Udelhoven Oilfield System Services Inc.

• Author: SAUNDERS, STACEY
• Position: Company Profile - Statistical Data Included

2000 Top 49er Ranking: 29

Position Last Year: 41

1999 Revenue: $38.5 million

Number of Employees: 272

The president and CEO of Udelhoven Oilfield System Services Inc. does not have a secretary. James Udelhoven has e-mail. Yet this recent change allows him to remain hands-on and responsive to customers and employees alike. Through e-mail, computerized project and personnel management systems, UOSS' organizational structure has grown "flat," successfully eliminating traditional levels of hierarchy found in corporate America.

Since 1997, UOSS has realized 17.26 percent growth. Revenues continue to increase with 1999 gross revenues of $38.5 million ($28 million earned in Alaska alone), up from 1998's consolidated gross $27 million ($22 million for Alaska). Clearly UOSS is doing something right Ask Udelhoven to explain his success and he states simply, Our biggest assets are our people. They are part of our success."

A father of five and native of Wisconsin, Udelhoven came to Alaska in 1968. On Atlantic Richfield's offshore platforms he applied skills developed as an electronics technician with the U.S. Navy and with John Deere: troubleshooting electronic and electrical systems.

Udelhoven says he learned different applications for the latest technology. Those skills translated to oilfield electronics and electrical applications. In 1970, he became a Kenai Peninsula contractor providing oilfield support services to his former employer, Atlantic Richfield. He served as his company's single employee.

As his reputation grew, so did the number of employees and his customer base. Although UOSS continued oilfield support in Cook Inlet and at Prudhoe Bay, services diversified to provide technical resources and supply for other commercial ventures. Udelhoven acknowledges today that the "Oilfield" in the corporate name is a little misleading. With personnel bringing a wealth of experience from a myriad of geographic locations and climates, UOSS expanded its services in response to market and industrial demands for centralized and/or onsite services.

The corporation's Web site sets out a dizzying array of industrial and commercial construction contracting services from conception and design to construction, mechanical and electrical inspection, functional check-out, Quality Assurance, Quality Control, plumbing, welding and modular fabrication.

High-tech meets a company philosophy unchanged after 30 years: offer customers flexible and diverse high-quality...