Gauthiers', a Lafayette-based supplier of oil and gas industry containers and support equipment, officially opened the doors to its newly relocated and expanded Houma facility with a community crawfish boil on Friday, April 11.

Approximately 200 invited guests dug into more than 1,000 pounds of boiled crawfish, toured the new facility and learned about the company's newest products. By moving to a larger, 6-acre property and constructing a new facility on Highway 182, Gauthiers' will substantially expand its capacity, including $2 million of offshore containers and baskets in addition to its current fleet of offshore rental equipment.

The company has also hired two full-time employees as a result of this growth: Houma natives Kevin Pizzolato and Jamie Usie. "We're responding to the ever-rising demands of the Gulf of Mexico's offshore exploration, drilling and production industries," said Operations Manager Pizzolato. "We have and will continue to invest heavily in equipment to support their efforts to power the country."

Gauthiers' is a family company founded in Lafayette in 1979 that has evolved and grown over the years to include domestic rentals, international and domestic sales of offshore containers, baskets, workshops, storage containers and related equipment. In 2007, the company added a Houma location to allow them better serve customers working in and around southwestern Louisiana and Port Fourchon. The new facility is located at 4768 Highway 182.