“Our defining moments in the last 30 years have been when we’ve taken care of business despite seemingly insurmountable deadlines or conditions of the floor, doing what we said we would do, to secure relationships with long term customers, who as a result of our work, define us as hard-working, dependable and honest.”
– Jay Thomason, President, Industrial Applications, Inc.
Industrial Applications was started by Jay Thomason, an entrepreneur at heart. Jay had his own lawn mowing company at 12 years old, pushing the lawnmower from yard to yard until he was old enough to drive. He continued to build the company through high school and then branched out into sweeping parking lots, which turned into sweeping and sealing, prepping concrete, epoxy coating and polished concrete jobs – and Industrial Applications was born in 1989.
Passionate about solving customers’ flooring problems throughout the Eastern half of the US, Jay grew the number of crews here in Memphis and in2004, he bought a business to open a division in Birmingham. Continued growth necessitated bringing on a Director of Operations to manage the crews during a strong growth phase – which continued when the rest of the country was battling the recession. Opening a division in Pittsburgh in 2011, Jay plans to develop additional company locations in the future.
Jay believes strongly that “Our success is completely dependent on the hardworking guys in the field.” The present team of crew leaders have been with IA for an average of over 10 years – most of whom have moved up through the ranks to become leaders. The entire IA team has an average length of employment over 5 years, an anomaly today where people tend to move between jobs frequently, especially in the construction industry. It’s not an easy job, with the crews out on the road most of the time, and the physically demanding work they do, but the desire to see the end product, and create an impressive flooring solution to meet the customer’s needs, makes it very rewarding.
Over the years, Industrial Applications has become the leader in industrial coatings, taking on complex situations, and creating flooring solutions in places where the floors take a real beating. Attacking that challenge is a team of sales people and estimators who create a custom solution for each customer’s individual situation.
Industrial Applications routinely works in the Food & Beverage Processing Industry installing USDA Approved, Seamless, Chemical Resistant, and Anti-microbial Flooring Solutions. Industrial Safety concerns lead IA to do a lot of safety striping, non-skid and 5S visual systems in the Manufacturing Industry. Many Industrial environments engage IA to install Heavy Duty Resurfacing and Impact Resistant solutions. Commercial customers often request Thin Mil Epoxy Coatings, Decorative Quartz or Flake, or Metallic Floor coatings to create the image they desire. IA is also a leader in providing Polished Concrete Solutions for those looking for a Green solution that is affordable, easy to maintain, durable and beautiful.
