Marspec Technical Products' Centennial Celebration

Marspec Technical Products celebrates its one hundredth year of operation in 2023. For the next eighteen months, Marspec will be sharing the story of our company and the people that helped it grow and prosper. We hope you enjoy these posts.

Today’s Marspec Technical Products can trace its roots to the founding of Marine Specialty Company by two business partners in 1923, Charles F. Schuerman and Fred G. Demouy saw an opportunity to provide supplies for the shipping industry in Mobile, Alabama. Both of the founders had experience in wholesale dry goods and hardware and they saw a need for a company that could supply the specialized materials needed both dock side and at the several shipyards in the area.

Mr. Schuerman was elected Marine Specialty Company’s president while Mr. Demouy was elected secretary-treasurer.

The company occupied the impressive building that once stood at the corner of Dauphin and Water Streets in downtown Mobile, near the water front and the port of Mobile, as well as the shipyards that lined the river. The RSA Office Tower now occupies the site.

Marine Specialty supplied diverse materials such as rope, paint, navigational charts, pipe fittings, sealing goods and much more. The young firm found success in the early days, gaining a reputation for service above all. However, storm clouds were gathering on the horizon.

?Through the 1920s, Marine Specialty continued to grow due in no small part to its reputation for service and large local inventory of goods used in the maritime industry. The company branched out to serve some of the smaller shipyards in south Mobile County and the Mississippi coast. Marine Specialty’s mule drawn dray wagons were a common sight at the GM&O railroad terminal delivering goods for rail shipment to customers beyond the local area.

The stock market crash of 1929 and the resulting worldwide depression affected the young company. The business owners kept as many of the loyal associates on the payroll as they could, but not everyone could be retained. The owners worked to help find employment for the affected associates at their customer’s businesses or at local competitors.

Marine Specialty’s doors remained open in part due to the owner's push into the industrial market, serving local sawmills, paper mills, power generating plants and turpentine processors. This new base of business brought an even more diverse product line that included specialized valves and steam handling specialties.

As the 1930s progressed, Marine Specialty grew but disaster loomed for the company.

On July 4, 1934 a fire broke out in the building on Dauphin Street that Marine Specialty occupied. The impressive old building was destroyed along with its contents. All that remained of the three story brick building was a pile of smoking rubble. This event tested the leadership of the company, but several temporary facilities were occupied to restart the business. The firm’s suppliers helped by expediting new inventory to the company’s shelves and the loyal customer base remained steadfast in their business relationships.

Marine Specialty continued to meet the needs of its customers in both the maritime/shipbuilding and industrial segments of the market. The company again expanded its product offerings and engaged in export sales to customers in Cuba and Central America, taking advantage of the frequent sailings of vessels from Mobile to Latin American and Caribbean ports.?

In 1936, the firm moved into a more spacious building located on Water Street in downtown Mobile. This three story building was filled with inventory and offices and would remain Marine Specialty’s home until 1964. Again, challenges lay ahead for the company – and the world as well.

The events of December 7, 1941 shook America to its core. The nation, now on a war footing called up its young men to defend their country. The average age of Marine Specialty’s workforce increased almost overnight since the young warehousemen, truck drivers and sales people were now in the military or working in critical industries. The company’s older associates stepped in to insure that customers were taken care of in the best possible way during the war years.

Marine Specialty’s management team was forced to work within the constraints of wartime rationing, but they were successful in meeting the increased demand for pipe, valves and fittings needed in the construction of Liberty ships in the local shipyards. Marine Specialty’s trucks shuttled between rail terminals, barge docks and freight yards moving goods to the places they were needed.

The company continued to supply equipment to industrial customers in south Alabama and forging new relationships with equipment manufacturers who needed representation of their products on the central Gulf Coast.

Marine Specialty weathered the war years and welcomed their heroes home. The future was bright and the company was poised for growth.

The late 1940s brought a change of management – and ownership – of the company. Charles F. Schuerman passed away suddenly in 1949 and his widow, Louise Schuerman, took over the operation of the company until a succession plan could be put in place. Under her stewardship, ownership of the company was opened up to its associates. A number of them chose to invest their confidence and their hard earned money into Marine Specialty Company. This would be the beginning of Marine Specialty’s current employee-owned era.

Fred G. Demouy was elected president of Marine Specialty Company in 1950 and he charted a course for growth in the industrial market while maintaining the relationships with the shipbuilding and maritime markets. He was also responsible for hiring associates with hands-on experience to help make Marine Specialty more helpful to the customer in applying the products that the business sold. Local expertise became part of Marine Specialty’s product policy – the company must supply reliable product knowledge to the end user to help them get the full value of the product they purchased.

The 1950s closed with an industrial construction boom on the gulf coast of chemical processing facilities, chlorine producers and pulp and paper mills. Marine Specialty supplied an ever-expanding list of specialized industrial products to these customers. Products for steam and condensate handling, valves for corrosives and specialized sealing products were but a few.

And in a few short years, the company would be on the move once again.

Fred Demouy retired in 1959 and the shareholders elected William Banks Christian president of the company. Banks Christian led the company through designing and building a new purpose-built facility to house Marine Specialty, as well as the move into the completed space.

In the 1960s, urban renewal was at its height and downtown Mobile, Alabama was in the crosshairs. The Water Street building that Marine Specialty occupied was slated for destruction to make way for a multi-lane highway. The hunt was on for a new home. And in 1964 the firm relocated to the intersection of South Royal and Texas Streets near the waterfront and the shipyards.

During this time, the company sought products to serve the fast-growing chemical and manufacturing market in the area. Marine Specialty brought new products such as plastic lined pipe and valves to the local market. Plastic lined pipe was an attractive alternative to exotic alloys, but it required much in the way of application assistance on the part of Marine Specialty’s sales staff. This service grew to include a dedicated pipe fabrication shop operated in the warehouse.

The ownership of the company could see that American flagged shipping was on the decline and most foreign vessels didn’t purchase much in the way US-specification materials. It was time for change.

Growth continued for Marine Specialty as the central Gulf Coast became the site of a number of new chemical processing facilities. The firm’s move into more specialized piping and flow control products served it well during this period of local industrial expansion.

Banks Christian, company president since 1959, perished in a house fire in 1976. The shareholders of Marine Specialty elected Andrew Diamond president of the firm. Mr. Diamond continued the policy of investing in product lines and services for industrial customers. Several new valve product lines were added along with specialized sealing products.

The company also saw a need for in-house expertise in their steam handling product lines, primarily in the correct application of steam traps and steam control valves. Several key associated were tapped to receive in-depth training in these products.

The plastic-lined piping product line continued to grow, supported by the newly-expanded in-house fabrication shops dedicated to producing custom length pipe spools on demand. The specialized equipment required was a major investment and Marine Specialty's customers benefited from it greatly.

As the 1970s came to a close, Marine Specialty was positioned even better to serve an ever-expanding customer base in Alabama, Mississippi and northwest Florida.

In 1979, company president Andrew Diamond suffered a debilitating stroke which forced him into retirement. The shareholders then elected long-time Marine Specialty associate Samuel E. Box as the company’s president. Mr. Box continued to follow the plans laid out by his predecessors which included a new emphasis on steam handling equipment and plastic lined piping products. The firm continued to provide commodity iron and steel piping products to their long standing customers.

Mr. Box appointed several people to key positions in the company and tasked them with focusing the company’s on new products and services aimed at forest products and chemical processing customers. Marine Specialty’s traditional base of business –shipbuilding and shipping – continued to shrink due to the decline of American flagged shipping and the rise of Asian shipbuilders. Items such as marine paints, bronze pipe and fittings and shaft packing played an ever-decreasing role in the company’s sales.

Marine Specialty’s sales force covered an expanding territory as well. Sales representatives began to push northward, away from the traditional Gulf Coast area and sought customers in the entire states of Mississippi and Alabama and as far as Jacksonville, Florida and Puerto Rico.

Having brought stability and focus to Marine Specialty at time when it was needed most, Mr. Box announced his retirement in 1983. Choosing from a highly qualified group of long term shareholders, the owners elected Thomas L. Kelly, III president of the company. Mr. Kelly expanded Marine Specialty’s presence in the chemical processing industry by bringing a number of specialized products lines and services.

In a break with the traditional leadership structure, the shareholders elected Samuel L. Box vice president and he was placed in charge of the operational side of the business while Mr. Kelly oversaw all sales aspects.

Under their watch, a valve automation shop was constructed along with a supporting machine shop to build actuator mounting kits. This was well before any kind of valve/actuator mounting interface standards existed and accurate machining and fabrication was the key to long service life of the components. The facility for producing plastic lined pipe spools was modernized with the addition of two new bridge cranes and additional pipe flaring machines.

Product specialists were appointed for automated valves/instrumentation, plastic lined piping, steam traps and sealing products. Additional product lines included fiberglass grating, plastic lined valves, thermal drain valves and more. And, in 2001, Marine Specialty Company purchased Steam Management Company of Birmingham, Alabama.

This purchase brought even greater emphasis on steam users and energy efficiency as a whole. The company entered into fabrication services, building pump skids, heat exchanger/control valve/steam trap packages and other custom products.

Disaster once again visited Marine Specialty Company in 2005, this time in the form of Hurricane Katrina. The Texas Street facility built nearly four feet above ground level was flooded. Water rose to three feet inside the structure, causing severe damage. Marine Specialty associates spent many days in clearing out damaged materials while working to meet customer’s needs at the same time.

Recovery was slow, but steady and the firm's loyal associates worked hard to help recover. Of course, the company's customers had urgent needs that were part their own recovery. Again, Marine Specialty rose to the occasion.

Marine Specialty continued to focus on products designed to bring more efficient use of energy to institutional and industrial customers. Equipment such as high efficiency natural gas boilers, condensing economizers and advanced cooling towers were added to the product mix. Specialists with in depth knowledge were recruited to work with energy users to help them apply this equipment effectively.

Plastic lined piping and associated products continued to play a large role in the firm’s product offering. Changes to the lined pipe spool shop enable the company to offer lined pipe spool pieces with lap joint rotating flanges in sizes 1” through 12”. A service up to that time provided only by the original manufacturer of the material.

By the end of the decade, the company determined that a move was in its best interest and a search began for a new home. The company’s ownership selected a site in Spanish Fort, Alabama – just across the bay from their roots in Mobile.

2009 was a watershed year for Marine Specialty Company. The firm’s new office and warehouse in Spanish Fort was completed in March of that year. And the company announced a corporate name change; Marine Specialty Company would operate as Marspec Technical Products, Inc – a nod to the changes in the target market. At this point in the company’s history, less than 2% of its business was maritime or shipbuilding customers and the former name didn’t clearly convey the market focus. The "Marspec" portmanteau was judged perfect for the firm's identity.

Marspec associates worked with energy users to help them find improved operating efficiencies through reduced steam consumption, waste heat recovery and high efficiency cooling towers. Additionally, Marspec made trained field service personnel available to help energy users find efficiency improvement opportunities within their operations.?These services included in-depth steam trap surveys, insulation effectiveness studies and boiler efficiency baseline studies. Institutional energy users such as hospitals, schools and commercial building operators took advantage and many of them saw significant energy use reductions.

Marspec continued to lead the local market with the assembly of automated valve packages and specially fabricated components not found in any catalog. And several expansion projects by a key national account meant that the Marspec lined pipe spool fabrication shop worked two shifts to produce the custom pipe spools needed for projects in Alabama, New York and Nevada.

The new Spanish Fort office was a hive of activity.

Company president Tom Kelly announced his retirement from Marspec in 2010. His business partner of many years, Sam Box, took over the role of company president and under his leadership, the firm continued its push into field services and energy efficiency products, while maintaining Marspec’s traditional products and shop services.

Capital equipment played a large role in Marspec’s business plan. Dozens of high efficiency steam boilers were delivered, set up and commissioned in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Texas and Nebraska. Cooling towers were also in the capital equipment mix with over 25 units being delivered and commissioned at colleges, hospitals and industrial users.

Marspec’s fabrication shops benefitted from several upgrades that included new welding equipment, lathes and pressure testing equipment. Associates with desired skills were brought on board and provided specialized training to provide a wider range of services from the fab shops.

As the 2000s wore on and the Great Recession continued to hit hard, Marspec’s policy of aggressive investment helped soften blow of the slowdown in some business sectors. The wide range of product offerings meant that the impact of one slow customer base didn’t affect the overall performance of the company in any significant manner. But if there was ever a constant theme for Marspec, it was one of change.?

The leadership of the company determined that the continued sale of boilers and boiler room equipment required further investment in personnel and equipment that would serve only that narrow part of the market. The decision was made that the sales of capital equipment would cease. Those product lines were taken on by an associate who left the firm to build his own future around them.

Marspec continued to offer field service for the specialized line of cooling towers that it was intimately familiar with and that portion of the business contributed much to the bottom line. Marspec crews were dispatched as far as Virginia, Missouri and New Mexico to perform specialized maintenance services that were frequently required.

Meanwhile Marspec continued to support its customers for steam cycle equipment, plastic lined piping systems and custom-built automated valves. The previous investment in the assembly shops paid off with reduced turnaround times and more efficient production. Additionally, the company continued to recruit talented personnel for sales positions that helped customers in Alabama, Mississippi and northwest Florida apply Marspec-supplied materials more effectively and correctly. As in the firm’s early days, the watchword remained, “service”. ??

Marspec’s management team saw an increasing need in the marketplace for knowledgeable sales representatives who would earn the customer’s trust through their superior product knowledge. Most plant personnel face an overwhelming workload and older, more experienced coworkers brought their careers to a close through retirement. There was a knowledge void that needed to be filled and Marspec moved to do so.

Product training for the sales staff was greatly increased and Marspec sought out partners that would provide greater field support. This effort was rewarded with stronger customer trust. It became a frequent occurrence when a Marspec customer would say, “I need your help to solve a problem.” In the company’s view, there is no higher compliment that can be paid to us.

Marspec continued to add product lines that supported its focus on steam and heat transfer products. Specialized control valves, heat exchangers and similar accessories became part of the firm’s product offering. The Marspec shop team became well-versed in the fabrication of secondary pressure-operated condensate return pump skids. Dozens have been shipped to steel mills, tire plants, auto parts manufacturers and institutional users over the years. Marspec can supply a completed skid in two to three weeks when competitors usually quote 12 to 14 weeks. The shop team also developed expertise in the rebuilding of steam conditioning valves used in the production of poultry feed. These large, specialized valves are critical in keeping the feed on specification and Marspec has earned a reputation for quick turnaround and quality work.?