F.L. Crane & Sons, Inc.

Source: Exec Digital USA

Date :9/15/2007 11:34:00 AM

Finish Work as Family Tradition

As a family-run business, F.L. Crane & Sons has made being one of the leading exterior and interior finishing contractors in the country its prime focus

Written by James Buchanan & Produced by Sean Bakke

Success for F.L. Crane & Sons — an interior and exterior finishing contractor — has depended upon adhering to the principles established by its founder: remaining a family held and run business, and hiring the best craftsmen in the industry to ensure quality work.

Founded in 1947 by patriarch F.L. Crane, the company has grown to become one of the top 20 wall and ceiling contractors in the U.S. According to its website, the company is also counted among the upper half of the country’s top 600 specialty contractors.

Second and third generation Crane’s continue to play a critical role in the day-to-day operations of the company. For example, Jimmie U. Crane is CFO, and his brother Johnny is CEO. Chip Crane is the company’s current corporate president.

While the company has managed to succeed throughout its entire history, in the 1990s management realized that the company was fortunate enough to have a number of highly skilled craftsmen capable of taking leadership roles within the company and on its many projects.

This, plus a few other contributing factors — which includes being able to readily access inventories of construction materials — the company was able to double its sales in the past decade.

Further, the company has expanded considerably beyond its home base of Fulton, Miss, to include offices in Boyle, Miss., Hutto, Texas, Tuscaloosa, Ala., Angie, La., Ocean Springs, Miss., Franklin, Tenn., Madison, Ala., Southaven, Miss., Pensacola, Fla., Florence, Miss., and Oxford, Miss.

F.L. Crane has also built strong relationships with a number of contractors, which include JESCO Inc., Roy Anderson Corporation, Benchmark Construction, Roselle Construction, and Roy Collins Construction.

Projects the company has worked on include Fairview Baptist Church in Columbus, Miss; Bethel Baptist Church in Dorsey, Miss.; Old Bank of Tupelo in Tupelo, Miss.; Memphis International Airport in Memphis, Tenn.; the Harrah Cherokee Administration Addition; the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Cleveland, Miss., Turtle Creek Crossing shopping center in Hattiesburg, Miss; and the Four Seasons Condos in Orange Beach, Ala.

As an interior and exterior finishing contractor, F.L. Crane also offers a full listing of services.

The company is a certified Inter-Circle Armstrong contractor, installing a wide range of acoustical ceilings and wall panels for more than 40 years.

According to the company’s website, approximately 63 percent of F.L. Crane’s work volume is installing drywall. This includes metal stud framing, load and non-load bearing walls, fire separation walls, interior partitions, sound partitions, exterior metal frame wall panels, metal roof truss, floor assemblies, gypsum drywall tape & float, and more.

The company is also capable of installing precast wall panels, which are built in the company’s central plant and transported to the jobsite.

F.L. Crane is also certified to install Centria, Alucabound, and Alply metal wall panels, which can be used with traditional building finishes by themselves for a custom exterior finish.

A building isn’t finished until it has a floor to walk on, and F.L. Crane offers a range of hard and soft floor coverings. This includes vinyl composition tile, sheet vinyl, welded and flashed sheet vinyl, carpet, carpet tile, ceramic mosaic, quarry tile, porcelain tile, brick pavers, and more.

The company also installs a number of brands of lath and plaster, including Armstrong, Centria, Mannington Commercial, Bruce Hardwood Floors, American Olean, and Interceramic.

F.L, Crane has also opened a division titled Lawrence/Crane Theming & Designs Concepts, which offers commercial, industrial and residential painting, wall-covering, faux finishes, and more.

Lastly, in 1995 F.L. Crane expanded its services to include a spray coatings division, which installs spray-on insulation, sprayed fire proofing, spray-on acoustics, wall spray, spray applied sound control and others.

The company notes it also takes great pride in its employees, which it considers to be among the best craftsmen found anywhere.

In total, the company employs 900 people trained in all of its services areas and capable of handling highly detailed finish work.