ECHO GROUP ACHIEVEMENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2026
VOL. 1, NO. 1
After Fifty Years
After fifty years, I have decided to write a company Newsletter.
This newsletter will provide a few highlights and updates for the first six months of 2026 for the ECHO Group of companies.
First, we celebrated our 50-year Company Anniversary in February at the Beaumont Civic Center with over seven hundred attendees. It was a wonderful celebration to honor my parents, our co-workers, and to highlight our company accomplishments.
Staying as Busy as Ever
The first half of 2026 has been busy for all companies, and as a group, we worked over two million man-hours.
ECHO Maintenance
ISTC/GTBR has announced that ECHO is a finalist for the Don Boumans Safety Award, the premier safety award for contractors in Southeast Texas. The awards are presented at the August banquet.
We have secured maintenance contracts with Methanex, Woodside Blue Ammonia, and Intercontinental Terminals Company (ITC), which will benefit the entire ECHO Group.
Valero selected ECHO to revamp and rebuild Units 241, 242, and 243 at its PAR facility. This schedule-driven project will operate two shifts for most of 2026.
February marked ECHO’s 15th anniversary of holding the maintenance contract at Motiva, and it remains an honor to work at the largest refinery in North America. We also have several turnarounds planned at the site for 2027.
We are nearing completion of the Firewater and Deluge project at TOTAL and were recently awarded the 450 Boiler project, which will keep our TOTAL team busy throughout the remainder of 2026.
ExxonMobil selected ECHO to execute their Alky Unit turnaround Q1 2027 and their Chemical Plant turnaround Q2 2027.
ECHO continues to receive many maintenance, capital, and turnaround opportunities and is presently working in over twenty plants.
Our NCCCO rigging trainers TJ Prewitt and Edward “Corky” Ewing continue to receive accolades for our program. They were presented with the Gold Award at CONEXPO in Las Vegas this year.
Gulf Coast Structural Steel
GCSS is immensely proud to hold an AISC Certification that we obtained in 2025.
We shipped a record amount of structural tonnage in the first six months of 2026 and have considerable backlog for the balance of the year.
Gulf Coast Exchanger
We remain an industry leader in design-build heat exchangers and currently serve more than fifty customers.
New Mighty Viper CNC Drill and Machine Shop Expansion has increased production.
Gulf Coast Fabricators
After more than 30 years as vice president of GCF, Louis Falgout is retiring. Louis has been with GCF since its inception, and he has been invaluable to the company’s success. I can’t thank him enough for his friendship and his commitment.
Chris Caffey is replacing Louis, and we are confident that this will be a positive, seamless transition.
We will soon be breaking ground on the new 8,400 square-foot Pipe Cutting Facility
GCF is approximately 70% complete on the eight thousand spool MPLX Marathon Oil Project for Burns & McDonnell.
Blind Specialist
As one of the leading suppliers of industrial blinds in the LNG market, our large-diameter, high-pressure inventory is unprecedented.
Admiral Field Services
Recently welcomed Alicia Lott as their new Safety & Training Director. Ms. Lott previously owned Saftex, and we are excited to have her on our team.
The new AFS pipe fabrication facility was created to assist GCF and to support our Welding Division.
Industrial Specialty Crafts (ISC)
ISC has had an impeccable safety record as you can see below:
• 71 months with a Recordable Injury and our TRIR is 0.00
• GTBR Don Boumans Award Finalist in 2023 & 2025
• Zero LTA since 2008
Debris Removal Solutions
Our air-operated excavation trucks offer an alternative to hydro excavation trucks.
Equipment Updates
We are installing a GPS system called SAMSARA in all trucks and equipment. These units will provide maintenance information to enhance the life of our equipment and will eventually be mandated by our insurance provider.
Work Forecast
All companies have significant backlogs and should be busy for the balance of 2026 and into the first half of 2027.
Closing Thoughts
I appreciate each of you for your commitment to safety and your dedication to the ECHO Group and our industry.
Mike Roebuck