Perryman Co. expanding its horizons
Courtesy of Perryman Co.
Already a titan in the titanium industry, Perryman Co. is in the midst of another expansion. The Houston-based firm has enhanced its operations, property, workforce and even its image. Not only has Perryman recovered from a pandemic-related downturn, it is zealously ramping up.
“We have had constant growth since (COVID), and we haven’t looked back,” said Frank Perryman, president, CEO and co-founder of this global company. The firm’s headquarters sit on Vandale Drive, across from Chartiers-Houston Junior/Senior High School.
Titanium is an abundant chemical element sought by customers in numerous markets. Perryman supplies and services clients in the aerospace, medical and military industries, including subsectors of those industries. It also contracts with other users.
“Titanium is the only metallic we work with.” Perryman said of a resource that is valued for its corrosion resistance and has the highest strength-to density ratio among metallic elements. Finished titanium products include ingots, plates, coils, bar products, wire and forgings.
The company is nearing completion of a two-year dual project at sites 25 miles apart in Washington County. Perryman has been installing an open die forge press operation at the Pike Street campus in Houston. And it has added furnaces at its Coal Center melt campus in California Technology Park, where Frank Perryman anticipates a 60% increase in titanium melting capacity.
“We were running out of space, so we purchased 100 acres behind the facility in California so we could further grow. We can’t develop it all now, so we’ll try to be proactive in preparing for what’s ahead.”
The company’s resilience and strength were underscored in a recent report by the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, a Pittsburgh-based organization that serves 10 counties in Southwestern Pennsylvania.
The group conducting the study found that over a 17-year period – 2007 through 2023 – 65% of all publicly announced investments in the region were expansions of existing businesses.
Perryman Co., the group reported, made a half-dozen such announcements during that period, which helped to generate 310 new jobs and $360 million in capital investments, enabling the company to increase its production and administrative capacity locally.
As a manufacturer, Perryman Co. was considered an essential business by then-Gov. Tom Wolf’s office and allowed to maintain operations from the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020. Frank Perryman is proud of the company, which did not shut down a single day because of the crisis.
His family’s enterprise did not go unscathed, though. He said business declined 30% at one point, and cutbacks and departures reduced a workforce of 600-plus to around 400. The company rebounded, though, and has “730-ish employees today,” Frank said.
His father, Jim Sr., launched the business in 1988 with his sons, Frank and Jim Jr., the chief operating officer. The father became interested in titanium after college, when he was an Army helicopter pilot during the Korean War. He landed a job in titanium in 1953 and worked for various companies for 35 years before starting his own. His sons took over Perryman after their father, 90, died in September 2020.
The company has four campuses, all in Washington County, and operates offices in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, London, Zurich, Tokyo and Xi’an. Headquarters have always been in Houston.
Growth is good, and Perryman is in the midst of expansion. Its president/CEO, however, is an advocate of “structured growth. Too much growth can be as dangerous as no growth. For us, it’s all about quality. Quality sells your product,” he said.