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CONSTRUCTION NEWS The Industry’s Newspaper
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www.constructionnews.net H (210) 308-5800 H Volume 24 H Number 10 H OCTOBER 2021
50 years, a new start
From the pad out
As the Lynch family awaits for signage to be hung at their new location, L-R: John Lynch, Sharon Lynch, Eddie Lynch and Mike Lynch pose for a photo with the new sign.
L-R: Kirsten, Jeff, Tom, Barbara, Cody and Brooke Smith
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fter Hurricane Celia made landfall near Corpus Christi in 1970, Johnny Christa, a glazier by trade, loaded his truck with glass and headed for the coast. He stayed there for a month, helping the community rebuild. His efforts earned him the money needed to start a company of his own. In 1971, Eddie Lynch’s father-in-law, Johnny Christa, and his good buddy and partner, Sonny Bethke, started Johnny & Sonny’s Glass Company. Soon after the company was up and running, Sonny passed away. Johnny bought out Sonny’s share of the company from Sonny’s wife and ran the company until his passing in 1985. Johnny’s wife, Patsy Christa, would go on to run the company until 2000 at which time,
Patsy offered the business to hers and Johnny’s son-in-law, Eddie Lynch. At that time, Johnny’s brother, Durwood, and he were the only employees doing work for new track home construction. That is, before double pane windows came out. “We ended up splitting the company,” says Eddie. “He went on to continue the new construction side of the business and I focused on repairs and service.” Eddie’s sons, John and Mike, joined his father as the third generation. With two generations working together, the company was making a name for itself and growing at a nice pace. That is until tragedy hit in 2011. In 2011, just as the company was putcontinued on Page 18
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hen Tom Smith was in high school, he followed an upper classman into the construction industry and never looked back. In 1994, after working in construction doing utilities and site work, Smith came home from work one day and told his wife, Barbara Smith, “I quit my job today. I’m going to start my own company.” The next day, he called a couple of utilities contractors he knew. He informed them that he struck out on his own and asked if they had any work they could send his way. They did, and with a $100 dollars in his pocket, a half-ton pick-up truck and a couple of shovels, RTM Construction Co. Ltd. was on its way. “I was tired of making money for everybody else. We lived off of my wife’s
paycheck and what little money I could make. It was a struggle for about the first 10 years,” says Tom. RTM started out with Tom and two employees. “I had them for a couple of years and then we started growing,” adds Tom. “We had a full crew of about eight guys for about five years. It just seemed like every five years we would build to the next level adding a new crew.” Tom bought his first big piece of equipment in 1996, a 1983 Exteneherd Case backhoe. “I paid $37,000 for that $15,000 backhoe because it was a good time,” Tom recalls. “Things were blowing and going and cheap backhoes were hard to find. I stayed in that for three continued on Page 18
Five generations later
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n 1886, James A. Travis, started painting railroad bridges and train depots. One hundred thirty-five years later, fifth generation Carlton Catalani carries on his great-great-grandfather’s work as the president and leader of Travis Industries. A far cry from painting railroad bridges and depots, today Travis Industries is a diversified industrial services contracting business specializing in what Catalani refers to as the “soft crafts” of industry. “We provide niche services including sandblasting, painting, scaffolding, industrial insulation, fireproofing and other industrial types of service lines. Most of our customer base is very much industrial in nature. Everything we are working on and in is steel and concrete type structures in industrial process facilities. We work in power generation, oil and gas, petro-chemical, food and beverage, water and wastewater, cement and
aggregate, and metals and mining facilities.“ Headquartered in San Antonio, Travis Industries additionally has branch locations in both the DFW Metroplex and Midland, TX, giving them a strong presence in North Texas and the Permian Basin. Locally, in San Antonio, Travis Industries is running about 140 people servicing the greater San Antonio and surrounding area with all of their crafts including industrial painting, coatings, insulation and scaffolding. Up in the other markets, they are running more modest groups. “We have customers all over the state and into adjoining states,” Catalani says. “We are excited to have been a part of the history of San Antonio and the surrounding construction community. We have been in it for many years and we look forward to being in it many more. Carlton Catalani, president and leader of Travis Industries
continued on Page 18