"We've quadrupled in size since 1998," he said. "Sales are up 35 percent from last year, and we have had double digit increases in sales volume for the last four years."

Though most of our work is outside the State of West Virginia, most of our employees are West Virginian's who are well trained and hard working. Ninety-five percent of our work force of nearly 300 employees live in the Mid-Ohio Valley or the Kanawha Valley Areas.

In 1972, Clark, his Father and two former Union Carbide employees started a safety valve repair company, Industrial Valve Services, in Clark's backyard, "where the dirt basketball court was located".

"We bought a cement mixer from Ward's to pave the floor, and ran an extension cord from the house to the office trailer in the side yard," states Mr. Clark.

By the late 1970's, the company had turned to high pressure water cleaning applications (a new technology at the time) and vacuum truck services. Now the IVS Group maintains sales offices in Pittsburgh, PA, Lexington, KY, and Tampa, FL., buys more than $1.5 million dollars of equipment each year and annually bids 200 to 300 projects throughout the country.

IVS keeps expanding geographically, outward from West Virginia and its surrounding neighbor states into the entire eastern United States. The main operating office remains in Waverly (with the same phone number of the 8-party line Clark's family shared with neighbors in the late 1950's) but new corporate offices and shop facilities have been constructed on a 39 acre complex in Institute, WV.

Four acquisitions and new customers have contributed to the company's growth over the past 11 years. "We're a private company; so our capitol resources have been produced internally and have been reinvested in equipment for our growth and expansion," states CEO Fred Clark, the only remaining stockholder of the company.

IVS has increased its presence in the utility industry and their newest division Industrial SiloSource, provides cleaning and repair services nationwide for the silo and bulk storage industry. IVS Industrial Coatings performs surface preparation and applies high-performance coatings to prevent corrosion. IVS Environmental specializes in spill response and remediation and the IVS Cleaning division uses circulating chemical solutions to clean process equipment.

Operating 24-7 the company maintains 210 vehicles for both scheduled work and emergency situations.

IVS Hydro uses water blasting, from 5,000 to 40,000 psi, for a variety of restoration, removal and cleanup work. The IVS Hydrodemolition division specializes in "fast track hydrodemolition", a process that quickly removes deteriateddetoriateddeteriorated concrete from bridges, using water under very high pressure. Twelve rigs in the hydrodemolition division repair over 1.5 million square feet of concrete surfaces a year throughout the country. Computer controlled robotics make hydrodemolition effective for elevated roadways, parking structures, vertical walls, tunnels and high traffic areas.

IVS also maintains membership in national and international organizations such as the Water Jet Technology Association, NACE, (the National Organization of Corrosion Technology), and the state and national contractors associations. As exhibitors at national and international shows such as the annual World of Concrete in Las Vegas and the International Bridge Conference in Pittsburgh, IVS proudly represents its home state in the national and global marketplace, while expanding business base far beyond its West Virginia roots.