ECF was founded by Al Meitl, a leader in the heated liquid terminal industry, as well as a Hall of Fame inductee in the Association of Modified Asphalt Producers (AMAP). Since founding the company in 1994, Al has continued to grow ECF with the help of an incredible team of heating equipment experts and industrial construction project management professionals.
Al Meitl
PRESIDENT AND CEO
Al started ECF Inc. in 1994 as a small welding and industrial insulation company in Moweaqua, Illinois, with just 20 employees. ECF now has a team of more than 100 professionals offering a full complement of services from inception through startup and more than 30 years of proven experience. As a single-source partner for heated liquid terminal design and construction, the leadership under the guidance of Al and his team have a solid past performance of bringing projects to completion on time, within budget while exceeding customer expectations.
Keith Baalmann
VICE PRESIDENT
Keith has more than 27 years of experience in industrial construction project management, design, scheduling, site safety, contract management, and quality control with a focus on the asphalt storage terminal industry. He has experience with projects ranging from +$30 million ground up green & brown field projects to minor additions and expansions in existing terminals. At ECF, he manages all day-to-day operations and is the direct point of contact for customer and project development and leads new projects from concept to completion. Keith focuses on project safety, owner satisfaction, and project schedule from start to completion.
Cindy Prewett
ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER
Cindy is a multifaceted professional with over 26 years of experience with ECF. She provides administrative management, executive support and financial oversite for all ECF’s endeavors. Cindy manages the company’s financial health by overseeing financial transactions with both vendors and customers ensuring meticulous AP and AR activities. Cindy works closely with our project managers on all of ECF’s projects supplying financial tracking and back-office support. In addition, Cindy also directs ECF’s Human Resources activities and oversees the daily office functions.
Curt Macke
FABRICATION DIVISION MANAGER
Curt has over 23 years of experience with ECF's fabrication division and in the heated liquid terminal industry. He holds a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis and a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering with a Structural Emphasis from the Missouri University of Science and Technology. From simple temperature control systems to full scale PLC controlled PMA process skids, Curt’s experience in customizing process skids to each customer’s needs has helped give ECF a wide breadth of knowledge in process sensors, electrical design, and process control techniques.
Mark Hanson
INSULATION DIVISION MANAGER
Mark has more than 34 years of experience in the industrial construction industry with a focus on insulation and heat tracing systems, including electrical, steam, fluid, and thermal insulation. Marks also oversees ECF’s Insulation Cover business that designs and fabricates removable insulation covers that are used in facilities to protect employees and increase energy efficiency with heated assets. He has managed projects in chemical plants, refineries, power plants, fabrication facilities and shipyards, installing turnkey freeze protection systems, process maintenance systems, and specialty heat tracing applications from design through start up. As Insulation Project Manager, Mark is dedicated to establishing and maintaining positive project results, customer relationships, safety culture, and a quality of work that is second to none.
Tom DeLorbe
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Tom has more than 36 years of experience in the industry and is overseeing ECF’s business development bringing increased value to customers and shareholders. Tom has a degree in Industrial Production Management from University of Northern Iowa. He has a wealth of experience and talent having worked with Koch Industries as the Operations Manager for the Western U.S., and as the International Operations Manager and Director of Compliance for China, Russia, Brazil and Mexico. He has also worked for SemGroup Energy Partners, L.P. with roles in Business Development, Asphalt Sales Manager for Western U.S., President of SemMaterials, L.P. Mexico, and Vice President of Corporate Services.
Andrew Connor
PROJECT MANAGER
Andrew graduated from the Missouri University of Science and Technology with Bachelor of Science degrees in both Mechanical Engineering and Aerospace Engineering. Andrew worked for Actemmx as a Project Engineer and Project Manager for 5 years before joining ECF in 2018. Andrew is currently a Project Manager at ECF. His responsibilities include the development of new projects, owning the design, estimating, permitting and construction of assets.
Kermit Gardner
PROJECT MANAGER
Kermit received a Bachelor of Science, Biochemistry/Biotechnology from the University of Missouri. Kermit’s previous 10 years of experience included roles of Construction Manager for four years, overseeing the installation of emission reduction systems at coal fired power plants; 5 years as a Service Engineer that performed design, installation and commissioning of emission reduction systems in coal fired power plants; and 1 year as an Assistant Project Manager estimating new projects and overseeing installations of production lines in industrial manufacturing plants. Kermit joined ECF in 2023 as a Project Manager, where his responsibilities include designing, estimating and building new projects.
Tony McCormac
FABRICATION PROJECT MANAGER
Tony has over 10 years of experience in industrial automation and controls. This includes seven years commissioning and starting up systems in the energy sector with a focus on emissions reduction at coal-fired power plants, and four years managing system upgrades, retrofit projects, and custom fabrication initiatives at a leading OEM for biowaste decontamination systems. He has built a strong foundation in control systems, PLCs, electrical integration, and process equipment, supported by formal education at Ranken Technical College and continued hands-on field experience. Tony manages the design, fabrication & assembly, and field commissioning of ECF’s process skid assemblies including polymer modified asphalt blending skids, warm oil skids, and polyphosphoric acid skids. He also manages other ECF custom fabricated offerings such as in-line blending skids, material reclaim boxes, and Accu-Temp temperature control systems.
Joey Tarpeo
PIPING DESIGNER
Joey received his Drafting and Design degree in 2005 and since then has developed a strong background in mechanical engineering drawings in both 2D and 3D design. His work includes creating blueprints to complex 3D design packages. Joey has past work experience creating drawings for automatic car wash systems and as a piping system designer. Since joining ECF in 2019 he has been responsible for creating prints, 3D piping assemblies and P&ID packages.
Kevin Wilkinson
PIPING DESIGNER
Kevin has over 31 years experience in the design of piping systems and creating 3D Models and 2D drawings. Kevin's extensive experience comes from working with refineries, power plants, chemical plants, commercial structures and of course asphalt and emulsion terminals. Kevin's duties have required him to perform field surveys sketches and walk-downs. He is fluent in CADWorx, AutoCAD, Navisworks and Microsoft products. Kevin has over 9 years’ experience with ECF, joining the team in 2015.
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