Seabrook Seafood weathers the storm

Seabrook Seafood Inc., located in Kemah, Texas, has been supplying shrimp to seafood retailers for more than 40 years. In September 2008, this third-generation family-owned company suffered significant damage as a result of Hurricane Ike. Though Seabrook was insured for the wind and flood damage, those payments didn’t arrive immediately, limiting the company’s cash flow. By working out a flexible payment plan for its energy costs, Direct Energy Business was able to help Seabrook Seafood get back on its feet so it could continue to rebuild. Today, Seabrook processes an average of 80,000 pounds of shrimp per day.

“We like to be treated the way we like to treat people, and that’s what I really appreciated about what Direct Energy Business did for us. It wasn’t just treating us like a person, it was treating us like family. Our business development manager stays in touch with us and keeps us posted on the energy markets and what they’re doing. There’s a bunch of things there that we normally wouldn’t hear about, and we really appreciate the way she keeps us updated on what’s going on. I’ve had a lot of people from a lot of other electrical providers come and give us a bid, telling us they’re going to save us a lot of money. But it would take someone almost giving electricity away to get us away from Direct Energy Business because of the way they’ve treated us in the past.”

- Arthur Hults, Controller, Seabrook Seafood Inc.