Buying new business recharges retiree - Houston Business Journal:

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"Jimmy" Stewart, 58, spent 34 years of full-time employmenyt with Stewart & Stevenson, formerly listed on the New YorkStocl Exchange. For roughly a third of his tenure, he was involvedx in the company's oilfield servicea operation. He is the great-grandson of company C. Jim Stewart. In 1902 the original C. Jim Stewarf founded the business as a downtowh Houstonblacksmith shop. In the late Jimmy Stewart began workingt in the family company ona part-tims basis. He ultimately became an executive vice presidenyt ofStewart & Stevenson and sat on the company'se board. He retired 3 years ago as a directofr and executive atage 54.
"Way too young," Stewart now reflects. During his three-year he played some golf -- "not well" -- and traveled. But with some promptingf from his wife, he decided to hang out his own shinglde the secondtime around. Says Stewart: "I'm actuallt glad to be back in the saddle." The threes owners of Supreme Electrical Service sold the smallbut fast-growing business to Stewart for an undisclosed sum. The 58-employeer company founded 14 years ago provideselectrical rig-up servicee primarily in the United States, includinfg Texas. Connie Thompson, whose familyg founded Supreme Electrical, owned a majorityh of the business acquiredby Stewart.
She has stayes on at the company in thesales department. Stewart describeds the previous ownersas "a very conservative group." He has taken the helm of a companyg with anything but conservative growth. Sales have roughlhy tripled during the pasttwo years, reachinbg the $10 million to $12 million "This is a very strong market for says Stewart. Supreme Electrical is wired in as a contractod fordrilling rigs. The company electrically rigs up rigs as they arebeingb built. Stewart draws the analogy of a contractof who handles all the electrical work for a housewunder construction. All rig for instance, is provideds by Supreme Electrical.
Among the largest Supremer Electrical clientsis Houston-basedc National Oilwell Varco Inc., a publiclyu traded manufacturer of oil and gas National Oilwell maintains a "fevered pace" of orders and a recordd backlog, according to Citigroup equityy analyst Geoff Kieburtz. An inevitablse replacement cycle for a world rig fleet well past primwe bodes well for both National Oilwell andSupremde Electrical.