El Paso Times:
When Robert Freres started his business in El Paso 8 years ago, he was rebuilding starters and alternators for government fleet vehicles with his own hands and delivering them to clients in his plumber’s truck.
‘When I started out, it really was ma and pa,’ said Freres, who created TSS&P Industrial Parts and Supplies. ‘Basically I found a need and filled it.’
Over that 8 years, Freres‘ business has gone from rebuilding starters to securing a contract worth more than $100,000 modifying Humvees used on the Fort Bliss training ranges.
In between, his company began repairing engines and transmissions, and then power generators used by Patriot missile crews. When it came to the generators, ‘there was no (local) company that could provide technical support,’ Freres said. So, he went to the generator company’s headquarters in Germany where he was trained, and then paid the company to send people to train the rest of his staff in El Paso.
TSS&P has saved the Army hundreds of thousands of dollars, Freres said. ‘They save time and money versus ordering it through the supply system,’ he said.
As he expanded - the business now employs about 40 people, surging to as many as 70 depending on the jobs they have - he added what Freres calls ‘corrosion correction,’ which involves fixing rusted or corroded body work and applying protective coatings.
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