Maker of heat-exchange coils moves to Longview

Maker of heat-exchange coils moves to Longview

No voice mail system greets callers to Bois D'Arc International in Longview.

Anyone with a problem something owner Amos Snow III says doesn't happen often will get him on the phone. He greets visitors to the company on Timpson Street without any frills he'll likely wear his trademark overalls regardless of who's visiting.

Snow says he's down to earth and a little on the eccentric side. He doesn't play golf, and he doesn't go to the country club. The Navy veteran, though, is a member of the American Legion.

Being down to earth, though, hasn't stopped him from having big plans for his company, which manufactures heat-exchange coils for large commercial and industrial heating and air-conditioning units and heater cores for motor homes.

The company moved last month from Kilgore to the former Blake Furniture warehouse on Timpson Street.

"The one reason for moving was we outgrew our facility," Snow said. He has plans for more expansion, including next year to build an additional 45,000-square-foot building next to the 35,000-square-foot facility he already owns.

Bois D'Arc was founded in 1989 by Snow's father, Amos Snow II, as a sales company. The family's history in coils, though, goes back much further. The elder Snow was one of the founders of Green and Snow Coil in 1972. It was later sold to another company, although Snow's father remained president until he retired in 1988.

Snow bought Bois D'Arc when his father retired five years ago, and the company had about 60 to 70 customers. He decided to begin manufacturing instead of just sales, with operations starting in 2000. Today, Bois D'Arc has about 850 customers and ships more than 100,000 coils worldwide each year.

While some major coil suppliers have begun using lighter, less expensive materials, Snow said his company continues to use heavier materials because they are "very durable." His customer base, he said, is more concerned about durability than price.

Since moving his company to Longview, Snow said he has added eight employees, for a total of 18. He expects that to increase to 20 to 25 by the end of the year and to 40 to 50 next year. Then, he expects to have more than 100 employees in 2006.

Snow said he bases that projection on feedback from prospective customers for whom his business has made sample coils. Those customers have just been waiting for him to be in a facility where he could produce the volume they require, he said.

He said he bought the building from the Blake family, who owns furniture stores in the area and used the building for a warehouse until last year. He said he first sought a long-term lease from them, but they suggested a purchase.

"They had the forethought to see what this building could do for the city of Longview," he said.

With the help of local lawyer Richard Miller, who assisted in the building purchase and process with Texas Bank and Trust, the city of Longview and others, he moved his company to Longview.

It's a "clean manufacturing" business with no hazardous waste, he said.

"I made the decision this area of town could use someone like us here," he said. Councilwoman Sidney Bell Willis, who represents that area of south Longview, said it is important for a vacant building to be given new life.

"It helps the neighborhood," she said. "We just don't want it to run down. It's right next to Timpson Park, and they're going to improve Timpson Park, so that will be a good help there."

Snow prides himself on never having laid off employees. He said he hates to lay somebody off who's depending on him for their income, and that's his motivation to work hard at sales.

"My business philosophy is if the company's not growing, you're falling behind," he said.

He does whatever it takes to accomplish that goal, he said, including ensuring that his business isn't dependent on one or two accounts. Instead, he said he strives to have "innumerable smaller accounts."

The move to Longview, he said, was "an extremely good move."

"I'm not leaving Longview," he said. "I'm staying right here."