When you’ve got a big lifting job, Lampson International is the place to go.
This Kennewick company specializes in heavy-lifting the most extreme loads on construction projects throughout the world. Petro-chemical plants, oil rigs, nuclear power sites, dam and highway construction — these and much more are Lampson’s turf.
“We believe we’re good at what we do and provide an excellent service to the construction industry,” said Bill Lampson, the company’s president.
Lampson’s array of services is unique. It is a construction equipment rental company, a construction contractor, and a manufacturer of some of the world’s toughest, most durable heavy lifting equipment.
The company’s distinctive blue cranes, compacters and crawlers are fixtures on large scale construction sites. Although it has only a third of the equipment of its nearest rival, thanks to the amazing capabilities of its machines, Lampson is the world leader in total lift capability.
ALL IN THE FAMILY
“We’re 65 years old this year,” said Lampson. “My parents started this business in 1946, right after the war, as a small trucking and tool lending company. Later on, my father got the money together to get a crane,” said Lampson. “That was how we started lending out cranes to the construction industry.”
Bill’s parents, Neil and Billie Jane, had perfect timing. The post-World War II era was a boom time for the construction industry. There were dams to be built on the Snake and Columbia rivers. Hanford was expanding its nuclear facilities. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act in 1956, spurring the constructions of ribbons of asphalt on a scale never seen before. And this Tri-Cities family business was in the right place at the right time.
In the early 1970s, the company broke new ground when it became a manufacturer.
“We started manufacturing some very special tools my father invented — one of them being the self-propelled crawler-type transporter,” said Lampson. “Later on in the 1970s, he developed the Lampson Transi-Lift crane, which is our specialty crane that we use to do very, very heavy lifting around the country and in different parts of the world.”
It was also in the 1970s that Lampson International started going international in its scope by establishing a presence in Canada and doing jobs in other countries. Today the Kennewick-based company has branch offices in Phoenix, Denver, Houston, Calgary and five locations in Australia. Over the years it has taken on contract work in approximately 40 countries ranging from Latin America and Europe to Russia and the Far East.
The company has about 350 employees in North America and Australia. At any given time, 400 pieces of its equipment are scattered around various construction sites in the U.S.
A TRADITION ROOTED IN THE TRI-CITIES
Although Lampson International has tremendous reach and impact far beyond the Columbia Basin, Bill Lampson has never forgotten his Tri-Cities roots. His company is noted for its close-knit, family feeling, with many employees from families that have been on the Lampson payroll for two or three generations.
And the Lampson family is second to none when it comes to its contributions to the Tri-Cities community. Richland, Kennewick and Pasco are full of monuments to the family’s generosity, including the Kennewick School District’s Neil F. Lampson Stadium and the Billie Jane Lampson Clock Square in downtown Kennewick. Not surprisingly, the Lampson family was named Tri-Citians of the Year, in 1992; and Bill was honored as 1994’s Tri-Citian of the Year. Then, in 1998,
Lampson International received recognition as Washington’s Large Family Business of the Year.
After some very lean years in the 1980s, the Tri-Cities the Lampson did so much to help build is now one of the most economically dynamic parts of Washington state, spurred on by the Hanford clean-up and the Columbia Basin’s agricultural base.
“We’re very fortunate to have as much economic activity in Southeastern Washington as we do,” said Lampson. “The Tri-Cities will probably continue to grow into the future for some time as long as the work at Hanford goes on.”
FUTURE PROSPECTS
Lampson sees continued growth for his company in the Tri-Cities and beyond so long as there are large scale construction projects.
“The larger the projects and the heavier the loads, the bigger the equipment to handle those loads must be, so we try to keep up with demand, increase capacities and capabilities of our equipment to meet that demand,” said Lampson.
Among Lampson’s current projects are building its newest and largest capacity Transi-Lift LTL-3000 for Hitachi. Additionally, the company built a Transi-Lift LTL-2600B for the China Nuclear Energy Industry Corporation’s Taohuajiang Nuclear Project, shipped to China in March.
“It’s very significant that most of the equipment we manufacture is shipped out of state and, in some cases, out of the country,” said Lampson. “It brings revenue
into the state because we’re manufacturing here in the Tri-Cities. The state is the winner with manufacturing.”
Lampson, however, is frustrated by what he sees as a lack of resolve on the part of state government to create a competitive environment where businesses like his can thrive.
“I wish the state would take a more business friendly attitude and reduce regulations that are not productive for anybody,” said Lampson. “There are any number of taxes and fees that are burdensome to business. If we didn’t have to deal with all that, we could provide more jobs. And that is obviously important in this day and age with so many people looking for work.”
As a family business owner, Lampson is also affected by the federal estate tax.
“We waste enormous resources on estate and tax planning that is totally unnecessary and could be put to much better use if we didn’t have to deal with the death tax, said Lampson.
Lampson, nevertheless, remains confident.
“I am a firm believer that you should do what you know how to do,” said Lampson. “Don’t try to do everything for everybody, but do what you know how to do right and focus on your finite capabilities.”
