Transportation Bill

Contract Fabricators takes on big jobs

A custom fabricating company that makes equipment for heavy industry worldwide is home grown right here in Holly Springs. Contract Fabricators Inc. (CFI) was established in Holly Springs in 1983 by co-owners Boyce Delashmit and Mike Clarkson who have a “fierce devotion to good workmanship.”

Delashmit said Contract Fabricators’ commitment to good workmanship has been recognized throughout the industry.
“ We owe our success to several things, but most notable is our employees,” he said. “Most of them are local people with outstanding mechanical ability and work ethic.

“ Also, the Bank of Holly Springs has worked with us since our first year in business. Sometimes they have had more confidence in us than we had in ourselves.”

CFI serves several different industries such as petroleum, petrochemical, chemical, pulp and paper, power and meat rendering. The company has fabricated and shipped jobs all over the world to places like Australia, China, Japan, Malaysia, Qutar, Trinidad and others.

“ Currently, most of our work is for oil refineries like Chevron/Texaco, Citgo, Valero Premcore, Conoco/Phillips and Shell Oil,” Delashmit said. “We have approximately $10.5 million worth of work on hand just with the oil refineries.”
CFI recently was awarded a contract to make components for the reactor and generator to be built at Chevron Global Refining’s Pascagoula Refinery which is adding a fluid catalytic cracking unit (see press release). The construction of the FCCU brings millions of construction dollars to Mississippi, and CFI gets to share in that.

CFI employs from 70 to 96 people with various skills including mechanical engineers, fitters, welders and machine operators.

Delashmit has 46 years experience in the business. He was born in Tipton County, Tenn. located just north of Memphis. Clarkson brings 22 years experience to the table. He was born in Stuttgart, Arkansas and grew up in Forrest City.

Delashmit said many of the products his company fabricates are so large they are made in sections, transported to the site and assembled by a CFI field crew.

In the petroleum cracking process chemical catalysts are mixed with fluids to increase the rate of chemical reactions. The catalyst is recovered using cyclones in reactor and regenerator vessels.

The process takes place in very large chemical reactors and regenerator vessels under controlled temperature and pressure. Delashmit said just the catalyst alone that is needed to charge one chemical reactor can cost $1 million. Once charged with catalyst, the cracking of petroleum can go on for a long time without recharging.
The catalyst, however, is not used up in the cracking process and is recovered and reused.

CFI was awarded the contract to build the reactor and regenerator cyclones for the Pascagoula refinery.

CFI builds storage tanks, shell and tube heat exchangers, pressure vessels, columns, cyclones, fabricated piping duct work, refractory lining and bulk solids handling equipment for the chemical, petro-chemical, agri-chemical, power, processing, rendering, refinery, paper, pharmaceutical, food and gas industries.