Larry Purlee says this group of companies has an uncommon ability to provide clients with a variety of solutions to meet their diverse needs .

In the public utility construction industry, it’s rare to find a company that can do it all, and Reynolds, Inc. is one of those rarities. Started in the 1930s and formally incorporated in 1965, the company constructs underground systems for potable water, wastewater, and stormwater, and it’s no stranger to wastewater treatment plant construction.

Because of its unique business structure in which four companies work closely with each other, as well as with parent company, Reynolds, Inc., it can provide customers with single-source accountability, “a defining feature no one else can offer,” said Larry Purlee, executive vice president of Reynolds Inliner, the rehabilitation arm of Reynolds, Inc.

Under the Reynolds Inliner rehabilitation arm are Inliner Technologies, which owns, licenses and develops the Inliner cured-in-place-pipe (CIPP) trenchless renewal process, and Liner Products, a manufacturer of cured-in-place-pipe lining tubes. About a year and a half ago, all four companies were purchased by Layne Christensen, a world leader in drilling technologies that locate and bring water, minerals, and energy resources to the Earth’s surface.

Larry Purlee

“We market ourselves as a full-service rehabilitation company. We have the capability to offer the right solution to meet a variety of client needs,” said Purlee. “Because we have access to incredible expertise within the Reynolds group, there is nothing in the excavating and building world we can’t handle inhouse.”

Providing one-source solutions to clients, mainly municipalities, is made easier by all four Reynolds companies being located within a few miles of each other in southern Indiana, with Reynolds, Inc. and Reynolds Inliner existing in the same facility. “If I want to talk to the president of Reynolds, Inc. or a board member of Layne Christensen, I just have to walk down the hall. Having a close-knit infrastructure helps us do the unique projects we are known for,” said Purlee.

Opening doors
The purchase by Layne Christensen has made privately owned Reynolds, Inc. into a public company. But as far as everyday operations go, not much has changed. “They left us to do what we do best,” said Purlee. The acquisition has, however, given the company access to capital, enabling it to venture to places it could not go before. The company is currently looking for opportunities in the West to help it achieve a coast-to-coast footprint.

The acquisition by Layne Christensen also allowed the Reynolds Inliner group to expand by purchasing another rehabilitation group of similar size. “As a family-held private company, we probably wouldn’t have been able to do that,” Purlee said.

The purchase of the new group has doubled the size of Reynolds Inliner and opened the door for the company to enter markets in the Northeast. It also enabled the company to procure more business in Florida than it had previously. “We entered some new markets, but mainly, the acquisition allowed us to provide the territories we already served with a lot better coverage,” said Purlee.

“The goals are a little different in the public world as far as growth and risk taking. You can be a little more adventurous than a private firm might choose to be,” he continued.

Continuous improvement
Reynolds was the first licensee of the Inliner technology in the US in 1992. Today, as the owner and operator of Inliner Technologies, Reynolds Inliner works with resin and catalyst specialists, equipment manufacturers, and a network of licensees to improve its line of CIPP products.

The company recently received a patent for its steam curing process. Purlee explained that pipes undergoing rehabilitation are lined with a felt tube impregnated with resins. Once in place, the resins are cured using either steam or hot water. By using steam rather than hot water, Reynolds Inliner has reduced the curing process, creating more efficient days for field crews. But steam curing isn’t the answer for all projects—some instances call for traditional or alternative curing methods such as ultraviolet light. Currently, the company cures its CIPP using steam approximately 25% of the time and is slowly working its way up to 50%.

In conjunction with Inliner Technologies and Liner Products, Reynolds Inliner is constantly improving its process. “We have a constant R&D effort going on here. The focus may change, but the goal is to manufacture a better quality product we can cure more quickly and take into new markets,” said Purlee.

Reynolds Inliner is investigating new resin technology that may have a place in the potable water market and looking at alternative ways to rehabilitate larger diameter pipes. Reynolds Inliner recognizes that although CIPP is a viable alternative in most gravity and low-pressure piping applications, an alternate technology might provide a better solution in areas such as those with higher pressures and larger diameters and is working toward those solutions.

“Resins are the key components of our product line. We are constantly looking at different ways to catalyze and cure the resins, as well as investigating a variety of additives that could potentially enhance the CIPP’s properties and allow for thinner laminates to be installed without compromising the quality of our Inliner product,” said Purlee.

Movin’ on up
Strategic acquisitions and technology advancements aside, Purlee credits the company’s success to its people. Reynolds fights a lot of turnover, as do many companies in the traveling construction industry, but several key players have moved up the ranks.

“The traveling construction business, I believe, is a young man’s game. At some point, employees get tired of being away from their families and move on, but we have a pretty loyal workforce,” he said, citing flexible work schedules, adequate travel expense coverage, and a bonus program based on the company’s profitability as only a few of the reasons people choose to stay with Reynolds. In addition, Reynolds offers its employees endless career opportunities.

“Reynolds Inliner has never laid off a person for lack of work since we started,” said Purlee, who started with the company in 1970 as a field foreman and worked his way up to executive vice president. According to Denise McClanahan, director of engineering at Reynolds Inliner, several members of the management team have taken a similar path. “They started off in the field, moved up to superintendent, and many have made it into the office. Because of that experience, they are better, more respected leaders.”