Building for Growth: Funding from TEDC Is Helping Byweld 2nd Generation Reinvent Its Fab Facilities

Table of Contents:

From Employee to Business Owner
Experience Pays Off
Growth Creates a Need for Funding
Working with TEDC Streamlines the Process
A Fab Shop that Will Take Byweld into the Future

Welding metal fabrication company Byweld 2nd Generation fills an important niche serving engineering firms and shipping their fabrications to oil and gas refineries in Tulsa, the U.S., Canada, Spain, and elsewhere. Owners Bob and Lorrie Fuqua are excited to expand their business with a brand-new shop building—funded with help from TEDC Creative Capital.

From Employee to Business Owner

In Oklahoma, the energy industry is a major player in the economy, which means many small businesses exist to serve bigger firms’ specific needs. Byweld 2nd Generation is one of those businesses. It manufactures platforms, handrails, and ladders for the energy industry. Bob Fuqua (COO) and his wife Lorrie (CFO) have owned the company since 2015.

Like many people, Bob worked in his industry for many years before stepping into small business ownership. He worked in the engineering field for over thirty years, much of it as a quality control inspector at Tulsa Heaters. In that role, he often collaborated with companies like Byweld, the primary fabricator for ladders, platforms, and handrails for Tulsa Heaters’ refinery services.

In 2014, a fateful meeting with Byweld’s previous owner and founder changed the course of Bob’s career. “The owner of Byweld was planning to retire, and he approached me to see if Lorrie and I were interested in purchasing the business,” Bob explains. “At the time, we were looking for something different, a career change, so to speak. So we brokered a deal.”

The Fuquas took over Byweld in 2015 and gave it a new name that acknowledged its history, new owners, and era. They retained all of the company’s employees and vendors and also paid off the purchase price in just seven years. “We’ve been very fortunate and blessed to be where we’re at today,” he says.

Experience Pays Off

Being familiar with Byweld’s products and services made the transition into business ownership a reasonably smooth process for Bob and Lorrie. As a quality control inspector, Bob understood Byweld’s approach to fabricating their platforms, handrails, and ladders. These features are installed in refineries around massive heating cylinders so that inspectors can view them safely and maintenance teams can service them.

Anything Bob and Lorrie didn’t know at first, they’ve been able to learn with the help of Byweld’s original owner, who still comes by once or twice a month. “He lives here locally, so he’s a wealth of knowledge,” Bob says. “He helped a lot in the first sixty days of our buying the company. Once we got rolling, I was able to pretty much start in the management of the business.”

Though the structures Byweld 2nd Generation fabricates are different than many people might be familiar with, overseeing the business’s everyday flow is similar to any other type of business. Bob and Lorrie receive drawings from engineering firms, order the needed materials, cut them to size and construct the structures on the drawings. They keep an eye out to avoid errors, meet industry regulations, maintain clear communications, and streamline their production.

The end result is platforms, walkways, and ladders that are safe for workers, inspectors, and maintenance crews to use on-site in industrial facilities as oil and gas are refined for use. Byweld is fortunate to serve sizable energy companies, including Marathon Petroleum and HF Sinclair. They’re also one of the only fabrication shops in our region certified by the Canadian Welding Bureau. All this adds up to solid traction for the Fuquas’ business.

Growth Creates a Need for Funding

Of course, no company is without its challenges. For Byweld, that has been their current facility near downtown Bixby. When the fabrication shop was first built decades ago, the location was a good fit. It was out of the way and easily accommodated their materials and industrial work style.

However, as the need for their services has increased and Bixby has become more of a residential suburb, the original Byweld building isn’t ideal anymore. With their lease coming up in 2025, they realized it was time to make a move to a property they could transform to their liking.

Getting a loan and finding the right land to build on has been a bit of a roller coaster. Bob and Lorrie began their search for a new site around 2019, just before Covid hit—when appraisals, valuations, and business costs were all lower. Just a couple of years later, the costs for building a new facility have skyrocketed—complicating their search for the right property.

Thankfully, they had help from their local banker at Firstar Bank, who recommended that the Fuquas talk with TEDC Creative Capital. They met with TEDC’s team about what they’d need to move forward, and they also continued searching for the right property on which to build their new fabrication shop. After considering a different site and having that fall through, they settled on a location in Okmulgee County, which gives Byweld the freedom to structure their site to their preferences.

“When we decided to go the new route with our new location, it was a no-brainer to work with TEDC,” says Bob. “We were able to use the same plans from the previous location we were considering to this new one. We didn’t change any of the footprint on the building.”

Working with TEDC Streamlines the Process

As far as the Fuquas are concerned, their new building site and getting the financing to buy it and build there has worked out well. “Everything was very smooth,” Bob says. “There weren’t a lot of hiccups. Once we got the appraisal set up, it was a done deal.” Their new location on Highway 75 South at 221st Street may be a “dusty fabrication shop” as Bob puts it, but it will serve the company’s growth well.

“We chose TEDC because they have financing with lower interest rates,” says Lorrie. “They have grants and other funding to try to help grow particular industries in Oklahoma, and we happen to qualify. So, why not utilize that opportunity?” When they need additional funding or guidance, they connect with TEDC, and it’s been a smooth experience for them.

A Fab Shop That Will Take Byweld into the Future

The brand-new fabrication shop will be set up just as the Fuquas want it—one long building rather than a smaller one with an ell. This efficient new setup will allow their products to move easily from start to finish. Things will be more spacious and designed to move production along the line faster, which means Byweld will have more capacity for additional customers and projects.

“We don’t have extra space in our current location to do more, but with the efficiencies in the new building, we can take on more work. And the way we’re building the site, if we continue to grow, we can add on to the backside of the building. We have that space, with options to grow a couple of different ways.”

Since Byweld has already doubled its staff since the Fuquas took it over in 2015, continued growth is definitely in its sights. They have goals to hire additional full-time employees, increase their productivity, and serve more customers.

If he could advise people who want to own a business, Bob says: “Don’t be afraid to do it. You get out of it what you put into it. And if you want to do it, you can make it work.”

As a community-focused, economic, and financial organization, TEDC Creative Capital supports the growth of small local businesses and startups with nontraditional funding and foundational business education programs. Discover the many resources that TEDC can offer to help your business grow.