Stories from the Job Site

When you're building a new business 100 miles from nowhere, you look at things differently. EnerCrest is a fast-growing oil-field services outfit headquartered in Big Piney, Wyoming (which is not "nowhere," but you can see it from there) that is taking an innovative approach to customer service.

Todd Erickson, EnerCrest's Chief Development Officer, calls the firm's approach an "integrated solution" that gives customers a single point of contact and accountability. With a division specializing in every required oil-field service, customers need to remember just one name -- EnerCrest. There are no subcontractors, no costly general contractors, no engineering firms; EnerCrest has the talent and the resources to do it all.

EnerCrest has all the "yellow iron" needed to be a turnkey oil-field operation. From aggregate production to ready-mix to pipeline/station construction to environment restoration -- they do it all.

As Kent Field, EnerCrest equipment manager, chats about brands of equipment, he stresses the importance of uptime, reliability, operating efficiency, and dealer service. He notes a special relationship with Bill Tanner, EnerCrest's John Deere sales rep. "We're relying more on John Deere construction equipment. Plus our Deere dealer, Honnen Equipment, has a real 'can-do' attitude that sets it apart.

"Our location here is very remote. We're miles away from Honnen or any other manufacturer's dealership, but we get Deere parts overnight or sooner. And they also have a mobile technician and service truck right here in town. Different divisions of our company are in daily contact with Honnen, and no one here has anything but good things to say about the way we're treated," Field explains.

Todd Erickson has a philosophy on equipment acquisition that would make an accountant smile. He talks a lot about base-load utilization, cost of capital, and return on investment, and makes fact-based decisions by looking at how many hours he expects will be put on the equipment and what future jobs are in the pipeline. "If we know we'll put at least 2,000 hours a year on a machine, we'll probably buy it." He also has tough standards for dealers. "If I call them on Thursday and tell them I need a certain piece of equipment on Monday and they can't come through, they're probably not the dealer for us."

EnerCrest's Lead Estimator Brandon Stephens mentions another value added factor John Deere brings to the table. "Bill Tanner helps keep us up-to-date on new technology and is an advisor on fleet-utilization issues. Sometimes new equipment isn't the only solution. There may be new ways to do things with the equipment already in our spread. Or there may be more efficient ways to do a particular job with two smaller pieces of equipment.

An eye toward the future.
While EnerCrest implements its "integrated-solutions" philosophy to provide cost-efficient solutions to its customers, it also looks for new businesses where their philosophy can help customers grow successfully. "Right now we are looking at wind," says Erickson. "Wyoming has the steady winds that make electric generation efficient. It's going to take more infrastructure to get it to where the people are."

Here's hoping Enercrest and their fleet of John Deere equipment will be a part of that vision for growth.

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