Diocese awarded $20M bond deal
November 28, 2006Thibodaux toy drive kicks into high gear
December 1, 2006
After receiving a degree in engineering from Tulane University in 1913, T. Baker Smith, Sr., moved back to Houma and founded an engineering and surveying firm that would become more than just a form of income; it would become a family tradition.
When Smith started T. Baker Smith, C.E., Terrebonne Parish was a web of shelled roads, the Mississippi River and Bayou Lafourche still swelled their banks during spring flooding, and the oil and gas industry was just getting a solid start.
Under T. Baker Smith’s leadership, the firm developed much of the early infrastructure in the tri-parish region, including bridges, utilities, and drainage project. Smith also oversaw the development of the first paved road in Terrebonne Parish and the drilling of the first oil well in Terrebonne Parish.
During the early years, the company faced many challenges that caused the demise of thousands of businesses across the nation. Through both World Wars, the crash of the stock market in 1929 and the Great Depression in the early 1930s, T. Baker Smith remained intact and in full operation.
In 1958, a new generation joined the company. When William Clifford Smith graduated from Louisiana State University that year, he too moved back to Houma and began playing an active role in his father’s business. When T. Baker Smith died in 1962, Clifford took over the reins of the company and began growing it, adding employees and services.
Business Development and Marketing Director, Patricia Rochford said, “Clifford has always been passionate about the improvement of his community, Terrebonne parish, including flood protection, improved levees and pumping stations. He is also very much aware of coastal erosion and the importance of restoration projects that have the goal of saving the fragile ecosystem of the area.”
According to Rochford, building the infrastructure, which would help the community thrive was the one of the areas Clifford Smith wanted to concentrate on n and that’s exactly what he did. Clifford Smith created an environmental services division, worked on municipal projects, and became a leader in flood protection issues such as floodgates, pump stations, levees and coastal protection.
Under Clifford Smith’s reign as president and C.E.O. of TBS, numerous pipeline surveys were conducted and a parishwide sewer program was developed. He also developed the master plan for the Houma-Terrebonne Airport and was involved in expansion projects at the Port of Terrebonne.
In 1986, Kenneth William Smith graduated from Louisiana Tech University. He had grown up working at the firm during summers and after school, and upon college graduation, he officially joined the succession in the family-based business. Kenneth Smith worked hand-in-hand with his father. In 2001, Kenneth Smith took over as president and C.E.O. of TBS. Clifford Smith remains a part of the business, participating in those areas in which he has always been passionate.
Kenneth Smith stresses the development of corporate culture. He’s expanded the technology of the firm by adding state-of-the-art hydrographic surveying capabilities, electronic data collection and information systems integration as well as records and information management, Rochford said. Each generation brings its own unique talents and the company profile expands to meet changing.
“T. Baker Smith provides totally integrated professional consulting services.” Rochford said. “We have a really broad client market that spans from local developers to oil and gas exploration companies to municipalities to the state and federal government.”
Rochford said that TBS “runs the gamut” as far as services are concerned. We help our clients plan, design, build, and operate their projects. Today the firm has 200 professionals and support staff in 5 offices and we serve clients throughout the south, providing environmental, onshore surveying, nearshore and offshore surveying, engineering design, construction and project management services, and mapping services. Our survey clients include oil and gas exploration companies, pipeline operators, industrial companies, and land developers as well as the more traditional markets.
TBS has developed a really solid client base in the oil and gas industry, Rochford said. “We do a lot of hydrographic surveying and have added marine positioning of platforms. We have single and multi-beam sonar capabilities where we can locate pipelines in great depths of water,” Rochford added. “The survey side of our company offers some highly specialized expertise.”
Throughout the company’s existence, TBS has tried to stay on top of all of the latest technology. Rochford said, “We have the best of both worlds n knowledge of the past, plus an aggressive mentality that keeps us moving into the future.”
TBS has several offices located throughout the region, including one office in Texas. Currently the company is working on several major projects in the region such as, the Morganza-to-the-Gulf hurricane protection system, barrier island and wetland restoration, and being a part of the rebuilding efforts after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. TBS is working closely with pipeline operators, oil and gas explorers, local and state government, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
“I think one of the reasons we are so successful is because of the way we work together with our clients,” Rochford said. “We structure each project so that the client has a specialized team working to address the unique project issues.”
This way of doing business has created a wide-base clientele for the company. Rochford said that clients’ expectations are defined and the company’s goal is to exceed them. Hopefully they walk away feeling the value they received far exceeds the price paid, and they tell their co-workers and colleagues again and again and think of TBS when they are in need of services. These clients are what Kenneth Smith has termed “raving fan clients,” and they are what TBS strives to create.
“I think that the fact that the company has been around for 93 years says a lot about the way we do business,” Rochford said. “And we intend to keep doing business the same way, making improvements, and being around for another 93 years.”
