Lauren Engineers & Constructors

Lauren Engineers & Constructors

Type	Private
Industry	EPC Construction, Heavy Construction in Power, Chemicals, Polymers, and Refining
Founded	Atlanta, Georgia (1984)
Headquarters	Abilene, Texas
Key people	C. Cleve Whitener III, President and CEO
Products	EPC contracting
Number of employees	1,500
Website	www.laurenec.com

Lauren Engineers & Constructors is a North American Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contractor based in Abilene, Texas. The company specializes in industrial and heavy construction projects in the power, polymers, chemicals, refining, and specialty metals markets in the U.S. and Canada. Lauren also has a strong focus and expertise in the renewable green energy industry and was the EPC contractor for both Nevada Solar One and Florida Power & Light’s 75 MW Martin Next Generation Solar Energy Center. The company is an Engineering News-Record Top 100 Design-Build Firm in the U.S.^[1] and a Top 400 Contractor.^[2]

Lauren’s corporate office and headquarters is in Abilene, Texas. The company has regional offices in Irving, Texas; Houston, Texas; Atlanta, Georgia; Knoxville, Tennessee; and Canadian subsidiary offices in Calgary, Vancouver, and Montreal. Fabrication operations are located in Abilene, Texas and Tulsa, Oklahoma. Lauren is licensed as a contractor in 39 states. The corporate motto is “Designing & Building Success.” ^[3]

History

Founded in Atlanta, Georgia in 1984, Lauren Engineers & Constructors started as a small specialty non-union contractor and subsidiary of Comstock Mechanical. In the 25-years since its founding, the company has become independent and privately owned while growing into a fully integrated provider of professional engineering and construction services. The company’s development has occurred through both internal growth and corporate acquisitions, including companies such as Brock and Blevins (Chattanooga, TN), Commercial Welding Company (South Portland, ME), PCI Engineering (Houston, TX), Kamtech and Kamtech Services, and Tippett & Gee (Abilene, TX).^[4]

In 1994, Lauren relocated its headquarters from Atlanta, Georgia to Abilene, Texas, taking up residence in the historic Park Office Building built in 1922. Three years later, the company’s fabrication shop was started in Abilene. The company utilizes the fabrication shop to support Lauren’s EPC projects as well as performing third party work. In 2007, Lauren doubled the size of the company’s headquarters by adding on to the existing building, matching the vintage exterior Neoclassical brick décor.

Alternative Energy

Lauren was the EPC contractor on the 64 MW Nevada Solar One parabolic trough project near Las Vegas, Nevada which was completed in 2007 after just 16 months of construction.^[5] This was the first utility scale CSP project to be completed in the U.S. in 16 years. Lauren was the EPC contractor on the 75 MW Martin Next Generation Solar Energy Center for Florida Power & Light. This project is also using parabolic trough technology and became operational at the end of 2010.^[6]

Fabrication

Lauren's fabrication operations specialize in building custom process equipment skids, pipe rack modules, and prefabrication of pipe and vessels for the heavy industrial construction industry, serving both internal and external clients. The original fabrication office and manufacturing facility is located on 40 acres at 550 South 18th Street in Abilene, Texas. In 2015 Lauren expanded its fabrication capabilities with acquisition of a 126,000 square foot pipe and vessel welding facility at the Port of Catoosa in Tulsa, Oklahoma with access to the US Inland Waterway.

References

External links

• Company website
• Abilene firm at forefront of alternative energy, Abilene Reporter News, January 9, 2009