Interviewer: Victoria Phaneuf

Affiliation: University of Arizona

Carl Crawford was recommended to our study team by office personnel at Signal International. When contacted, he agreed to an interview. The interview took place at the Shell Landing Country Club.

Mr. Crawford was born in 1943 in Greenville, Mississippi. He worked for several equipment companies, including Caterpillar, in Mississippi and Louisiana before meeting J. L. Holloway, who shortly thereafter helped form Ham Marine. From 1981 to 1998, he was vice-president of marketing for Ham Marine, which was later rechristened Friede Goldman International (and at the time of the interview was Signal International). He discusses the history and growth of the company, their first contracts with ODECO, the importance of their contracts with Noble Drilling in helping the company go public, and their failed attempt to get into new builds. Important in growing the business were establishing a stable labor force and gaining the trust of customers. However, in the company’s formative years, they benefited from the historical presence of Ingalls Shipyard and the availability of a skilled workforce that could be hired and laid off in accordance with industry cycles. He also mentions the difficulties in bidding for drilling rig jobs, supply issues related to planning, the current problems recruiting skilled workers and the recent moves to subcontracting more of their labor force, the changes in the involvement of clients in their work and the necessity that fabricators become more sophisticated, and the consolidation of the drilling industry.