"We have grown the business in the last five years, even though there is not a lot of industry left in the Oakland-San Leandro area," says George Noland, regional manager of Crane Valve. "San Leandro has been god to us, but we needed to improve our geographic position in northern California."

In the past, fast response time has been a sticky issue for Crane Valve because of its location. "Most of our customer base requires timely response in addition to high-quality work," explains Mr. Noland. "We need to be in a position where we can react quickly to their needs.

"Once we are properly positioned geographically, we will grow," he adds. "It’s not unrealistic to project doubling our business over the next three to four years."

Not just anywhere

Crane Valve’s extensive machinery electrical requirements meant the company couldn’t locate in just any warehouse-type property.

"Benicia is a community of companies that support industrial facilities, refineries, power plants, and chemical plants," says Mr. Noland. "It has the best properties and facilities for our needs. Any other place would have required extensive upgrading, but Benicia is accustomed to serving the types of business we are associated with.

"We are part of a $2 billion corporation, which means we are tasked at doing things correctly," he adds. "Because we are a very stable company with a good strong corporate profile, we can afford to do things correctly, invest in the right equipment - the whole nine yards. We believe in the high-quality offering of our product."

While the Teale Court property has less yard area than the San Leandro property, Mr. Noland expects its larger shop space will allow the company to operate more efficiently.

Repairing valves in place

Crane Valve services high-pressure valves, safety-release valves, rotating equipment, and pumps in its shop and in the field. Servicing Pacific Valve products and those of several other manufacturers, the company is certified by the National Board of Boiler Inspectors to work on safety-release valves.

"We have mobile trailers equipped as machine shops on wheels that allow us to repair valves in place," explains Mr. Noland. "We also have a network of distributorships and service centers, so we can bring in other valve experts from these centers if the job requires additional help."

Though the Benicia facility is expected to employ a dozen people, Mr. Noland says the company has employed as many as 80 people through its network of technicians in response to major turnaround activity.

For more information, call 800-431-1611.