Drilling for the Best Solution
No Job Is Too Tough for United Drilling Inc.
United Drilling Inc. of Plumsteadville, Pennsylvania, has taken on many challenges for its clients. Frequently, the solution becomes another platform for business for this dynamic subcontractor. The company offers turnkey drilling solutions for elevator cylinder holes, caissons, natural gas drilling and any other issues its customers ask the team to solve.
Joy Graber, Vice President of United Drilling, says always being a “sub of a sub” has its benefits. “United has been very lucky.
We don’t have to go after work. We work for elevator companies and they tell others about us. Word of mouth works because we take good care of every one of our customers,” she says.
The company was started in 1988 by four individuals who had worked together at Cook Drilling in Trevose, Pennsylvania. One of those founders was Joseph Hohenstein, Joy’s father. Their home served as United Drilling’s office in the startup phase. Her father is the only founder who continues to work; the others have retired. “My dad comes in and out of retirement because he loves the business. He is an asset to all we accomplish,” she says.
Joy is one of four people who filled the positions of the original owners and are now equal partners at United Drilling. The other owners are Gary Nonemacher, President/Controller, Tom Fleck, Field Manager, and his brother Vince Fleck, Lead Mechanic.
Although Joy’s educational background is in engineering from Lehigh University, she prefers working in sales. “I’m more of a people person than a lab person,” she says. “So, when I had the opportunity to work at United Drilling in 2001, I started in a sales position in the upper Midwest and took on more territories as other sales people retired.” Joy is now the only salesperson and the company has about 55 employees, including her younger sister, Karen, who chose to work in the shop doing welding and fabricating. “Although we have many things in common, Karen is the opposite of me in many ways. She prefers working with her hands away from a phone and a computer. She really is excellent at what she does.”
Making Its Mark
Today, United Drilling averages about $15 million to $18 million in annual sales, providing elevator drilling services and caisson work in 37 states as well as natural gas drilling throughout northeastern Pennsylvania. To maintain a steady stream of work, the company used its creativity to enter different markets as needed. In 2008, when the economy took a dip, it started to work within the natural gas industry, which is now a regular part of its business.
“That move was a big boost and one that kept us going,” Joy says. “We do a lot of work drilling conductor holes so the energy companies can set up their rigs. We can drill a conductor hole about 100 feet deep and 26 inches in diameter.”
As the company reached out to do other types of work, it also assembled more equipment and solutions for each market. “Historically, we only drilled for hydraulic elevators; as the market and our territory grew, we acquired more equipment—especially for rock drilling,” Joy says. “That allowed us to drill anything without a change order. So, we acquired more locations and built up our equipment inventory. Eventually, other trades called us for specialized work. Many contractors will do caisson work until they hit rock. That’s when they call us because they know we have the equipment and experience to do it.”
The majority of United Drilling’s work is in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey because of the density of the population in those areas and the type of work needed there. It will also drill in 37 states for new construction on low-rise buildings where hydraulic elevators are used. Currently, Florida and Texas are the busiest states for this type of work.
A Unique Approach to Solving Problems
United Drilling has the advantage of being able to work inside existing buildings. “We can put our equipment in any place you can put a wheelchair because our trademarked Inside Air drill can fit through a 30-inch doorway and is powered by a 1600 air compressor,” Joy explains. “It does not require anything from the building or owner. No one else has this exact tool or the expertise that we do. The company had a division that was sold in 2000 and a similar type of drill went with the division, but it’s not exactly the same.”
As a subcontractor, the company is called on for many applications. Clients in the caisson industry, for example, have been doing large 13-foot-diameter coring through the mountains. When they hit rock with their core barrels it could take weeks to finish coring. “Equipment made for this kind of rock drilling is expensive and comes with a long lead time,” Joy adds. “So we will go in with our normal-size drill, maybe a 20-inch bit, and drill holes around the perimeter of the core. By doing that, we reduce their job from two weeks to something that can be done in one 8-hour shift. Our field manager, Tom Fleck, came up with the concept. Companies now call us specifically to do that type of large-diameter work.”
The company has been hired to solve different issues for elevator projects. “Each week offers a new situation. In one case we fixed holes that were crooked, pulled out old casings and drilled new holes inside buildings to complete the repair. It can cost close to $2 million to set up all the tooling required to do that…we’re called to other states because we’re the best at doing it,” Joy says. In other situations where hydraulic elevators were installed 30 to 50 years ago, United Drilling takes out the hydraulic cylinders, fixes the holes and, in some cases, installs the new hydraulic pistons, cylinders and PVC. When corrections to the hole(s) are required, the company will either create a tool or select something from its vast arsenal of equipment to make the repair.
Giving Back
In the midst of growing and managing this diverse business, the owners have always shared their success with others. “My father has been a great role model for volunteer work,” says Joy. “Each year for 20 years he has gone on a mission trip to Honduras. In the last 10 years, some concrete guys joined him and started pouring floors for the houses. It was like they were giving the people gold to put in floors that won’t wash away. He’s helped another charity called Children Without Choices to raise money for medical care for children from Honduras. It’s part of the MAMA (Mueres Amigas Miles Apart) Project that finds children who need surgery or special care and flies them to the United States to get them healthy. United Drilling has always given financial support to this cause and participated in a mission each year. This is the first year they’ve had to cancel because of the political unrest in Honduras. Whenever someone asks for help, we get involved because we fully believe in charitable support.”
Whether it’s drilling down into the earth to solve a problem or reaching out to help children and their families, the leadership at United Drilling takes on the challenge and always finds a solution.