Both companies work in the millwrighting and plant relocation. A Gibson speciality is optical alignment services – highly specialised millwright work for jobs that require close tolerances for roll, high-speed coupling or precision-bore alignments.

Gibson Industrial Owners Paul Gibson and and Ken Milem will remain on with the company, Gibson as a consultant, and Milem as a project manager and head of operations for Southern’s new Kings Mountain, North Carolina depot.

The deal came together over about a year, Rocky Springer, Southern Industrial’s vice president told Cranes Today. “We thought Paul might be interested in retiring and that Ken might like to continue on as part of a larger team of people, so we started talking about the possible fit of their operation into our operations, and they liked the idea,” he said.

In a statement, Earl Johnson Jr., founder and chairman of Southern Industrial, said: “Together as Southern Industrial, we can cost-effectively cover all of North Carolina and South Carolina for service and maintenance work, and pursue additional project work and plant relocations across the country.”

Springer explained that the merger was important because it helps improve Southern Industrial’s competitiveness in a key market in the southeast. “Most of the local work goes to good local crane and rigging companies. Gibson was a very good local Charlotte Metro / I-85 business corridor local contractor with some excellent regional and national customer relationships. Because of the tough competiton from Gibson and other well-qualified crane & rigging companies based in this same area, Southern Industrial was not as competitive in the western part of North Carolina and South Carolina prior to this merger. With Gibson now on the Southern Industrial team, we can cost-effectively compete for work all over North and South Carolina, and we have a bigger footprint to serve the Southeastern US.”

Southern also has depots in Raleigh and Wilmington North Carolina, and Columbia, South Carolina. The company employs 800 people and cranes up to 120t. Southern’s new general manager for the Kings Mountain depot is David Currier, who began work in the industry with his father in law at SC&RA founding company Lamasco Transfer, Crane & Rigging.