"Measure twice; cut once." A variation of this old carpenter's adage applies precisely to the coatings industry: "Plan it right and do it once." Steel and concrete structures—be it bridges, nuclear power plants, wind turbines, chemical plants, oil rigs, or conventional power utilities—require appropriate and effective industrial coating for corrosion/chemical protection. Apart from aesthetic purposes, coatings help facilities increase their assets' lifespan and enhance their performance while driving down maintenance costs and ensuring compliance with regulations enforced by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration), and other regulatory bodies. Over the years, the industrial coatings industry has become a highly specialized field, requiring skilled personnel to perform proper surface preparation and apply protective coatings efficiently. Nobody understands this better than Champion Painting Specialty Services Corp. (CPSSC). The company consistently moves the needle by giving unique industrial, nuclear, and commercial construction and business segments a complete resource for their facility maintenance, expansion, repair, new build, and other construction-related needs. CPSSC offers premium value-added service unparalleled in the industry through proper planning and staffing, as well as managing and leveraging advanced safety and quality systems.

"What distinguishes us from our competitors is the breadth of our services across all business verticals. We have the capability to sandblast and paint the largest bridge in New York City, apply coatings in the most complex nuclear facility in the country, and even work on a military establishment on a South Pacific Island amidst the most remote and difficult working conditions in the world," asserts Kyle Hough, Executive Vice President at CPSSC.

"With years of experience in managing complex steel structures, we can do everything from repairing the steel, coating it to enhance longevity, to giving it an aesthetic appearance," says Hough.

CPSSC helps clients transform entire facilities, be it overcoating a roof, putting an asphaltic immersion coating on the roof structure, or improving energy efficiency through reflective coatings. CPSSC can cost-effectively paint the exterior of steel process tanks, line the interiors, and handle all ongoing maintenance and safety issues in the facility.

"We create efficiencies through insulation coatings to protect facility staff from exposed hot surfaces," Hough adds. Apart from applying specialty coatings to facilities, CPSSC also specializes in maintaining corporate facilities, including painting, wall covering, fabric panels, electrostatic painting, and all types of decorative effects.

Hough explains that, unlike other industries, metalizing and coating in the nuclear space (commercial nuclear, nuclear new builds and conventional power utilities) is a niche market as it requires extensive knowledge and technical expertise for executing any projects.

Being an SSPC QP 1, QP 2, QS 1 lead abatement and coatings applicator and an NQA1 certified nuclear specialty services provider, CPSSC offers services unparalleled by any of its competitors.

The company's team of highly experienced personnel comprises SME's (Subject Matter Experts) with a vast array of knowledge and technical expertise in executing projects for the commercial nuclear power industry. CPSSC can perform several specialty services, including coatings, linings, metalizing, insulation, fireproofing, roofing, siding, penetration seals, and more for multiple commercial nuclear, nuclear new builds, and conventional power utilities. To illustrate, Hough recalls their collaboration on a project with two sister nuclear facilities, situated about five hours apart. The company started by engineering the entire project and followed it up by helping the utility tap into its capital fund structure. CPSSC built containments, abrasive blasted, and metalized several steel structures—related to the relicensing of both the nuclear facilities—and closed the project ahead of schedule simultaneously at the facilities. The company completed it under budget and with zero incidents, typically unheard of in nuclear space.

CPSSC is renowned in the industry for providing its clients with quality products, professional service, and unsurpassed industry knowledge - all while maintaining the highest degree of integrity and safety. The company's "safety first" ethos resonates deeply with its organizational culture as well.

"We believe that our people are the backbone of our success," emphasizes Hough. "We are highly focused on the safety of our employees, and our growth strategy is closely aligned with the well-being of our most valuable asset—human resource." CPSSC offers a third-party audited safety program through PEC-CAP and an OSHA 500 safety manager on staff. Safety is the expectation for every task on every job. Only the highest degrees of safety and integrity will do; otherwise, CPSSC considers the project unsuccessful. The company also adopts a mentoring and reverse mentoring mentality to help its employees grow.

"We take everyone's input into account, and that's one of the reasons why our seasoned craft superintendents, foremen, and workers have been able to adapt to the current technology-focused business environment. We believe that to achieve success, you need to give people the tools and the authority to perform their work and hold them accountable," he adds.

Starting as a painting and coatings contractor in 2006, today, CPSSC has grown to turn into a $140-million company over the decade. CPSSC's mission is to be a leader for the nuclear, industrial, commercial painting, and specialty services by providing its clients, in the public and private sectors, quality products, professional service, and unsurpassed industry knowledge while always maintaining the highest degree of safety and integrity. Being an industry leader means CPSSC will meet or exceed safety, quality, and performance requirements for every client and project. Over the years, the company has continually exceeded the highest safety and excellence standards—aptly showcased on several of its projects, such as the George Washington Bridge, Mercedes Benz Stadium, the I-595 Highway Expansion, and the Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant. Looking ahead, the company plans to expand its services geographically.

"We aim to provide all the soft specialty craft services that the bigger contractors oftentimes struggle to offer. We envision being the go-to provider for large multi-million square foot facilities and bringing them up to speed on everything from the floor to the roof," concludes Hough.