1. No. 9 public company: Powell Industries
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Powell Industries, which ranks No. 9 on this year's Houston Chronicle 100 list of the area's top-
performing public companies, started in Houston in 1947 and has prospered by maintaining a
narrow focus on made-to-order equipment for a wide range of companies in electrical and other
power-related industries.
For 2012, the company took in $713.7 million in revenue, up 20 percent over the previous year.
Total shareholder return was 32.8 percent. Earnings per share were up 652.5 percent.
Powell's business is driven primarily by its customers' infrastructure capital investment, and thus
tends to be cyclical; when capital investment is high in these client industries, Powell's business is
brisk.
"We manufacture solutions for the handling of critical processes," company spokesman Gary King
said.
Most of that is in the electrical industry. Powell builds equipment and integrates complete systems
to distribute, monitor and control electrical energy for these facilities.
The company has its headquarters and its largest manufacturing facilities in Houston, to be close to
the local petrochemical complex. Between 1,600 and 1,700 of its approximately 3,000 total
2. employees are in the Houston area.
Michael Lucas is president and chief operating officer.
With so much oil and gas activity in Canada, especially Alberta, Powell acquired a small Canadian
company in 2009 in order to be closer to the action of the customers it serves. Powell Canada has
offices in numerous locations, including Calgary and Vancouver, and is building a facility in
Edmonton.
Powell has worked to maintain strong relationships with established industry leaders. Because all of
its customers eventually need to do major infrastructure work, the company is confident in the
future, whatever yearly fluctuations may occur, King said.
Right now, prospects are especially promising.
"We think the oil and gas business will continue to be pretty good for the next couple of years," he
said.
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