Jack Maillis, A1 Industrial Painting, Inc.

How would you describe your company?

A1 Industrial Painting began in 2010, and we provide start-to-finish coating solutions for a wide range of projects, such as oil and gas sites, water tanks, waste water treatment plants and large industrial facilities. We have 45 full-time IUPAT painters, including 14 NACE supervisors. At our peak, we have as many as 70 workers.

What do you attribute your success to?

A company is only as good as its workforce. Because of ours, and its IUPAT training, we have a reputation for handling any project without causing headaches. That’s why we have so many repeat customers, and they often request foremen they’ve worked with before.

How has IUPAT benefitted you?

My dad was an IUPAT painter, and it’s how I started out. I received my NACE certifications at the local FTI, and that’s where I send my team. NACE has been a driving force behind our growth, since many projects are increasingly writing it into their specifications. And when I need to bring on additional industrial painters for a project, IUPAT is where I turn because I know their members have the skills it takes to get the job done right.

What are your company’s proudest achievements?

The projects others said couldn’t be done. Seven contractors turned down a GE locomotive plant that needed its ceiling pressure washed without damaging the multi-million-dollar machines directly below with the runoff.  Devising special covers to protect each machine, we successfully completed the project, resolving a serious safety issue.

For Vallourec, we painted and color coded 30,000 linear feet of a highly complex pipe system, including racks and supports, in half the normal time. And at Elwood Engineered Casting’s 1923 building,before we could start painting, we had to clean almost a century of filth that included beams topped by six-inch mounds of soot.

We’re also especially proud of an environmental equipment containment system we patented. Called Quicky Containment Systems, it makes it possible to paint pipes and other structures in snow and other adverse weather.

What are your guiding principles?

Do it right the first time. Giveevery job the highest dedication and quality. Always work as hard as possible.  And treat your workforce the way you want to be treated.

Where are your future opportunities?

The private sector, because they recognize how important quality is.

What’s your biggest challenge?

Dealing with non-union contractors who undercut our bids. This is especially problematic in the public sector, where cost is often an overriding factor in the decision process.

Anything else?

I’ll be an IUPAT member until the day I die.