, the housing bubble collapse left lots of great guys looking for work in our community. There have been less than half the houses built in our area the last couple years as there used to be. On top of that, less than 3 years ago a large sawmill shut down in our area as well, leaving over 150 people without work and scrambling for the remaining low paying jobs. Our crew is composed of certified welders, construction guys, mechanics, even a licensed electrician. The oil industry has provided us with an opportunity to pay between 20-30 percent higher wages than our local economy would support, and everybody over here is excited to be part of the current oil boom in the USA.
Q. What is the address of your company’s Web site?
A. www.mtrigmat.com
