For a much of its lifespan, The Newtron Group Inc. operated under the radar in Baton Rouge’s petrochemical industry.
But that started to change under its outgoing president Bruce Beard.
Beard, who’s retiring effective June 30, is credited with helping the company to step out from the shadows and toot its horn as an industry leader.
Current vice president of operations John Schempf will succeed Beard, who will stay on as a consultant for the company.
“We did start to somewhat toot our own horn a little bit,” David Funes, the company’s director of marketing and business development, says of The Newtron Group under Beard’s tenue.
And why shouldn’t it?
Since its founding in 1973, The Newtron Group evolved to become one of the largest privately owned speciality industrial construction companies in the U.S. It’s one of the nation’s leading industrial electric and instrumentation providers.
The company’s 2014 revenues are estimated to be $435 million, up from the $360 million in 2013 and just under its estimated 2012 earnings of $442 million, according to Business Report’s Top 100 private companies listing. Its workforce averages anywhere between 2,500 and 3,000 workers.
Funes says Beard introduced somewhat of a corporate identity makeover for the company.
“We changed our logos and came out with some new company marks. He also lead a charge to come up with a slogan that defined (founder and owner Newton Thomas’) core values and beliefs,” he says.
This is at least part of the legacy Beard will leave when he steps away from the helm of the company.
Beard has been with The Newtron Group for more than 39 years. He has spent the last 13 as president, having succeeded Thomas in that leadership role.
Funes says Beard maintained much of The Newtron Group’s culture—promoting from within to give long-term employees leadership opportunities. One example is the promotion of Wes Mincin as general manager of The Newtron Group’s largest local entity, Triad Electric & Controls. Mincin most recently served as the assistant general manager.
“He (Bruce) promoted the thought of company sharing with the employees, and he put together a management team and empowered those managers to take care of their operations,” Funes says. “He started some quarterly meetings of all of this managers to share ideas—lessons learned so everybody could provide updates on a quarterly basis.” Funes also says Beard has kept the company’s core values at the forefront.
Neither Beard or John Schempf were available to comment before today’s deadline.
But Funes says the company has been preparing for Beard’s imminent transition over the course of the fiscal year, which ends June 30.
Schempf, Funes says, already has taken on many of Beard’s responsibilities. And while the company’s leadership may be in transition, Funes says nothing else will change substantially.
“We have a company culture that exists,” Funes says. “We’re going to do everything the same way.”
—Alexandria Burris
