Allison Marine poised to continue growth during industry slowdown

As it enters its 20th year in business, Allison Marine Contractors has advanced from scrapping oil field parts to being a turnkey solution for the purchase and continued maintenance of used platforms and decks.
Heading into 2015, Amelia facility Vice President Marc Distefano said the company is poised for another good year, even as the industry as a whole is predicted to experience a slowdown.
Allison plans to grow its employment by at least 20 percent in preparation for its expected growth.
“We have at least three more projects that we weren’t expecting starting in January, and we will be aggressively seeking quality personnel to fit these demands. We will be hiring more welders and fitters in the near future,” Distefano said.
Because of the growth into other markets such as subsea modules, deepwater support and national infrastructure-related projects, Allison is making some capital improvements to its facilities.
Almost 20 years ago, the company’s operations were limited to nine acres and two slips for repairs and construction. The footprint has evolved to over 63 acres of property in Amelia as well as another fabrication facility in Scott.
“We demolished one of the older office buildings at one of the sites to make room for future projects. … Other capital projects include improvements to our buildings for better operational efficiencies and improved safety,” Distefano said.
Allison had zero recordable accidents in 23 months between all divisions, and “we will continue to sustain this remarkable statistic through continued vigilance and attention to detail,” Distefano said.
The company evolved over the years into an integration of multiple divisions that provide larger and more technical project services for the oil and gas industry.
Allison has provided multi-million dollar projects domestically and internationally for years including decommissioning, fabrication, installations, hook ups and on-going facility maintenance, and the company has the largest inventory of used platforms and decks in the Gulf of Mexico, Distefano said.
“This inventory provides Allison with the advantage of providing faster and more cost effective solutions to customers,” Distefano said.
With a customer’s design for a production platform, Allison can match an existing platform, deck and/or living quarters. They then modify or refurbish it into a virtually new asset. Additionally, Allison has the capabilities of load out, shipment, install, hook up, and continued maintenance for that customer.
The year 2014 was better than expected for Allison, Distefano said. It was due to a re-organization orchestrated by the leadership in June and a focus on being “Spartan” in reducing costs, improving efficiencies and diversifying the product lines, he added.
The company currently is deploying a “facelift” to highlight the message of growth, diversity, professionalism and quality management. A new logo will be visible around the facility as well as externally.
Distefano said the company’s new logo will be “quality projects on-time, every time,” as a way to illustrate three cornerstones of Allison’s Project Management: quality, schedule and cost control, and reliability.
Allison has offices in Amelia, Scott, Lake Charles, and Houston.