He got his wish a few years ago in the form of a small start-up called Xtreme Structures and Fabrication (XSF). He quadrupled the size of the company, built up a network of distributorships and partners, and is now poised to debut a new product at LDI in October that could just be a revolution in trussing. “Imagine moving moving lights,” he says.
“Out of Control”
When the Texas native graduated from Texas Tech in 1994 with a degree in structural engineering, he went to work for a private firm. That led to him becoming an independent consultant, primarily in the live entertainment field. One of his bigger clients was Tomcat, who he eventually went to work for, becoming the head of engineering design before returning to private consulting.
“In late 2002, I got a call from Xtreme Structures,” Wells says, of a young Sulphur Springs-based start-up founded earlier that year. “So I went out and helped them develop their product line, provided tips on what to do and what not to, and introduced them to some clients. Then one day [owner] Jacky Hawthorn approached me and said, “Hey, this is growing out of control!” Wells would take it over in January of 2007.
Wells, who has proven fearless of success, handily disregarded the conventional wisdom that cautions against “growing too fast.” The company experienced a growth rate of 80 percent the year Wells bought it, and he held on for another 60 percent the following year. Immediately, he moved into bigger facilities.
There have been many highlights, but the 2008 Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, WA was a landmark project. “It is the largest suspended lighting grid in the world — 400 feet by 160 feet,” Wells says. It’s comprised of over 500 truss components hanging from over 250 rigging points, and it’s capable of supporting over 625,000 pounds of live load. And how’s this for an image: if the aluminum tubes and plates used in the project were placed end to end, they would stretch over 15 miles.
Yet the project almost didn’t happen.
“They had hired an engineer out of Seattle and they put it out for bids, but all the bids came in so high that they didn’t think they could do it,” Wells explains. Wells took the design, worked with the engineer, and tweaked it in a manner that made it much more affordable without compromising the original objective. “The clients were pleased with the design and the numbers.”
Truss with Moving Carts
Xtreme Structures has grown four times over in four years. Today it has 25 employees manufacturing aluminum products and steel structures in addition to carrying a line of rigging products and accessories. The senior management/creative team includes Mark Newlin, Terry Williams, Clifton Robbins and Rick Faubert.
“We don’t do installations, and we don’t rent products, because we don’t want to put ourselves in competition with our customers. That’s been our business plan from the beginning, and we’ve stuck with it.” Currently, they have partnered with companies in Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, and Los Angeles. (He adds that he’s looking for companies in Pacific Northwest, Canada, and Mexico.)
“The company had a real good foundation when I took it over, and having worked with other similar companies, I knew what to do as well as what not to do. We’ve created a strong product line at reasonable prices and it essentially sells itself once people are made aware of it.” A focus on customer service, combined with robust inventory, allows them to respond quickly as opposed to making someone “wait around a week or two for product.”
But what’s coming out of Xtreme Structure next is expected to turn some heads. They’ve become an investing partner with Vancouver, BC-based Parasol Advanced Lighting Systems. Together they are spreading the word about a brand new product. “We’ve created moving carts that run on truss itself,” he explains. “You can attach anything you want to these, including lighting, video, projectors — anything. It’s a wireless connection, and programmable, so you can have those huge 500 lb. moving spotlights and move them sideways. If it’s a circle truss, you can move them around back and forth, and in different directions.”
Hence moving moving lights. Parasol Systems (see PLSN, Aug. 2011, page 31) have already been used at the premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean 4 and for the most recent grand finale for American Idol. But the moving carts, calld ParaCarts, will officially be shown off at LDI in October.
“It’s pretty cool, and we’re hoping for big things with it.”
Otherwise, looking beyond the fall, “we just hope to continue growth. We have the space to grow right now and we’ve recently hired additional personnel to help with different projects. We will keep doing what we do.”
