Who We Are
OUR HISTORY
Arkel International is an infrastructure and technical services company helping organizations, governments and militaries work successfully in the world’s most austere and remote locations. With a 60+ year history of working overseas building plants, providing construction and power generation, logistical and life support, Arkel goes where others cannot or will not. We’ve built a reputation for fulfilling on our promises and the needs of our customers worldwide.
Arkel’s history began in mid 1900’s when a young, ambitious Homer moved to Louisiana to participate in the building of the post-war construction boom on the US Gulf Coast. Spanning over 60 years, Homer’s career generated opportunities in 65+ countries in both the private and government sectors. Homer was one of the founders of the industrial construction industry in Baton Rouge working in the following areas: industrial engineering, construction, operations management, and maintenance within a wide range of diversified projects, including petrochemical, power plants, cogeneration, pulp and paper, and sugar production facilities. He retired in 2001 when he turned over the operation of the company to his son, George H. Knost, III, as President.
In 2019 at the age of 94, we lost our Founder, Mr. Homer Knost. He was a visionary, creative entrepreneur, titan of the business community, and an inspiring mentor. In the spirit of Homer’s vision, Arkel continues Making it Possible as we expand our global footprint wherever our customers have needs.
Company Culture
Making It Possible
Our Vision
Become a global leader in developing, constructing, and maintaining critical infrastructure solutions, no matter how challenging or austere the location.
Our Mission
Provide a safe, employee-focused environment to achieve superior performance while delivering innovative infrastructure and technical solutions.
Our Guiding Principles
Our Guiding Principles that allow us to achieve superior performance are:
+ People First, Mission Always
+ Target Zero Accidents, Injuries, Mishaps
+ Customer Intimacy and Innovation
+ Continuous Learning and Improvement
+ Distilling Principles into Action
+ Individually Responsible, Collectively Accountable
Our Values
+Highest Ethical Conduct
+ Performance on Commitments
+ “Boundaryless” Team
+ Openness/Transparency
Health, Safety, Security & Environment
Arkel places the highest importance and priority on safety, health, security, and protection of the environment during performance of all work we perform and is committed to the safety of our employees and the safety of every person/company that works with us on projects.
Arkel always builds safety into the job. We target zero accidents, incidents, and injuries. The Arkel focus is to train and maintain a skilled work force that always puts safety first and that constantly seeks risk reduction factors that aid in incident-free projects.
Arkel maintains a below-industry TRIR while working in remote and austere locations and utilizing a local labor force accounting for up to 90% of the project man-hours. We’re proud of our record for safety and on-time delivery.
Quality
Arkel is ISO 9001:2015 certified and is committed to consistently providing services that exceed customer expectations. We strive to monitor all activities related to ensuring customer satisfaction, constantly improving our Quality Management System.
Our team ensures that all projects are successfully executed safely through proper organization, responsibility, and authority; regardless of the size and scope. We take pride in its efficient organizational methods which complement a smooth chain of command regarding role, responsibility, and authority.
Social Responsibility
One of Arkel’s core values is “to make the places we work a little better after we’ve gone.” We do that in a variety of ways. Our socio-economic approach to hiring in local settings includes “locals first and as often as possible.” Our priority is to hire and train the very best locals to promote within the communities we work in so that skills are learned, retained,
and transferred. We promote local commerce whenever and wherever possible. We’ve learned that not only does the support of the indigenous economy support the client and customer, but it also helps them grow and become more self-sufficient, and builds the trust and networks needed to be successful.
It is vital that organizations performing work in vulnerable locations operate under the highest standards possible. Arkel and its partners have an obligation to safeguard the scarcity of program dollars and consider it our duty to uphold international standards and codes of conduct. We operate under the highest ethical principles and thoroughly vet employees, partners, subcontractors, and independent contractors before engaging in work, both domestic and abroad.
