Southern Industrial Constructors/Southern Crane Celebrates 45 Years of Business Success
Founder credits being in 'the right place at right time'
RALEIGH - After finishing his stint as a U.S. Navy officer in the Korean War, Earl Johnson Jr.
returned home to Raleigh and joined his father's insurance company - and then quickly realized
that insurance was not for him.
So while working his day job as an insurance agent, Johnson looked for another business
opportunity. In the course of insuring construction contractors around Raleigh, Johnson soon
discovered there were no rental cranes available in eastern North Carolina. Raleigh was rapidly
growing and the Research Triangle Park was just beginning to take shape.
Johnson was in the right place at the right time. In 1962, he started Carolina Crane Corp.,
purchasing his first crane, a brand-new Lorain Crane MC 325. Today, 45 years later, Johnson
vividly recalls that crane's first two jobs.
"The first day after we got the crane, we rented it to a company erecting an asphalt plant in
Wilson, where it remained for several weeks," he said. "While the crane was on that job site,
another contractor saw it. After the crane finished its work and we were driving it back to
Raleigh, this man drove up from behind and flagged us down about one mile down the road. He
asked if he could rent our crane for one month. We answered yes, turned the crane around and
followed him to the job site. The crane stayed on that job site for six weeks. By the time that job
finished, we had several more lined up.
"We learned two things right off the bat," Johnson added. "First, there was a real need for cranes.
Second, we needed to put our name and phone number on our cranes so people could call us
instead of having to run us down on the highway."
Within a year, Johnson's company acquired four more cranes. By 1964, there was enough crane
rental work that Johnson finally could quit his "day job" as an insurance agent. And in 1967,
Johnson expanded the company from a crane rental business into a contracting business.
One of the company's first contracting jobs was the grading for a new building at Duke
University. The crew ran into rock. The contract had a rock clause that stated something like if a
two-yard steam shovel excavator could not dig the soil then it was officially "rock."
So Johnson traveled to West Virginia, rented a two-yard steam shovel and put it on a train for
Durham to determine if the soil was "rock." Because it had not rained in a week, the red shale
was so hard the shovel could not dig it. Everyone involved agreed it was "rock" and that the
company's grading work would be paid at a higher "rock rate." Just as the company prepared to
dynamite the shale, it rained and the shale softened to where they could dig it with the same twoyard
steam shovel, but at the more expensive "rock rate."
In 1980, Johnson was elected president of the Specialized Carriers and Rigging Association
(SC&RA), a national trade group, and has continued to serve on its board of directors ever since.
In 1982, Johnson began operating his companies under the "Southern Industrial" banner, serving
as its chairman. John Wilson is president of Southern Industrial Constructors, and
Earl Johnson III is president of its crane operations, now known as Southern Crane.
Today, at age 76, Johnson shows no signs of slowing down. Last year, he donned his steel-toed
work boots and took on managing a difficult rigging job at the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill. The job later won the SC&RA's "Rigging Job of the Year" award.
Southern Industrial Constructors and Southern Crane recently hosted a 45th anniversary
celebration event during which company officials thanked clients for their patronage, and
recognized employees for their dedication and commitment to service excellence and safety.
For more than 45 years, Southern Industrial Constructors / Southern Crane has served as an
industry and community leader, taking pride in providing its services with safety, integrity,
quality workmanship and responsive customer care.
Southern Industrial provides a wide range of services throughout the Southeast, including
turnkey industrial construction, industrial electrical construction, turnkey plant installations and
relocations, turnkey rigging and plant maintenance service, and specialized metal fabrication.
Southern Crane provides state-of-the-art crane and rigging services, and has been a leader in a
national safety movement to encourage the certification of all crane operators. All of Southern
Crane's operators are CCO certified.
Because of their exemplary safety records, both Southern Industrial and Southern Crane are
among the few companies in the state recognized as STAR contractors by the N.C. Department
of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Division. To learn more about our 45 years of
business success, visit www.southernindustrial.com.
CONTACT:
Earl Johnson III,
president of Southern Crane,
919.782.4600.
6101 Triangle Drive
Raleigh, NC 27617
Phone: (919) 782-4600
Fax: (919) 782-2935
www.southernindustrial.com
