Since 2008, when the recession began, the family-owned firm has purchased property for a new location, built upon it and doubled the size of the business and number of employees, according to former owner Jim Wright.
The company was founded in 1986 by Tom Hayes, John Rhame, Edwin Rhame and their spouses.
Wright bought a half interest in Tejas in 1996 and took over complete ownership when he acquired the other half in 2002. One of his sons, Jon, who started working at the business part-time while in college in the 1990s, bought out his father's interest in 2005.
In addition to growing, Tejas Hydraulics has a loyal core of staffers, Jim Wright said.
"We have one employee that's been here longer than we have," he said. "Eight of our staff are related, and the rest we treat like family."
Jon Wright said his first job outside of mowing lawns was working for his father in the hydraulics business.
"He's a good teacher and did a good a job of teaching us the business," Jon Wright said.
He said while mixing family and business may have some potential downfalls, everyone knows that keeping the good of the company at the forefront is key.
"That and communication. We don't all always agree, but once a decision is made, we stick with it and go forward," Jon Wright said.
"(We) started as a repair shop and that's where we still generate a lot of new sales, but we've grown into a company that carries a couple of hundred lines," Jon Wright said, adding in 1996, the company had about a dozen lines.
He credits the boom in the East Texas oil and natural gas field with a large part of the company's growth. But Jon Wright said striving to meet the needs of customers for hydraulic-related products and services has kept Tejas Hydraulics on the forefront.
"The oil field has gotten us to where we are today," he said. But to not only survive in the future economic up and down cycles, but to thrive, diversification is the way to go, Wright said.
Tejas has moved outside its core energy customers to add hydraulic products for trucking and industry.
"We've just added the Parker line and are a Parker Truck Hydraulic Center," Wright said. "That's a good fit. Parker has hundreds of divisions for mobile hydraulics and some industrial hydraulics."
Wright estimates about 40 percent of the company's business is based on repair work. Tejas is situated in a 14,000-square-foot building at 802 W. Cotton St., where about 1,000 square feet of shop space for welding and parts was recently added.
"Over the next six months, we'll be adding a Parker store front where we'll have about a thousand feet dedicated specifically to Parker products," he said.
That comes on top of recent inventory increases that have seen about a 25 percent jump in the number of parts kept on hand, Wright said.
Tejas already carries about 88,000 parts in its inventory. And, for those not inventoried, the staff can probably machine and make modifications to broken parts to get equipment out in the field working again.
"The idea is to let people come in, see and touch and even watch what's going on," he said. "It gains people's trust when they can see the work being done."
From gearboxes and clutches to hoses, the staff can probably provide the majority of parts needed out in the oil field, he said.
"We're all trained on how to do everything," Jon Wright said. "Our sales people learn how to pull parts."
Wright said the oil and natural gas industries make up about 70 percent of the firm's business.
"If if has to do with hydraulics, we want them to think of Tejas," he said. Evidently, that philosophy is working - not only in East Texas but outside the region.
"About 30 to 40 percent of our business comes from outside the immediate area," Jon Wright said.