“Safety has always been really important to us,” said Roy,
“but we doubled our efforts in recent years and hired a safety
consultant. We put our money where our mouth is.”
The safety consultant conducted an in-depth assessment
of ECA’s nine facilities. The results were turned into a com-prehensive
safety plan and a manual for all employees.
ECA’s investment in safety has not gone unnoticed. The
firm earned the coveted BAUER Manufacturing Regional
Service Center Certification Award in 2017. Among the cri-teria
considered in this rigid audit of its six service facilities
was updated safety equipment. In 2016, ECA Canada was rec-ognized
by ADSC-IAFD for achieving a zero-incidence rate in
the Less Than 50,000 Man Hours Worked category.
Evolving into a global drilling equipment leader
“What has helped the company over the last 100 years is our
ability to evolve,” said Roy.
ECA spent the first part of the century providing and
rebuilding World War I surplus equipment such as boilers,
steam locomotives, steam hammers, hoists and derricks. As
electric and diesel supplanted steam, ECA shifted its equip-ment
lines to stay current.
ECA earned a reputation for strategic expansion by
opening new locations in the Eastern U.S. and Canada and
partnering with leading manufacturers of foundation equip-ment
around the world. Its lineup reads like a who’s who in
global foundation equipment: BAUER Maschinen, KLEMM
Bohrtechnik, Gilbert Products, ALLU, BAUER-Pileco, Betek,
HPSI, Dawson, MAT, WORD International, Berminghammer
and Prakla.
COVER STORY
The firm has amassed nine locations including Pittsburgh,
Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., New York/New Jersey, Boston,
Mass., Greensboro, N.C., Milwaukee, Wis., Jacksonville, Fla.
and Toronto. This diversification has, in part, helped ECA to
thrive by allowing the shuttling of equipment between loca-tions
to meet changing regional market demands.
ECA expects all employees to stay on top of industry trends.
“One of the things we look for in our employees, especially
outside salespeople, is to keep a pulse on the industry and
keep management informed,” said Roy. “That’s actually writ-ten
into their job descriptions.”
ECA’s drilling equipment specialty was born under Al Kern.
“I give my dad credit for getting us involved in the drilling
industry in the 1980s before it was popular,” said Roy. “He got
a head start, especially with small-diameter drilling.”
Roy tapped then-vice president of sales and marketing,
Ben Dutton, prior to 2000 to discuss a deeper move into
the international drilling market and the two spearheaded
a strategy.
“The first thing was to change the vision and the second
thing was to really get out and build our identity in the new
industry we were going to develop,” said Dutton. “We then
filled it with key products and strong manufacturers.”
Roy then faced a trial by fire scenario after becoming CEO
in 2000. Air pile hammer demand in the Northeast U.S. dried
up unexpectedly and ECA was stuck with over 200 pieces
of obsolete rental equipment. The trend had shifted rapidly
toward diesel and hydraulic hammers and drilling. ECA took
a hit but managed to step up investment in drilling equip-ment
and sell off its air hammers over time.
A common theme
among the ECA team
is a recognition and
appreciation that the
foundation construction
business allows
them to be part of
something bigger.
PILING CANADA 45