I did some work for a business paper run by a pretty well-known
Libertarian, Jack Criss. Though politically we didn't agree, I liked
the way he had writers shine a light on the various businesses and
businessmen of central Mississippi. I found that it's easy to write
about anyone who is passionate about what they do. Everyone I
interviewed for MBC was passionate about their work. I picked this
piece, because the field in which he works seems dull to those of us who
don't understand it, but so necessary and worthy for those who do.
David
Church isn’t afraid to spread himself a little bit thin. Unlike some
businessmen whose ‘eyes on the prize’ philosophy forces them to focus on
one particular role in business – one hat to wear – and whose
single-minded determination causes harm to their home life and health,
Church is perfectly comfortable wearing those different hats. Husband,
father, antique car hobbyist, and avid bicyclist who laments the lack of
places to ride a bicycle inside the city of Jackson – he is all of
these things. He is also president of Metal Finishing Services, office
principal for Criterium Engineers, president of 750 Boling Street
Partners, an officer of the Hawkins Field Industrial Park, and a working
electrical engineer. Given his choice on what he would rather do, he
responds:
“I prefer to be working on my own cars or riding my
bicycle. Those are my vices.” In fact, it was one of his interests that
led him to opening the doors to Metal Finishing Services.
“It was
the old car hobby. I’ve been into cars ever since high school and I
never grew up,” Church says. “The first car ever restored was a ’55
Ford; I still have it. In fact, I finally did one for myself and just
restored that very car.” Church points to a photo of a 1955 Ford
Mainline 2-door sedan, and admits that owning Metal Finishing Services
gives him a head start on restoring those cars.
“We do paint
stripping, de-rusting, and powder coating for industrial businesses and
other customers,” Church says, “like antique car restorers. They’re a
big part of it. We take [the auto bodies] down and get all the paint and
rust off so they have a good start on it.” This is no shade-tree
operation. The company works with several major industries: automotive,
aerospace, military, and marine, among others.
“We do some
gigantic diesel engines,” Church says, “like for tugboats and railroad
locomotives. We can do up to a 20-cylinder electromotive diesel.”
“We
do industrial paint rejects. Anyone who operates a conveyorized
painting system is going to have a reject rate. We try to reclaim those
for people. We also strip paint line hangers that go through the line
over and over again and get a buildup of paint.”
In addition to
stripping the rust and old paint off everything from old Volkswagen
bodies to nine or ten-ton locomotive diesel engines, Metal Finishing
Services utilizes powder coating, an alternative to spray painting metal
bodies and parts, but one that can still be done in virtually any color
and with any type of finish.
“You spray a dry powder that is
electrostatically attracted to metal parts,” he says. “You put it in an
oven and it melts the little particles and fuses them over the surface.
It doesn’t put out any pollution like solvent-based paint and it’s much,
much more durable.” He displays several recently coated items, all in
red or black. Each is free of any sort of paint flaw, smooth, and with a
uniform finish. As proud as he is of the quality of his company’s
powder coating, he grows even more animated when he describes their
newest offering.
“We’ve got a new service now that is, to my
knowledge, the only place in the country that this combination is
available,” he says. “We work regionally with car restorers in a 300-400
mile radius. Now after we de-rust their car bodies and strip all the
grunge off, we have an arrangement with one of the Tier 1 Nissan
suppliers, Systems Electrocoating. They prime all the truck frames for
Nissan and they’ve built a special rack. We can now send up a car body –
your Volkswagen or ’57 Chevy body – and have it immersed in this
water-based primer that’s really high-tech. It’s like an eight
million-dollar plant up there. It is totally immersed. [The body] gets
in all the little nooks and crannies that you just can’t get with a
spray gun. It’s a very good quality primer and you can paint on top of
it with whatever you want.” He says the reason why the combination is
only available through Metal Finishing Services is simple:
“Systems
won’t do it for anyone but us, because there is no way anyone else can
get it clean enough. If you were to contaminate their bath, that would
be a major problem.” Getting those auto bodies, paint line hangers, and
electromotive diesel engines clean enough is a matter that requires
elbow grease, ovens to oxidize the paint, and three huge chemical tanks
to remove the rust. It also often requires a single item to go through
the process numerous times – until Church and his employees are
satisfied.
It may sound like a toxic place in which to work, but
it is not. We strolled through the plant, and were not disturbed by so
much as a foul odor. Church insists that having a healthy,
environmentally sound business is of major importance.
“We are
environmentally friendly,” he says, ticking off points on his fingers.
“We recycle our rinse water. The ovens have incinerators on the stack to
burn up any smoke that comes out. Instead of discharging almost 2000
degrees, we recover that heat and heat up our chemical tanks with it.
And the powder coating doesn’t use any solvents.”
Church, who
currently lives in northeast Jackson with his wife, Allison, and his
children Haley and Andy, has lived in Jackson since the third grade. At
an early age, he seemed to have an idea of the career path he would
follow.
“I always liked to tinker with electronics and stuff, so I
went to a two-year program at Hinds Community College and got a
technology degree. I did well, and I liked it and wanted to learn more,
so I went to Mississippi State and got an E.E. degree.” He was working
for Mississippi Power & Light as an engineer in 1981 when he
discovered Redi-Strip, a national company that did paint stripping and
de-rusting. He visited franchises and their headquarters in Los Angeles
and made the move to open a franchise in midtown Jackson; he quit his
job at MP&L to do so. He ran Redi-Strip until 2002, when he decided
to amicably part from the national company and go his own way.
Before
embarking as Metal Finishing Services, Church found his operation had
completely outgrown his midtown location and sought to find space in
which to work. During that time he discovered 750 Boling Street, which
had been the site of the old Challenger plant.
“The ownership
reverted to the city of Jackson and they took bids on it,” he says. “We
placed a bid that had too many contingencies. The city rejected it. The
other bid was way too low and they rejected that, too. We got together
with the other guy and came in together to change it up and buy it. The
bank actually loaned us the money and I couldn’t believe they did. The
building was sitting here empty, with a bad roof and a monstrous note to
pay. It was scary.”
Both businesses moved into the building and
began seeking tenants. They found them; now the building’s space stays
between 85 and 90 percent rented. Metal Finishing Services occupies
about 10 percent of the building – about 35,000 square feet. Part of
that is set aside for Church’s role in Criterium Engineers.
“Criterium
provides real estate-related engineering services,” he says. “We do
property condition assessments for people considering purchasing a
building. It’s like a home inspection, but scaled up for commercial and
industrial properties. We do construction inspection for banks. Right
now I’m doing a lot of work for insurance companies because of Katrina
and Rita.”
“We’re in about 60 cities now,” he says. “The branch
office is a small business; it’s just me and my secretary. The beauty of
it is that you have other disciplines in different offices. There’s a
chemical guy in Mobile, there’s mechanical, there’s lots of structural
people. I get called to do electrical work by other branch offices.” In
fact, it was his love of engineering that brought him to Criterium.
“Engineers
are required to have continuing education requirements to maintain your
license. The head of Criterium was here doing a seminar in Jackson. I
attended; that’s how I found out about it. I signed right up.” Church
speaks happily when he describes the work he does and the different hats
he wears.
“I thought that I would be an engineer and only an engineer, but one thing just leads to another.”
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