MEMBER PROFILE – ASSOCIATE
“The most valuable asset that we have is
our employees. We treat them like family.
We consider them family. Because without
them, none of this would be possible.”
Steve Owen, DeSoto Treated Materials Inc.
STRONG
derful people here who work with us. None
of this is possible because of three or four
people. It’s a real team effort.”
Giving the people what they want
That same team effort has significantly
contributed to the growth and prosperity
of DeSoto Treated Materials. But
maintaining second-to-none service for
each and every client is their true motto,
the driving force behind why and how
they do what they do. While DTM supports
both the oil and gas and the utilities
industries, “The majority of our business
is piling. We provide a lot of foundation
piling throughout the south,” said Owen.
DTM has clients all across the country,
from California to New York. But no
matter where they do business, their reputation
for providing a quality product at a
fair price always precedes them. Given that
most of their clients need materials quickly,
DTM takes pride in being able to provide
what their clients need, as fast as possible,
every time.
Courage amid catastrophe
It was these clients – and many others –
that called upon DTM during and after
Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
“We had actually lost power here for
two or three days. But even though we
couldn’t run, we were steadily shipping
material out to places that hadn’t been
affected, to get the material processed and
to our customers so that they could get
their power back on,” said Owen.
Located just 30 minutes from the Gulf
Coast and 90 minutes from New Orleans,
DeSoto Treated Materials was itself badly
damaged by Katrina. But despite the disaster,
they continued to soldier on, knowing
their customers and employees were counting
on them.
DTM was able to supply a tremendous
number of utility poles and piling product
to the rebuilding efforts in New Orleans
and surrounding area that had been totally
destroyed.
“It was a monumental effort after
Katrina, for sure,” said Owen.
Although the entire DTM team
worked together to keep the business going,
it was their efforts after Katrina that still
makes Alexander so proud.
“Honestly, after Katrina, it really
demolished our plant here and tore up our
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PILEDRIVER | 79
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