Years
80
Explore our History
From 1946 to Today
TDIndustries celebrates 80 years of Building Together, Growing Together, guided by servant leadership and a commitment to careers, customers and community. The timeline highlights the milestones and values that have shaped TD’s enduring legacy.
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Building Together,
Growing Together
Building Together, Growing Together
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1946
1948
Partnered with Trammell Crow on first design-build project.
Founded as Texas Distributors, Inc. by John B. “Jack” Lowe Sr. after he returned from the U.S. Army.
Company Beginnings
First Partnership
Signed an agreement with General Electric to distribute central warm air heating equipment.
New Business
1949
1950
1952
Started employee ownership by offering payroll deduction to Partners.
Awarded the construction for the Travis Hotel in downtown Dallas.
Major Construction Project
Employee Ownership
Adopted a new profit sharing-savings-stock plan.
Profit Sharing
1958
Awarded the construction for Trammell Crow’s Furniture Mart in Dallas. Apparel Mart (pictured), another Trammell Crow project, opened in 1964.
1957
Reached $1 million in annual revenue.
Financial Milestone
Added sheet metal construction capabilities.
Technical Capabilities
Opened Fort Worth office.
Geographic Expansion
1959
1960
1961
Hired Ben Houston as a mechanic’s helper in the field. He moved into estimating and was a drafter before going to work in both construction and service. He became president in 1992 where he served until his retirement.
Moved Dallas office to 2831 Nagle Street.
Office Relocation
Ben Houston Joins the Team
Added Jack Lowe Jr. to the service department for a summer job. After a brief time away, he came back and continued his path from service to distributions, multifamily and construction (then called TD Mechanical), and finally CEO.
Career Journey
1964
Began commercial plumbing construction capabilities.
Plumbing Capabilities
Entered the multifamily market via Tempo Air Conditioning, a partially owned subsidiary of Texas Distributors and Trammell Crow.
Multifamily Market Entry
Changed the Texas air conditioning paradigm in the multifamily market from central plants to unitary air conditioning units.
Innovation in Air Conditioning
1968
Bob Ferguson was invited to join Texas Distributors by Jack Lowe Jr. He started in sales and later moved into multifamily sales, engineering and equipment sales (wholesale for Texas Distributors). Bob also served on the TD Board.
Legendary Talent Joins
1972
1974
Awarded the first merit shop 20-story high-rise construction project in Dallas – the Campbell Center II.
Adopted servant leadership – first business to do so.
Servant Leadership
Major High-Rise Project
Moved to new corporate offices at 13737 N. Stemmons in Dallas.
New Corporate Headquarters
Jack Lowe Sr. led the Dallas Alliance Education Task Force, helping develop a school desegregation plan that was adopted by federal courts.
Dallas Desegregation
1975
Leaders crafted TD's basic values, setting the foundation for today's core values.
BASIC VALUES DEFINED
Awarded the $5 million Anatole Hotel project in Dallas.
Anatole Hotel ProjecT
1977
Converted all of Texas Distributors’ stock to full voting privileges, relinquishing overall control of the company by a small management group.
Expanded Employee Ownership
1979
1980
Opened office in Houston.
Named Jack Lowe Jr. second CEO in TDIndustries history.
New CEO Appointment
Began prefabrication of plumbing services.
Prefabrication Services
1982
Reached $100 million in yearly revenue.
$100 Million Revenue
1983
Changed corporate name to TDIndustries, Inc., and introduced TD logo with interlocking arms.
Rebranded as TDIndustries
Awarded construction for The Crescent, a mixed-use project (office, hotel, retail) in Dallas, TD's first $10 million project.
First $10 Million Project
1985
Began ESOP and 401(k) savings plan.
ESOP & 401(k)
1989
Partners invested $1.25 million out of retirement funds to save the company in the midst of a banking/financial crisis.
Partners Save TD
Awarded the 60-story Bank of America Tower in Charlotte, North Carolina, TD’s largest out-of-state project.
Largest Out-of-State Project
1988
Awarded construction for the $28 million Cityplace project in Dallas.
Cityplace Project
1986
Opened office in Austin.
Opened office in San Antonio.
Moved into current headquarters building at 13850 Diplomat Drive in Dallas.
New Headquarters Opened
Image source, licensed under CC BY 4.0
HQ building for Bank of America - Charlotte, NC / Jt12081988
1990
1991
Awarded the Ballpark in Arlington, Texas, TD’s first sports/assembly project (1994 National ABC Award winner).
Awarded the JCPenney World Headquarters in Plano, Texas (1993 National ABC Award winner).
JCPenney World Headquarters Project
First Sports Facility Project
Wrote TD's mission statement: We are committed to providing outstanding career opportunities by exceeding our customers' expectations through continuous aggressive improvement.
Defined Mission Statement
Formed building automation systems team (now controls).
New Team Formation
1994
Awarded the World Savings and Loan Building in San Antonio, Texas (1994 National ABC Award winner).
World Savings & Loan Building Project
1993
Developed high-purity team (process solutions) and opened clean room shop for off-site fabrication.
High-Purity Fabrication Capabilities
1996
Formed facilities management services team.
Facilities Services
1998
Ranked 5th on Fortune Magazine’s initial “100 Best Companies to Work For” list.
Recognized as a Top Workplace
1997
Our Mission We are committed to providing outstanding career opportunities by exceeding our customers' expectations through continuous aggressive improvement. Jack Lowe Sr., Founder
2000
Awarded the Sabre Holdings Corporation project in Southlake, Texas, the first LEED project in the state.
Awarded the American Airlines Center in Dallas (National ABC Award winner).
American Airlines Center Project
first LEED project
Awarded the Methodist Willowbrook Hospital in Houston (National ABC Award winner).
Methodist Willowbrook Hospital Project
Opened office in Phoenix.
2001
Began offering fire and life safety services.
Fire & Life Safety Services
Reopened office in Fort Worth.
2003
Began managing the City of Houston's airport facilities.
Managing City Facilities
2007
Named to Fortune Magazine’s All-Star list for being a “100 Best Companies to Work For” honoree for 10 years straight.
Fortune “All-Star”
Restructured the board of directors, reducing seats from 16 insiders to eight directors, initiating a shift toward majority independent leadership.
Independent Leadership
Named Harold MacDowell third CEO in TDIndustries history.
2005
Awarded the Lakewood Church project in Houston (National ABC Award winner).
Lakewood Church Project
Awarded the Arizona Cardinals stadium project in Glendale, Arizona (National ABC Award winner).
Arizona Cardinals stadium Project
Awarded the Cisco Data Center project in Allen, Texas.
Cisco Data Center project
2009
Worship service at Lakewood Church / Justin Brackett
Exterior of Houston Methodist Willowbrook Hospital / Anphalen
Reenergized servant leadership training through Heartstyles classes for the top 350 leaders.
Servant Leadership Training
2019
Awarded the Globe Life Field project in Arlington, Texas (ABC National Award winner).
Globe Life Field Project
2018
Recognized as a Legend by Fortune Magazine after being named to the “100 Best Companies to Work For” for 21 years straight.
Recognized as a Legend
2017
Strengthened the safety commitment by implementing the TD Safety Observation Training (TSOT) program.
Safety Programs
2016
Established TD’s core values with input from hundreds of employees – Build and Maintain Trusting Relationships, Fiercely Protect the Safety of All Partners, Lead with a Servant’s Heart, Passionately Pursue Excellence and Celebrate the Power of Individual Differences.
REDEFINED CORE VALUES
Awarded the Mercedes-Benz Stadium project in Atlanta.
Mercedes-Benz Stadium Project
2014
Awarded the McLane Stadium project at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.
McLane Stadium Project
2013
Began managing American Airlines’ corporate headquarters facilities in Fort Worth.
American Airlines HQ
2012
Awarded the DFW Airport Terminal A renovations.
Airport Terminal Project
Awarded the UTSW William P. Clements Hospital project in Dallas, TD’s first $100 million project.
first $100 million project
2011
Awarded 17Seventeen McKinney, Dallas’ first LEED-certified high-rise building.
17Seventeen McKinney Project
2010
Arizona, Fort Worth and Houston teams build or move into new facilities to support regional growth opportunities.
UPGRADES TO NEW OFFICES
Formed a senior-level LEAN Forum to align leadership and accelerate the shift to fully integrated LEAN business practices.
ENTERPRISE LEAN FORUM ESTABLISHED
Awarded mechanical and plumbing scope for the 2021 ABC National Pyramid Award-winning Moody Theater at Waterloo Park in Austin.
MOODY THEATER
Awarded design‑assist mechanical and plumbing scope for the landmark Block 185 tower (also known as the Sail Tower), a LEED-certified project in downtown Austin.
BLOCK 185 DESIGN-ASSIST CONTRACT
BLOCK 185 FROM LADY BIRD LAKE / LILY WILKERSON
Reached $1 billion in annual revenue for the first time in company history.
$1 Billion Milestone
2025
Partnered with Texas Health Resources to launch Good for You Healthy Hub at Jack Lowe Sr. Elementary School.
Good for You Healthy Hub
Entered into the Waco market and began managing Baylor University's campus facilities, strengthening the footprint in higher education.
FACILITIES CLIENT GROWTH
2024
Awarded comprehensive building services contract with Southwest Airlines, including service, controls and BrightBlue® solutions.
AIRLINE PARTNERSHIPS EXPANDED
Introduced Building Together, Growing Together vision.
New Vision
Named Frank Musolino fourth CEO in TDIndustries history.
2023
Delivered the first liquid-cooled data center in the nation using direct-to-chip liquid cooling technology, marking a major leap in advanced data-center solutions.
PIONEERING LIQUID-COOLED DATA CENTER INNOVATION
Launched BrightBlue®, a smart analytics program.
smart analytics program
2022
Awarded the DFW Airport Terminal C upgrade project, featuring the airport's first modular terminal.
Airport Upgrade Project
2021
Awarded three ABC National Excellence Awards – for safety, and for work on Frost Tower in Fort Worth and Texas Scottish Rite for Children Sports Medicine and Orthopedics Center in Frisco, Texas.
ABC National Excellence Awards
2020
Celebrated 80th anniversary
2026
Selected for the design‑assist mechanical and plumbing scope for the Banner Gateway Medical Center tower expansion in Gilbert, Arizona.
BANNER GATEWAY MEDICAL CENTER
Awarded Denver’s first design‑build project and became the first project constructed under the city’s new electrification code, part of the Denver Green Initiative.
4600 SYRACUSE PROJECT
Shifted from regional operations to a unified national model to better serve customers across markets and open expanded career pathways for employee-owners.
LAUNCH OF NATIONAL OPERATIONS MODEL
Kicked off enterprise-wide collaboration with the University Health Retama Hospital project, the largest San Antonio effort in company history.
UNIVERSITY HEALTH RETAMA HOSPITAL
