California Boiler

and technicians. And we have five guys, in-house, that are certified as trainers. We train from within, plus we send our workers to factory schools around the U.S. and even to England for training on equipment.” They also bring interns in from colleges across the country; including students in a four-year degree program learning boilers, and co-gens, and power. Last year, the firm had five summer interns. This year, they have one graduate becoming permanent, and five more junior interns. Clarkson admits, “I will say we’ve grown well because of California emission rules. Since the ‘90s, every couple years, the rules require less and less emissions. We’re to the point where we’re lower than the EPA can even think about. So, our industry has been driven by regulatory issues, and if you’re not on the cutting edge of that, you don’t survive. We’ve been on the cutting edge for 25 years. There are a lot of innovations and new technology coming down the pipe because of the emissions rules and the green policies throughout the country. California has the lowest emission requirements, by far.” While California Boiler represents Power Flame in northern Nevada, currently the company only does physical work in the state of California. Three years ago, it started a division called International Combustion & Controls (ICC). The team is comprised of expert techs who have been in the industry a long time, and do the work for the bigger power plants. ICC has seven employees stationed in Florida, Pennsylvania, and Arkansas, who do start-ups and training in the rest of the country, but not installs or repairs. California Boiler is also an ASME National Board Code facility, employing certified welders. According to Clarkson, “We have 48 rental units, too; from small up to 300 hp trailers. Plus we’re a big factory rep for Hurst (our main line), Power Flame, Victory, and Unilux. We get along as a partner with other companies in the industry, as best we can, and most of us belong to ABMA (American Boiler Manufacturer Association). There’s a lot of synergy and enough work for everyone.” There’s also a lot of competition. As the second largest boiler company in California. From a marketing standard, the company does a lot of