GROWING LOUISIANA MANUFACTURER E.I. WILLIAMS INVESTS IN ISO CERTIFICATION

News Release

For Immediate Release                                                                      Contact: Kayla Gentry

February 4, 2022                                                                                 (337) 394-2764

With the help of Louisiana economic development organizations working in collaboration, the Louisiana location facility is prepared to embark on their next endeavor toward growth

SAREPTA, La. –In only two years time, Louisiana manufacturing facility E.I. Williams, established in 2020, is ready to take the next evolutionary step in the manufacturing process: ISO certification.  ISO (International Organization for Standardization) certification verifies that a manufacturing process has all the requirements for standardization and quality assurance. This endeavor can be extensive in scope and a very document intensive process for any company, but for E.I. Williams President, Jim Williams, the commitment is a worthwhile investment.

“This is the natural next step in our company’s development, enabling expansion and growth.  For our company to reach its goals, we’ve worked with the Louisiana Community & Technical College System Manufacturing Extension Partnership of Louisiana to assist us in this new venture and are excited to see the growth it brings to our company and to North Louisiana,” said Williams.

After assessing initial needs with LCTCS College, Northwest Louisiana Technical Community College, the Manufacturing Extension Partnership of Louisiana continued discussions with E.I. Williams about potential growth with an ISO certification in 2021.

“We are excited to have the opportunity to work with manufacturing companies like E.I. Williams.   Through our partnership with NLTCC, we were introduced to E.I. Williams CFO, Mr. John Tsertos.   After a facility tour and business assessment conducted with E.I. Williams, Mr. Tsertos requested interviews with MEP of LA resources to scope and provide ISO Certification proposals to consider.   E.I. Williams plans to kick off their ISO Certification project in January and we expect to be ready for certification by December 2022,” said Baxter Saucier, Operations Director of the LCTCS MEP of Louisiana.

After having created more than 30 jobs in the North Louisiana region and exceeding their 2021 hiring goals, the company is planning to reach over 50 new hires in 2022. According to Williams the next obvious and logical step to their quickly growing Louisiana facility was an ISO certification.  With the certification will come the opportunity for more expansion by opening additional market shares, a global competitor status and two additional product lines, which they will sell and market as an ISO certified manufacturer.

Additional economic development partners, like Louisiana Economic Development (LED) and North Louisiana Economic Partnership, were instrumental in the company’s decision to locate in Webster Parish in 2020. The Canadian firm chose Louisiana over other states based on various attractive factors including proximity to customer base, expanding their business into Central and South America, and training opportunities available to potential workforce.

“LED is proud to have played such a pivotal role in E.I. Williams’ decision to expand into Louisiana two years ago, and very pleased with the continued partnership that we have enjoyed with this growing company,” said Don Pierson, Secretary of Louisiana Economic Development. “Our Office of International Commerce works tirelessly to not only attract new businesses to our state but to ensure they succeed, with the help of LED FastStart’s No. 1 nationally ranked workforce development team and our higher education partners at LCTCS and NLTCC. We salute E.I. Williams on their path to ISO Certification and look forward to continuing to support them as they invest in one of Louisiana’s rural communities.”

The assistance from these organizations as well as the local Northwest Louisiana Technical Community College (NLTCC) is what helped to cement their decision to expand their footprint as a Louisiana manufacturer.

“NLTCC has had the pleasure of working with EI Williams since operations began in 2021.  They have hired several of our graduates and current students train on specialized materials donated by the company.  We look forward to continuing to partner with them as they work with MEP of LA and rise to even greater levels of advanced manufacturing.,” said Earl Meador, NLTCC Chancellor.  It was also the firm’s decision to employ only local resources for the engineering and building process of their 50,000-square-foot facility.  The Webster Parish facility is the company’s first manufacturing site in the U.S.

Headquartered in Ajax near Toronto, Canada and established in 1992, E.I. Williams serves a global client base, providing quality silencer and noise enclosure products for businesses and industries. E.I. Williams produces intake silencers and discharge silencers for rotary positive blowers; pod silencers for rotary positive blowers; fan silencers; centrifugal compressor silencers; vent silencers; engine silencers; and noise enclosures.

“We want to be a big part of our community,” said Jim Williams, E.I. Williams President.  “E.I. Williams has been in business for 30 years and has matured and morphed into what it is today.  We couldn’t do that without investing in our company, in North Louisiana, and its people.”

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About E.I. Williams
Designing and developing superior quality products and services for businesses and industries since 1992, E.I. Williams is a renowned manufacturer of industrial silencers and noise enclosures, serving the global client base for more than 20 years. The company is a reputable and preferred industrial silencer center specialist, with business operations spanning North America. E.I. Williams presents specialized, fully integrated metal-fabrication facilities, well-equipped with CNC machines and automatic welding machines. For more information, visit eiWilliams.com.

About the LCTCS Manufacturing Extension Partnership of Louisiana

The Manufacturing Extension Partnership of Louisiana (MEP of LA) is operated by LCTCS in partnership with the National Institute of Standards and Technology and a national network of Manufacturing Extension Partnerships based in every state. MEP of LA provides a full range of services to manufacturers, including growth and cost-reduction strategies, website development and branding, process and quality improvement, engineering and prototyping, facility layout and leadership training. All activities are focused on increasing productivity, profitability, and manufacturing success. MEP of LA also can connect manufacturers to workforce development services offered by all 12 LCTCS colleges. For more information, visit mepol.org.