|
Mesa: World Class American Manufacturer.
Mesa Industries was founded in 1967 by Ray Sexton, a petroleum
industry professional who had a vision of a multi-faceted
company that could fill a niche in the market. The
company was incorporated a year later in California comprised
of two operating divisions, Mesa Rubber Company and Gunite
Supply and Equipment Company. Mesa Industries was born. The
industries served by these two divisions have changed over the
years but the general makeup of the equipment and products has
largely remained the same. Mesa Rubber Company manufactures
products and environmental protection equipment for
aboveground storage tanks, such as the tanks found in
petroleum refineries and gasoline storage terminals. Gunite
Supply and Equipment serves specialty contractors who spray
concrete on a surface to build structures such as swimming
pools, tunnels, parks and zoos. This process is called gunite
or shotcrete. Mesa Rubber and Gunite, as these divisions are
often called, found a stable customer base beginning on the
west coast but eventually needed to extend their reach. In
the 1970's Mesa Industries opened a new sales office in
Houston, Texas. Here, the company could focus on the need for
its products at the many refiners located around the gulf
coast. Houston also proved to be a strategic location for the
gunite industry, given the amount of pool builders in the
surrounding areas. After expanding the market for Mesa's
products across the country and internationally, Ray Sexton
saw the need to control the equipment manufacturing source for
the machines it had been supplying to its gunite customers. 1n
1974, Mesa Industries acquired Airplaco Equipment Company, a
manufacturer of gunite, shotcrete and grout pumps originally
established in the 1940's. At about this time, Mesa Industries
opened its third location in Cincinnati, Ohio where Airplaco
production is centrally located.
The Mesa Rubber division branched off in the 1990's forming
what today is known as Mesa Laminated Fabrics (MLF). The MLF
division produces laminated materials for a variety of
applications, including environmental protection, medical,
military and other specialized industries. MLF remains at
the forefront of laminated fabric technology by continually
developing new features, such as vapor barriers, fire
resistance, U/V protection and incomparable abrasion
resistance.
Today Mesa continues to grow under the leadership
of a second generation. The markets that Mesa serves are always
expanding as the company takes advantage of the new
technologies available to a world class American manufacturer. |