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Associated Pump & Supply—the locally-and-family-owned business established in 1980—continues to serve communities in south Louisiana, Mississippi and south Texas through the company’s dedication, innovation and hard work in local flood protection and drainage.
From its humble beginnings of founder Louis “Booga” Klingman traveling throughout the state to sell pumps from catalogues. Associated Pump’s president Paul Klingman (Booga’s son) and employees continue the extreme work ethic and limitless, high-quality customer service instilled by Booga.
“He [Booga] was a great salesman. He started the company back in the eighties, when there was nothing on a computer to show people. He did it strictly on his knowledge and catalog,” said Paul Klingman. “I think our customer service—our ability to get up, no matter what time of day or night, and go take care of the biggest problems or the smallest problems—is the key to our longevity.”
Having a wide variety of pump services that includes the selling and renting of superior equipment, 24-hour service and repairs and maintenance have kept local parishes, counties and municipalities coming back to Associated Pump for their drainage and flood protection needs.
Paul attributes the company’s recent increase in work with the local government to the area’s 2018 economic upswing.
“We started to see [in 2018] the beginning, hopefully, of the end of that two to three year kind of rut in the oil field industry that we were experiencing before. A lot of people in our local areas were going back to work,” he said. “With that being said, the tax base rose. So, we started to see lot more work being done municipal-wise in 2018.”
Now, the business is carrying that positive momentum it gained the previous year, as it expands not only its presence but also its technology to cater to its customers.
For instance, to meet Terrebonne Parish’s efficient yet cost-effective requests, Associated Pump introduced to them a dual hydraulic-driven pump with an electrical motor and diesel engine.
“It’s really nice to see that the parish is open to considering and trying the new technology out there because a lot of things have improved in flood protection, pumps, pump-related equipment and pump station-related equipment in the last 10 years,” Paul said.
In addition to investing in the newest proven technologies, the company also refurbishes and upgrades older equipment, giving them new service life.
“Part of our business is not just to sell and take care of equipment, but to try and educate. There’s a lot involved with planning out a particular station or a situation where you’re going to put pumps or equipment,” Paul said. “We really do our best to educate them so they can make an informed and right decision.” •
