Cecil Perry Improvements LLC

Cecil Perry founded Cecil Perry Improvements LLC (CPI) in 1977 with just $700 and a lot of ambition. “We were a small mom and pop shop up until about 2003,” recalls Josh Cain, president of CPI. “We began to transition from mainly private work to heavy civil construction in the public sector. With new technology and a revitalized business plan, we proceeded to grow about 700 percent from 2003 to 2008.”

After the Louisiana-based company’s growth-spurt, Josh and several others decided to acquire CPI. “Cecil was getting ready to retire after the record growth and thought it was time to develop a succession plan,” explains Josh. “We purchased CPI in 2009, which was probably the worst possible time to do so with the economy, but it was a risk we were willing to take.”

Josh positioned himself to lead the company after many years of learning the ropes. “I started with CPI when I was still in college,” he says. “I dabbled in a little bit of everything, working my way through finance and estimating to project management.”

Today CPI operates as a full service civil construction and concrete contractor from Louisiana to eastern Texas. “We’re located in Lafayette, La., but cover four major cities from New Orleans to Houston and everything in between,” shares Josh. “We have 70 employees that make up a multifaceted team of carpenters and finishes who are ACI certified and able to construct almost anything out of concrete.”

Number One in the Local Market

CPI’s disciplines include walls, roads, tilt-up, structural, building slabs and parking lots. According to the company’s website, the CPI team pours an excess of 35,000 cubic yards of concrete annually. “I think it’s safe to say we’re the number one contractor in the local market,” reveals Josh. “Our background is in site contracting and earth work, but we’ve converted to a heavy highway company. We can do anything from residential streets to large commercial and industrial projects.”

According to Josh, CPI self performs over 95 percent of its work. “We’ll do everything except asphalt, stripping and electrical installations,” he says. “Self performing as much as we do is pretty challenging, considering we often have multiple projects going on simultaneously. At one point this year we had 11 active jobs, but our workload really depends on the market.”

When the private market began to disappear amid the onset of the economic downturn, CPI was able to rely on diversified service, transitioning to the public sector to survive. “We just completed a $9 million highway project in Youngsville, La.,” details Josh. “This was our biggest job of 2012. Over 14-months we laid 70,000-square-yards of concrete. We’re also wrapping up the $4 million Highway 97 in Jennings, La., for the Department of Transportation.”

CPI was also selected as the contractor on the first phase of the $2 million Halliburton Gulf Coast Manufacturing Facility Coulee Realignment Project, the beginning of a $65 million investment involving over 200,000 square feet of manufacturing space. During phase one, CPI moved 30,000 cubic yards of material and installed over 43,000 square feet of articulating black revetment. “Our initial performance earned us an additional $1.5 million contract consisting of 40,000 cubic yards of import fill and 30,000 square yards of cement stabilization,” adds Josh.

The Next Step

Josh admits the next step for CPI is to dive into the up-and-coming industrial market. “The governor of Louisiana is doing a good job brining big industry in and making our state attractive to large corporations,” he says. “We’re positioning ourselves to make a market push in grassroots industrial construction of these new facilities.”

Venturing into different sectors has always helped CPI remain competitive. “We saw our first dip in revenue back in 2009,” explains John. “But, by 2011 and 2012 we were growing again while others were struggling. Our reputation and ability to attract repeat customers in addition to our diversity market-wise has helped CPI survive.”

John stresses the importance of repeat business and earning credibility. “We’re one of the most highlighted contractors in this region as far as our capabilities because we’ve proven our reputation, time and time again,” he says.”

CPI celebrated its 30th year in business in 2007. “We had a celebration, but after we just kept on rolling and working hard; that’s how we do things around here,” adds Josh. From mom and pop shop to heavy commercial and industrial contractor, Cecil Perry Improvements LLC’s successful 36-year run is built on repeat customers and a reputation as solid as the concrete it specializes in.

For more information on Cecil Perry Improvements LLC, please visit: (www.cpicontractors.com)