Thursday, June 9- Chris McCabe joined the show at the Southern Gas Association Spring Gas Conference back in March.
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Episode Transcript
[0:00] music] [0:00] [0:00] …Chris McCabe: [0:00] sponsors. [0:00]
James Cross: [0:25] Of everything, just life. We’d like to go fishing more. [0:00]
Chris: [0:29] You can come fishing. For some odd reason, I have met two fly fishing guides independently in the last months. [0:00]
James: [0:36] Did you talk to the guy at Alan Edwards? Holy cow. [0:00]
Jim Schauer: [0:39] Welcome to this episode of “Coffee with Jimmy & James.” We are excited to be here at SGA, Columbia, South Carolina, with our good friend Chris McCabe. [0:00] [0:48] I’m trying to get us back on track. These guys are talking about fishing, barbecue, Tennessee, hunting… [0:00]
James: [0:54] Man stuff. [0:00]
James: [0:55] We hadn’t got to it yet. [0:00]
Chris: [0:58] We didn’t do that one yet. [0:00]
James: [1:01] That’s later. [0:00] [0:00] …
Chris: [1:02] that was on the… [0:00]
Jim: [1:04] For Wyatt, man stuff. [0:00]
James: [1:01] We’re going to cover a lot of ground today. [0:00]
Jim: [1:04] We are. [0:00]
James: [1:04] ‘Cause we’re going to let this one flow. We have tried and tried and tried and tried to record this episode. [0:00]
Jim: [1:14] Yes. [0:00]
James: [1:15] And there were a lot of signs possibly along the way… [0:00] [0:00] [
Chris: [1:19] laughs] [0:00]
James: [1:19] …that it wasn’t a good idea. [0:00]
Jim: [1:21] That it should not happen. [0:00]
James: [1:22] But here we are, powering through it anyway. [0:00]
Chris: [1:24] Yeah, absolutely. [0:00]
Jim: [1:24] This will be it. We will do it. [0:00]
James: [1:27] ‘Cause that’s Chris McCabe’s style. [0:00]
Jim: [1:30] There’s no stopping… [0:00]
Chris: [1:30] Powering through, yeah. [0:00]
Jim: [1:31] There’s no stopping him. [0:00]
Chris: [1:32] Bull in a china shop. [0:00]
James: [1:33] Welcome to the show, Chris. [0:00]
Chris: [1:34] Thank you so much. I’m happy to be here. [0:00]
James: [1:35] Long time coming. [0:00]
Jim: [1:36] It’s good to have you here. [0:00]
Chris: [1:38] It is. It is. [0:00]
Jim: [1:40] It’s good having you here, brother. It’s good seeing you. [0:00]
James: [1:39] Tell us a little bit about Chris Georges Sales… [0:00]
Jim: [1:43] Inc. [0:00]
Chris: [1:43] Inc. [0:00]
James: [1:43] I call it CGS. [0:00]
Chris: [1:48] CGS. [0:00]
Jim: [1:48] So do I. [0:00]
James: [1:48] That’s a cool name. [0:00]
Chris: [1:51] It is. Thank you. Well, Chris Georges was my grandfather on my mom’s side and mid‑’70s, he started Chris Georges Sales and kind of decided to go out on his own. And he started out in my mom’s bedroom when she went off to school. [0:00] [2:07] So he was just a factory rep, so it was all drop‑shipping at that time. And he was selling NIPAKs, which is the old orange plastic pipes. And I still have a couple of their fittings… [0:00] [[2:21] crosstalk] [0:00]
Jim: [2:22] That’s cool. [0:00] [0:00] …
Chris: [2:22] we’ve held onto. [0:00]
Jim: [2:23] That’s cool. [0:00]
Chris: [2:23] But you can feel the difference between modern polyethylene and that plastic, that orange plastic. [0:00]
James: [2:28] Sure. [0:00]
Chris: [2:29] It just feels brittle and it’s… [0:00]
James: [2:32] Totally different. [0:00]
Chris: [2:33] But it was new to the whole market. You know, it’s… [0:00]
Jim: [2:36] Yeah. [0:00] [0:00] …
Chris: [2:36] what the… [0:00]
Jim: [2:36] That replaced steel back in the day. [0:00]
Chris: [2:37] Right. Right. [0:00]
Jim: [2:38] That was the first, or one of the first generations… [0:00]
Chris: [2:41] He had… [0:00] [[2:41] crosstalk] [0:00] [0:00] …
Jim: [2:41] to the grid. [0:00]
Chris: [2:42] So he had that, and he got, he knew Bob Lyall Sr. when he worked, previously, in the natural gas industry. And Bob Lyall started Lyall and manufacturing. And they’ve been recently bought by Hubbell, but, so he had plastic pipe and Lyall’s products. [0:00]
Jim: [3:07] OK. [0:00]
Chris: [3:08] And that’s, that’s how it all started, and that’s how it was. He’s traveling around the southeast getting to know people, making relationships and… [0:00]
James: [3:15] And sell product. [0:00]
Chris: [3:16] Yeah. He sadly passed away 2014, 2015, but… [0:00]
Jim: [3:21] OK. Sorry about that. [0:00]
Chris: [3:23] Thank you. Before that, my mom had taken over. So she’s still president and owner of Chris Georges Sales. [0:00]
James: [3:30] Oh, wow. [0:00]
Chris: [3:31] And she worked closely with my dad until he recently passed. [0:00]
Jim: [3:35] I’m sorry about that, too. [0:00]
Chris: [3:37] Thank you. [0:00]
Jim: [3:38] Absolutely. [0:00]
Chris: [3:38] We’re getting through it. I’ve been there about three years now, a little more than three years. [0:00]
Jim: [3:44] Is that it? So we met three years ago, probably, right… [0:00]
Chris: [3:46] Right when I started. [0:00]
Jim: [3:46] …when you started. In the Carolinas we met, at… [0:00]
Chris: [3:48] And then COVID hit and we didn’t… [0:00]
Jim: [3:50] Yeah. [0:00] [0:00] …
Chris: [3:50] see each other for a year and a half. [0:00]
James: [3:52] Usually I make a joke here about how to make you feel younger, but it’s weird to say. So you started when you were 11? [0:00]
Jim: [4:02] It doesn’t work with him, three years. Started when he was 44. [0:00]
James: [4:06] He probably did. I mean, when it’s a family gig, I feel like by osmosis… [0:00]
Jim: [4:10] You probably grew up in the business. [0:00]
Chris: [4:12] Oh yeah. I was always around it. [0:00]
Jim: [4:15] Yeah. [0:00]
Chris: [4:15] I knew what, what was what? And I knew some of the local guys just ’cause they were at the shop or Dad was talking to them all the time. [0:00]
Jim: [4:22] Yeah. [0:00]
James: [4:23] You’re, like, in the floor playing trucks… [0:00]
Chris: [4:25] Yeah. [0:00] [0:00] …
James: [4:25] just learning. [0:00]
Chris: [4:26] Right, right. [0:00] [0:00] …
James: [4:26] learning the business. You didn’t even know it. [0:00]
Chris: [4:29] Learning quietly, yeah. [0:00]
James: [4:31] Just taking it all in. Well, it’s pretty awesome. You know, at Energy Worldnet, we’ve got several generations of families that work in our company. And that’s kind of neat to see that. Carlee’s here today, you know, with us. [0:00] [4:45] Kind of seeing that dynamic and those kid, and I’m not saying they’re kids now, but those kids that grew up in our company, by proxy, learning from their parents and going, “I want to get involved in natural gas.” You know? Or, “I want to get involved in what, you know, the business is.” So it’s really neat to see that come to life. [0:00]
Chris: [5:06] It’s just the people in industry, I think. It’s why… [0:00] [[5:10] crosstalk] [0:00]
Chris: [5:12] …onlookers want to be involved. [0:00]
Jim: [5:15] Yeah. [0:00]
Chris: [5:16] Everyone here’s nice and opening. [0:00]
Jim: [5:17] And once they get in… [0:00]
James: [5:19] I’m sure we’re not the only ones that have a, like, we feel like we’re brothers the first time we met kind of deal. I mean, I met several people today. [0:00]
Chris: [5:27] Yeah. [0:00]
James: [5:29] And I know a lot of people here, but I’ve met new people today that I’m like, “Wow, man.” [0:00] [0:00] [
Chris: [5:33] laughs] [0:00]
James: [5:34] “I’m glad I get to do this here with you.” You know, we’ll see each other again. [0:00]
Chris: [5:38] Absolutely. [0:00]
James: [5:38] You were one of those for me, that the minute I met you, we joked about it at the dinner I didn’t show up to last night. [0:00] [0:00] [
Chris: [5:47] laughs] That’s very true. Yeah. [laughs] [0:00]
Jim: [5:49] Allegedly did not show up. [0:00] [0:00] [
Chris: [5:51] laughs] [0:00]
Jim: [5:51] We showed up for a little bit. [0:00]
James: [5:52] Well, we were walking. Yeah, we were going to an after‑party kind of thing. We were walking, and I told Chris, I said, “Man,” or I was telling my wife, I said, “I just feel like I’ve known Chris forever. And I’ve only seen him three times in my whole entire life.” [0:00]
Chris: [6:05] Yeah. Yeah. [0:00]
James: [6:04] But that’s, that, that happens a lot in our industry. [0:00]
Jim: [6:08] It does happen a lot. And it’s, I would say, it’s somewhat unique to our industry but so common to our industry that we’ve had generations, and people are just used to it. But when people do come from other industries than ours, they’re like, “Wow, you guys are all friends. Wow, you know each other well. Wow, wait, that might be…” [0:00] [[6:23] crosstalk] [0:00] [0:00] …
James: [6:23] feel like it. [0:00] [0:00] …
Jim: [6:25] you know, “Isn’t that a competitor?” [0:00]
James: [6:25] Except for Chris. [0:00]
Jim: [6:25] “Are you not allowed to talk?” Well, except for Chris, of course. [0:00]
James: [6:28] Well, I think Joe says, Joe Serrett from UPSCO says, “You know, it’s really, it’s a really big industry and really small…” [0:00]
Jim: [6:37] Yes, definitely. [0:00] [[6:38] crosstalk] [0:00] [0:00] …
Chris: [6:38] all at the same time. [0:00]
James: [6:40] Somebody knows a guy, and he’s, like, the expert in that area, or, and you’re like, “Oh, I know that guy,” or “That’s what I was going to say.” It’s really neat. [0:00]
Jim: [6:49] Yeah. Chris Georges Sales. You guys are mostly in the southeast, east of the Mississippi, south of Tennessee or… [0:00]
Chris: [6:57] Kentucky. [0:00]
Jim: [6:58] …Kentucky? [0:00]
Chris: [6:58] Kentucky’s south… [0:00] [[7:00] crosstalk] [0:00]
Jim: [7:00] Kentucky. What do you guys, what’s your focus? Where do you spend a lot of your time? What’s your, what’s your niche into our whole marketplace? [0:00]
Chris: [7:08] Well, we’re, I guess… [0:00]
James: [7:10] What’s your claim to fame? [0:00]
Jim: [7:13] Yeah. [0:00]
Chris: [7:13] Claim to fame? [0:00]
James: [7:14] Personal and business. [0:00]
Chris: [7:16] Personal? [0:00]
James: [7:16] No, I’m just kidding. Please don’t answer that. [0:00]
Chris: [7:18] Yeah, I don’t know if I can… [0:00]
James: [7:19] I don’t want to start over again. [0:00] [0:00] …
Chris: [7:20] allowed to. Yeah. [laughs] [0:00]
Jim: [7:22] Get ready… [0:00]
James: [7:22] I don’t need another sign, Lord. [0:00] [0:00] [
Chris: [7:24] laughs] [0:00]
Jim: [7:24] Get ready to edit. No, I’m kidding. [0:00]
James: [7:25] I’m just kidding. [0:00]
Chris: [7:27] No, but our biggest products is tracer wire and wire connectors, as a matter of fact. It’s through Copperhead manufacturing, made in Fayetteville, Tennessee. That’s the copper‑clad steel tracer wire. [0:00] [7:39] So it’s steel core with copper sheeting around it, so you’re getting strength with the steel and your saving money because you have less copper in it. But it’s very popular, and we’re the number one gas distributor for that company in the US. But we move a lot of that tracer wire. [0:00]
Jim: [7:58] OK. [0:00]
Chris: [7:58] For some reason, it’s just how it happened. We didn’t necessarily put our efforts there. We, you know, selling it… [0:00] [[8:04] crosstalk] [0:00] [0:00] …
James: [8:04] good, right? [0:00]
Chris: [8:06] Yeah, that’s right, sometimes. [0:00]
James: [8:07] Sure, both. [0:00]
Jim: [8:08] Do me a favor. Do me a favor. Just for the audience that may not understand tracer wire, can you just give them a brief overview of what it does… [0:00]
Chris: [8:16] Sure. [0:00] [0:00] …
Jim: [8:17] just so they understand? [0:00]
Chris: [8:17] Sure. So every time a natural gas plastic service or, really, any utility that’s not metal is put in the ground, you’re supposed to put a wire with it in the ditch so that you can put a signal down that wire and from above ground locate where the utility roughly is. [0:00]
Jim: [8:40] Yep. [0:00]
Chris: [8:41] And so that, that helps the guys, when you’re adding on to your house, so you don’t dig into your natural gas line. [0:00]
James: [8:47] Sure. Damage prevention. [0:00]
Jim: [8:48] Damage prevention, i.e… [0:00]
James: [8:50] 100 percent. [0:00] [0:00] …
Jim: [8:50] I was setting you up. It’s a safety product that, I mean, it all has to do with keeping everybody safe… [0:00]
Chris: [8:55] Absolutely. [0:00]
Jim: [8:55] …so you don’t dig where you’re not supposed to. Yep, that’s good. [0:00] [[9:01] crosstalk] [0:00]
Chris: [9:01] Call 811. [0:00]
Jim: [9:03] Oh, wait, yeah, always call… [0:00]
James: [9:05] No free sponsors. All right, one. [0:00]
Jim: [9:07] OK, 811. [0:00] [0:00] [
James: [9:09] Carolina 811, right now we’ll give a shout‑out. Just kidding. We’ll do… [0:00] [[9:14] crosstalk] [0:00]
Jim: [9:13] That number is across the United States. So wherever you go, 811. [0:00]
James: [9:17] Call before you dig. [0:00]
Chris: [9:18] ‘Cause that is, I think, number one of all utility hits is they don’t call. Number two is unlocatable. [0:00]
Jim: [9:29] So if they didn’t have a tracer wire, it could be unlocatable because it’s plastic. It doesn’t get picked up by, quote, unquote, a metal detector. [0:00]
Chris: [9:35] Right. [0:00]
Jim: [9:36] OK. [0:00]
James: [9:36] Chris, I learned last night while we were walking to the dinner that I never showed up for… [0:00] [0:00] [
James: [9:45] that you’re really young… [0:00]
Chris: [9:49] I am. [0:00]
James: [9:49] …which is surprising. Let’s lean… [0:00]
Chris: [9:52] I just celebrated my 29th… [0:00] [0:00] …
James: [9:54] into that. [0:00] [0:00] …
Chris: [9:54] birthday, yeah. [0:00]
James: [9:55] No. [0:00] [0:00] [
James: [9:56] No, but really, and it brings up a point that we talked about… [0:00]
Jim: [9:59] Yeah. [0:00] [0:00] …
James: [9:59] earlier on another episode. But, Chris, there is, it’s something I’ve picked up along the hall here and in sessions is there’s a lot of youth coming in… [0:00]
Chris: [10:12] Yeah. [0:00] [0:00] …
James: [10:13] to our industry. We’ve got a lot of people coming in that are asking questions that maybe we haven’t asked for a long time and bringing innovations that we haven’t seen. And you’re a part of that, man. I mean… [0:00]
Chris: [10:26] Thank you. [0:00]
James: [10:26] …how does it feel to be a part and what are your thoughts and have any suggestions to folks that may be looking for somewhere to go. Is natural gas or a home for them? [0:00]
Chris: [10:40] I think there’s a home for anybody in this industry. It’s, to our point earlier, it’s a lot of nice people and welcoming. And most people I’ve ever talked to and asked a question, they have the answer or know someone who does and they’ll point in the right direction. [0:00] [10:55] When I started, like, about three years ago, there wasn’t many people around my age. And now, even now I’m seeing a lot more. Because there’s, there is going to be a changing of the guard soon in this industry with a lot of these old guys retiring and… [0:00] [0:00] [
James: [11:09] laughs] [0:00] [0:00] …
Chris: [11:10] kicking the bucket. No, I’m just kidding. [0:00] [[11:12] laughter] [0:00]
James: [11:13] It’s all right. It’s all right. [0:00]
Jim: [11:13] Somebody please rub my forehead. [0:00] [[11:15] crosstalk] [0:00]
Jim: [11:15] I need a second. No, but you’re, you’re right, though. The knowledge transfer is key. And we can’t stick a jump drive in and get all that. And it’s important for all of us to keep sharing that knowledge, you know? [0:00] [11:26] And I do mention this, too. The knowledge definitely goes on to the new generation, which is soaking it up like a sponge. That new generation also has so much to teach people like me. And I learn every day from them, so I… [0:00]
Chris: [11:38] We can open your email attachments and everything. [0:00]
Jim: [11:40] I’m still having trouble with that whole email… [0:00]
James: [11:42] We can show you how to open that PDF. [0:00]
Jim: [11:46] What is that, AOL dial‑up. Am I still good with that? [0:00]
Chris: [11:47] Like the noise? Yeah. [0:00]
James: [11:48] I learned a lot from Jimmy during the pandemic. [0:00] [0:00] [
Chris: [11:52] laughs] [0:00]
James: [11:52] I did. I really did. [0:00]
Jim: [11:55] What did you learn? [0:00]
James: [11:56] A lot. [0:00] [0:00] [
Jim: [11:56] laughs] Yeah. What did you learn? [0:00]
James: [11:58] I would have to get my notepad. [0:00] [0:00] [
Chris: [12:00] laughs] [0:00]
James: [12:00] It’s a long list. [0:00]
Chris: [12:02] Did you learn to use a notepad? [0:00]
James: [12:02] We did a lot together. [0:00]
Jim: [12:05] We did. [0:00]
James: [12:05] We learned a lot from each other. [0:00]
Jim: [12:07] Oh, we really did. I’m being serious. [0:00]
James: [12:08] Really. We’re not that different in age. I’m a lot closer to you than him. No offense to either of you there. [0:00]
Jim: [12:18] Jeez, I just feel like… [0:00] [0:00] [
Jim: [12:21] But you’re right, though, we did learn a lot, and we… [0:00]
James: [12:30] We did. [0:00] [0:00] …
Jim: [12:31] learned a lot together. And the one thing that this really is an idea about is how we took the pandemic, and there were some challenges, like you talked about. And because of our friendship, we wanted to have you on the show and to share the good word. [0:00] [12:36] And, and we’re blessed to have the show, to have this medium to bring all of us… [0:00]
James: [12:42] I just have to bring your attention to it. Over your shoulder, it’s like, let’s embrace. These people just saw each other, and that’s, I’ve seen it over and over at the show. [0:00]
Jim: [12:53] Yeah. [0:00]
James: [12:54] It’s been so good to be together again… [0:00]
Chris: [12:57] Yes, definitely. [0:00]
James: [12:59] And shake hands and laugh. We’ve laughed a ton. Full disclosure, we had to start this, like, four different times… [0:00] [[13:07] crosstalk] [0:00]
Jim: [13:07] It was seven. [0:00]
James: [13:07] And we don’t mess up a lot these days. [0:00]
Jim: [13:09] No, no, no, we had to, though. [0:00]
James: [13:10] We got the giggles. [0:00]
Jim: [13:11] Yeah. [0:00]
James: [13:12] It says a lot about our friendship. You’ve got a lot of friends in this room, and there’s a reason for it. [0:00]
Jim: [13:21] Absolutely. [0:00]
Chris: [13:21] Thank you. Thank you. That means a lot coming from you guys. [0:00] [0:00] [
Chris: [13:25] See… [0:00]
James: [13:25] All three times… [0:00] [0:00] …
Chris: [13:26] here comes a giggle. [laughs] [0:00]
James: [13:28] Well, I can’t, I gotta go. [0:00] [[13:31] laughter] [0:00]
Jim: [13:30] Chris, we like to end our episode with really giving you the stage. If there’s one word, one phrase, one sentence, one idea you would like to leave the audience? It could be anything. [0:00]
James: [13:42] Keep it clean. [0:00]
Jim: [13:43] Keep it very clean. [0:00]
Chris: [13:45] That makes it tough. [0:00]
Jim: [13:46] But, you know, if there’s anything that you wanted to. You know, we’ve had some people just say one word. Others have said a few sentences. So the stage is yours. [0:00]
Chris: [13:54] Well, I think family is very important, I think, in your personal and your business, professional life. Losing my dad recently kind of brings it all to, to light. And he was very much a family within this industry. [0:00]
Jim: [14:11] Absolutely was. [0:00]
Chris: [14:12] You know, he knew everybody, and a lot of people knew him. And you could hear him laughing across the room. So, but that’s, that’s, that’s what I think’s important. And coming from a family company, that, we’re pretty lean and mean and small, but that’s OK. [0:00]
Jim: [14:26] Yeah. [0:00]
James: [14:27] That’s cool. [0:00]
Chris: [14:27] We do what we need to do, and, but we’re a family at the same time. So be nice to people and be… [0:00]
James: [14:33] Amen, man. [0:00] [0:00] …
Chris: [14:33] have a good family life, you know? [0:00]
James: [14:35] Laugh about it. [0:00]
Jim: [14:37] That… [0:00] [[14:37] crosstalk] [0:00] [0:00] …
Jim: [14:37] made my day. [0:00]
Chris: [14:37] You can make your own family, so. [0:00]
James: [14:38] I never met your dad, but I feel like I did… [0:00] [0:00] [
Chris: [14:40] laughs] [0:00] [0:00] …
James: [14:41] if that makes sense. [0:00]
Jim: [14:43] Yeah. [0:00] [[14:43] crosstalk] [0:00]
James: [14:43] Appreciate you, brother. [0:00] [[14:45] crosstalk] [0:00]
Chris: [14:44] Thank you for having me. [0:00]
Jim: [14:45] Absolutely. [0:00]
Chris: [14:46] I really appreciate it. [0:00] [[14:47] crosstalk] [0:00]
Jim: [14:47] No, we appreciate it. It was great. Until next time on Coffee with Jimmy & James, have a great week. See you next time. [0:00] [[14:52] background music] [0:00]
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