A ‘win-win’ for all

S&L Industrial sells but will remain in Cowley

In the mid-1980s, a young David Rael was working for the NL Baroid bentonite plant east of Lovell when the bottom dropped out of the oil industry. Having moved from Los Angeles to Wyoming as a teen, he wanted to stay in the Cowboy State – a state he had come to love -- though many of his family members were returning to California.

He stayed, and the rest, as they say, is history as Rael started a company, S&L Industrial, that grew into the largest independently owned traffic control company in Wyoming while expanding its services over the years.

After 39 years in business, S&L sold recently to Road Safety Services, Inc. but will continue to operate north of Cowley.

It’s been quite the journey for David and wife Jennie Rael, one that began with a painting device.

“We had moved from Los Angeles in 1972, and in 1985-86 I was working at Baroid as a shift foreman when the oil industry went to heck,” Rael said during an interview at his office in Cowley. “They started laying people off, and I saw the handwriting on the wall. I was one of the last ones laid off, and most of my family moved back to California, but I was bound and determined not to raise my kids in a big city.”

Rael said his uncle tried to entice him to move back to California, but he was dead set on staying, so his uncle instead sent him an airless paint sprayer, and he started painting bridges under his new company, S&L Industrial.

“I did some house painting, very, very little, and some fence painting, just whatever it took to survive, literally,” Rael said. “And then it just evolved from there. And once I got into industrial bridge painting, I saw a niche for highway traffic control. And then I saw a niche for guardrails. Then I saw a niche for permanent signage.

“And from there we went into rumble strips, and now we do a lot of highway striping, and it’s been very good.”

This summer, S&L employed some 247 workers at its peak and has had as many as 310 employees during the summer in multiple states, Rael said. About 30 permanent, full-time people work for the company year-round.

The company is multi-faceted in the highway construction business: bridge painting, highway striping, traffic control services, flagging personnel, construction signage, permanent signs, guardrails, rumble strips and more. It has been a great business for the community and the Rael family, he noted.

But as Rael reached and passed his mid-60s, he decided it was time to simplify and reduce the stress in his life.

“I’m in the twilight of my years left on this earth, I guess, and I want to go dance with my wife,” he said. “She (Jennie) has worked harder than anybody in this company. I’m not joking. Since she has been here – 1994 -- she’s been nonstop, and anything I’ve asked her to accomplish got accomplished, and then some.”

David Rael is president of S&L Industrial, Jennie Rael vice president.

Working with major highway projects, much of S&L’s business was in other parts of the state, especially southern Wyoming, and after each summer of work all of the equipment was brought back north to Cowley. Finally, several years ago, S&L was able to set up a shop and yard in Rock Springs, which allowed the company to be more efficient.

As the Raels began looking into retirement, they knew they essentially had two options: find a buyer for the company or close up shop and hold an auction.

“We were able to find a good buyer -- well, the buyer found us -- and they’re in the growth mode, big time growth mode. And it’s a win-win for everybody, a win-win for Jennie and I, and it’s a win-win for our employees,” he said.

The purchaser, Road Safety Services, Inc. of Omaha, Nebraska, is – according to the company website – “a market-leading provider of pavement marking and traffic control services in numerous locations across the United States” providing services to customers in 14 states.

During the summer, RSS purchased Streamline Markings of Billings, which specializes in pavement painting and marking. Streamline will merge into S&L, and the regional office for the new entity will be in Cowley, Rael said.

“We’re not going away from Cowley,” Rael said. “They loved the office. They loved the area. I tell people all over there is no Shangri-La in this life, but Cowley and the Big Horn Basin is a piece of Heaven.”

As RSS purchased Streamline, the company was in negotiations to purchase S&L, a process that took 10 months, Rael said. The transaction finally closed on September 1. Though the deal was done in September, the company is currently in a transition period as David and Jennie, technically vice presidents now, gradually pull away from day-to-day operations. As the transition unfolds Casey Schatz becomes the general manager for Montana and Wyoming, Kimberly Angell becomes the regional safety administrator and Nicholas Sponsel becomes the regional estimator for all projects.

Jennie has been in the middle of it all, working tirelessly, even many weekends, on the paperwork and accounting that came with the change in ownership.

“There are some things they do a lot different than what we were accustomed to, and Jennie and her staff are up to their necks trying to keep up,” David said. “She wears so many hats in this company. It’s unbelievable.”

Rael is proud and grateful to be able to keep dozens of well-paying jobs in Cowley and preserve the workforce the company has built. He said Schatz has worked for S&L for 27 years, Kimberly Angell 31 years and Martin Consuelos 39 years, progressing to striping superintendent.

As they step aside, David and Jennie Rael will be available to consult, and Jennie noted that they will still hold bird hunts for contractors who love to hunt.

A life of service

Not only do the Raels hold bird hunts for contractors, they donate six to eight hunts a year to nonprofit organizations with the requirement that the organization bring at least two youths along on the hunt to teach them a love of hunting and the outdoors.

They also donate to myriad fundraisers in the community – “We’ve never turned one down,” David said – and the Raels hold an annual Fourth of July picnic at their home in Cowley complete with a bountiful meal (they supply the meat), live music, games for kids, dancing, special guests and a grand fireworks display at the end – all free for the community. They always honor veterans at the picnic.

The event started as a block party more than 40 years ago and was opened up to the general public some 25 years ago, they estimate.

The Raels support county fairs in both Big Horn and Park County, plus 4-H, and provide crossing guards on Main Street in Cowley on the main highway crossing to the elementary school. They also earnestly support their children and grandchildren in myriad activities, attending numerous ballgames, concerts and other events.

One aspect of their lives that they plan to keep is their ranch work, a cow-calf operation managed by son Tyler Angell. Many young people in the community have worked for the Raels and learned a great deal, Jennie said.

How does a lad from Los Angeles find a love of agriculture?

“I had a passion for livestock when I was a kid, and it’s like farming. The more you put in, the more you get out,” David said. “And there’s some real successful farmers around here, and ranchers. I’m not one of them yet, but I certainly am striving for that. … You know, farm life, if it’s done right it’s hard to beat. To raise your kids in that environment, you can’t beat it.

“I mean, you go to LA and ask 12-year-olds how to jump start a pickup. And they’ll say, ‘What’s a jump start? You ask anybody in this Big Horn Basin that’s worked on a farm, ‘Go jump start that,’ (and they know how).”

David Rael also served as a member of the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission, appointed by Gov. Matt Mead in 2015 and elected president of the commission in 2019. It was a role that allowed him to channel his love of hunting and fishing into serving the people of Wyoming.

As David and Jennie Rael prepare to step away from a business they grew into a true success story and now focus on chasing cows and grandchildren, they can take pride in a job well done – actually many jobs well done -- and the knowledge that they have embraced and loved a community they call home.