“We evolved to accommodate the Marcellus shale gas boom because that’s how construction companies survive; they evolve. For us, evolution means having 8 employees in 1970 and more than 300 today.”
Scott Linde is the President of Linde Corporation. He has been with the company since it was essentially one employee back in 1965. Back then Scott was still in high school and the “company” was a few old pieces of construction equipment his grandfather had left over from the 40’s. Scott jokes that while his daughter goes to college with a computer in her car, he went to college with a jackhammer in the back of his.
Today, Linde Corporation is more than 300 people and a $20 million state-of-the-art construction fleet generating more than $50 million in annual revenues. Linde Corporation is a utility-oriented pipeline construction company. Scott Linde refers to Linde as “The Plumbers with Big Wrenches.”
Scott has guided Linde through a continuous evolution starting with utility work for homes in the 60’s, on to rebuilding the Wyoming Valley infrastructure after the Hurricane Agnes flood of 1972, then to installing community water and sewer lines for the Clean Water Act in the 80’s, to “Big Box” site development in the 90’s and now into the Marcellus shale gas boom. All the while the company has held blanket contracts with most of the regional utilities.
Scott led Linde’s international expansion as well with the formation of Linde International. In 1997 LII joined the giant Turkish construction firm The Summa Group, a partnership which has led to major projects in Eastern Europe and Western Africa.
In addition to establishing Linde as the region’s premier high-technology utility and heavy construction contractor, Scott has made his passion for environmental preservation a company hallmark. He was an early an important board member of the Lackawanna River Corridor Association, charged with protecting the river from acid runoff from old coal mines. He worked with the Rail/Trail groups, helping to acquire enough land access to develop a 39-mile corridor in Lackawanna county. Recipient of several regional conservation and river stewardship awards, he is affiliated with numerous environmental and construction industry associations.
Linde Corporation has recently finished construction of its new corporate headquarters and maintenance facility in the O’Hara Industrial Park in Pittston. After 45 years, all of Linde’s facilities will be in one central location instead of being spread over 3 counties. Scott says it’s about time.