Drill masters

Tri-State Testing Services, Inc., is a company that few outside the industry know, yet its services have indirectly benefited the quality of life of thousands across the region.

Founded in 1988 and housed in a nondescript building in northeast Memphis, Tri-State specializes in environmental drilling, independent testing and inspection services. Its workers drill into the earth and test the quality of groundwater, check for underground contamination, and set up wells to monitor environmental conditions.

Such services have risen in demand over the past two decades with a general increase in environmental consciousness and tightening federal regulations. It's a tide that David McCray and Jim Owens saw coming back in the mid-1980s.

At the time, both men worked for United States Testing Services, primarily doing geotechnical drilling and testing for engineers, developers and architects to ensure the land could support the buildings, bridges, water towers and other structures they wanted to build.

McCray started with the company in 1978, but back then it was owned by Barrow-Agee Laboratories. The company changed hands and names several times, and each new owner brought new policies, methods and business practices. McCray was shifted from Newark, Ark., to Grants, N.M., New Orleans and finally Memphis.

"In the 10 years I worked for them, they were bought and sold six times," he says.

Three years after coming to the Bluff City, the company was again sold, this time to a Swiss owner that wanted to close the Memphis office. McCray and Owens took the opportunity to strike out on their own.

They pooled their funds, bought a used drill rig from their former employer, and started Tri-State. New Environmental Protection Agency regulations caused a surge in demand for environmental drilling and testing services, but few companies specialized in providing them.

"We saw a need based on environmental changes and new environmental laws," Owens says.

When they started Tri-State, McCray and Owens had two employees, one rig and a 700-square-foot office. A year later they added a second drill rig and upgraded to a 5,000-square-foot office. Today, the company has 35 employees, five drill rigs, three direct push units and a 7,500-square-foot office at 6756 Buckles Cove, where they have been since 1993.

Over that time, the company's annual sales have increased from about $250,000 to just under $5 million. Tri-State has also expanded its service area, and is now licensed in Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma and Mississippi.

McCray attributes much of the company's growth to referrals. In addition to environmental drilling and testing, Tri-State also does geotechnical and exploratory drilling, as well as some remediation work where microorganisms or oxygen is injected in the ground to speed deterioration of contaminants.

Tri-State's customers cover a wide range, from governmental agencies to environmental consultants, engineering firms, private property owners and even brick manufacturers looking for clay. Especially on the environmental side, client confidentiality is a major issue, as many customers want to keep potential environmental problems under wraps.

Connie Hess, president of local environmental consulting firm Hess Environmental Services, Inc., says she has used Tri-State for 20 years. It's a company she knows she can rely on to be honest, flexible and get the job done well. Because it's an industry wrought with so many regulations, Hess says using Tri-State also saves her having to go through thick contracts.

"We do business on a handshake," she says.

One of Tri-State's biggest challenges is keeping up with technological advances while controlling costs. Because of the constant wear and tear, equipment has to be regularly replaced.

"There's a pretty big capital investment to be in the drilling business," McCray says. "We don't have large profit margins."

As a small company, Tri-State has to be selective in its purchases.

In the next few years, McCray plans to expand the business with the opening of a satellite office.

The company is considering multiple locations, including Jackson, Miss., Baton Rouge, La., Tulsa and Oklahoma City.

"You can only grow so big in an area," he says.