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45-636: Shaw was founded in 1986 by J.M. Bernhard Jr. , Oscar J.LaFleur, and A.W. Angelo as a fabrication shop. The company was originally known as Shaw Industries Inc. Shaw grew by acquiring stock of Alloy Piping Products, Fronek A/DE, Inc, Naptech, Inc., Pipe Shields Inc., United Crafts, Inc., Merit Industrial Constructors, Inc., Cojafex B.V., Prospect Industries plc, joined with Entergy Corporation to create EntergyShaw L.L.C., Stone & Webster Inc. , IT Corporation , Envirogen, Inc., MWR, Inc., Badger Technologies from Washington Group International, and Energy Delivery Services from Duke Energy Global Markets, Inc. In 2006

90-595: A coalition of poor, white cotton farmers in the South (especially North Carolina, Alabama and Texas) and hard-pressed wheat farmers in the Plains States (especially Kansas and Nebraska), the Populists represented a radical form of agrarianism and hostility to elites, cities, banks, railroads, and gold. The Free Silver movement arose from a synergy of farming and mining interests. Farmers sought to invigorate

135-738: A French engineering conglomerate, agreed to purchase most of the Energy and Chemical Division of Shaw Group The remainder of The Shaw Group assets were ultimately purchased by Chicago Bridge & Iron Company , for about US$ 3 billion, completing the acquisition in February 2013. A subsidiary that was formed as a result, CB&I Stone Webster—a result of Shaw Groups earlier acquisition of Stone & Webster during its bankruptcy—was again sold, in January 2016, to Westinghouse Electric Co., for US$ 229M. Panic of 1893 The Panic of 1893

180-474: A continuing trend downward from a high of 3 and 1/8 pence in 1891. In February 1895, the U.S. Government turned to private financial institutions to underwrite the sale of Treasury bonds , stabilize exchange rates , and return the Treasury to its gold reserve requirement. The result was a contract drawn with what was called "The Morgan-Belmont Syndicate". The persistent balance of payments deficit in

225-571: A contributing factor to the depression. The People's Party , also known as the ' Populists ', was an agrarian -populist political party in the United States. From 1892 to 1896, it played a major role as a left-wing force in American politics. It drew support from angry farmers in the West and South. It was highly critical of capitalism , especially banks and railroads, and allied itself with

270-688: A division of The Shaw Group in 2000. In 2012, the French engineering conglomerate Technip acquired Stone & Webster's energy and chemical business, and process technologies and associated oil and gas engineering capabilities from The Shaw Group. The CB&I acquisition of other assets of The Shaw Group , also in 2012, resulted in the formation of a nuclear power subsidiary, CB&I Stone Webster, which operated for about 4 years, being sold in January 2016 to Westinghouse Electric Company . Charles A. Stone and Edwin S. Webster first met in 1884 and became close friends while studying electrical engineering at

315-542: A holding company, their financial and managerial presence meant that they had considerable influence in policy decisions. They would often be paid in utility stock. As of 1912, Stone and Webster served as general managers of the following utilities: Stone & Webster became involved in Washington State engineering projects—Washington's natural resources, and hydroelectric power, and resulting development opportunities brought companies like Stone & Webster to

360-543: A run on gold in the U.S. Treasury . Specie was considered more valuable than paper money; when people were uncertain about the future, they hoarded specie and rejected paper notes. During the Gilded Age of the 1870s and 1880s, the United States had experienced economic growth and expansion, but much of this expansion depended on high international commodity prices. Exacerbating the problems with international investments, wheat prices crashed in 1893. In particular,

405-608: A series of failed attempts to restore reserves by issuing bonds and depreciating specie issued for legal tender , the Treasury negotiated a contract with the Morgan-Belmont Syndicate to restore confidence in the government's ability to maintain the convertibility of legal tender into gold. The full list of syndicate members was not made public, however the contract named Drexel, Morgan & Co ., A. Belmont & Co., J. S. Morgan & Co. , and N. M. Rothschild & Sons . The syndicate achieved its goals through

450-561: The Investment Bankers Case . The Stone & Webster investment banking operations were eventually acquired by Kidder Peabody which already had overlapping ownership. The investment banking affiliate, Stone & Webster Securities, had attempted to grow by acquiring two smaller, regional brokerage houses in 1968: Hayden, Miller & Co., based in Cleveland, and Atlanta-based Wyatt, Neal & Waggoner. That increased

495-684: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology . In 1890, only two years after graduating, they formed the Massachusetts Electrical Engineering Company. The name was changed to Stone & Webster in 1893. Their company was one of the earliest electrical engineering consulting firms in the United States. Stone & Webster's first major project was the construction of a hydroelectric plant for the New England paper company in 1890. Following

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540-560: The National Cordage Company (NCC), then the most actively traded stock, caused its lenders to call in their loans immediately, and the company went into bankruptcy receivership as a result. The company, a rope manufacturer, had tried to corner the market for imported hemp. As demand for silver and silver notes fell, the price and value of silver dropped. Holders worried about a loss of face value of bonds, and many became worthless. A series of bank failures followed, and

585-609: The Northern Pacific Railway , the Union Pacific Railroad and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad failed. This was followed by the bankruptcy of many other companies; in total over 15,000 companies and 500 banks, many of them in the West, failed. According to high estimates, about 17%–19% of the workforce was unemployed at the panic's peak. The huge spike in unemployment, combined with

630-865: The Pullman Strike . After their defeat in 1896, the Democrats did not regain control of any branch of the Federal Government until 1910 . A rarely talked-about effect is the Love Canal disaster. People who were earlier keen to invest in the Love Canal stopped doing so, which led to the abandonment of its construction. Ultimately the canal ended up being a large toxic waste repository, with severe negative environmental effects. Love Canal remains synonymous with environmental pollution and degradation. The Panic of 1893 affected many aspects of

675-544: The U.S. Treasury fell to a dangerously low level. This forced President Cleveland to borrow $ 65 million in gold from Wall Street banker J.P. Morgan and the Rothschild banking family of England , through what was known as the Morgan-Belmont Syndicate His party suffered enormous losses in the 1894 elections , largely being blamed for the downward spiral in the economy and the brutal crushing of

720-485: The panic of 1893 , Stone & Webster acquired the Nashville Electric Light and Power Co. for a few thousand dollars, subsequently reselling it for $ 500,000. Throughout the next ten years, Stone & Webster acquired interest in large number of utilities while offering managerial, engineering and financial consulting to a number of independent utility firms. Even though Stone & Webster were not

765-653: The presidency of William McKinley . The Panic of 1893 has been traced to many causes, one of them pointing to Argentina; investment was encouraged by the Argentine agent bank, Baring Brothers . However, the 1890 wheat crop failure and a failed coup in Buenos Aires ended further investments. In addition, speculations in South African and Australian properties also collapsed. Because European investors were concerned that these problems might spread, they started

810-482: The shipping industry , both by rail and maritime. It arrested the acquisition of ships and rolling stock and depressed shipping rates. The bad omen of investors switching from equity based stocks to constant return bonds in 1894 was mirrored in the corporate finance actions of railroads which reduced their acquisition of rolling stock . Railroad expansion including capital expenditures rose again in 1895, but slowed in 1897 during another economic trough. In 1893,

855-476: The 1890s which drained the Treasury gold reserves, caused concern from both domestic and foreign investors that the U.S. would abandon the gold standard. This prompted further gold withdrawals and bond liquidations which exacerbated the deficit. By February 2, 1895, the Treasury's gold reserves fell to approximately $ 42 million, well below the $ 100 million level required by the Resumption Act of 1875 . After

900-610: The Pullman Company was a railroad car company, this only increased the difficulty of acquiring rolling stock. The maritime industry of the United States did not escape the effects of the Panic of 1893. The total gross registered merchant marine tonnage employed in "foreign and coastwise trade and in the fisheries", as measured by the U.S. Census between 1888 and 1893, grew at a rate of about 2.74%. In 1894, U.S. gross tonnage decreased by 2.9%, and again in 1895 by 1.03%. In 1894,

945-765: The Shaw buyout, the Power group performed record business in engineering and construction of coal-fired power plants and power plant environmental control retrofits including FGD and SCR technology. Shaw's alliance with Westinghouse led to substantial Stone & Webster technology and engineering applications in the nuclear power industry. In 2008, ENR ranked the Stone & Webster subsidiary of The Shaw Group subsidiary as first in revenue for Power EPC, and fifth by Revenue in Process & Petrochemical EPC. In 2012, Technip ,

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990-624: The York Street Steam plant and the partially built Nooksack Falls Hydroelectric Power Plant .Stone & Webster took over construction operations and on September 21, 1906, Bellingham received power from the plant via a 47-mile-long (76 km) transmission line. Despite the independence allowed its subsidiaries, J.D. Ross, superintendent of Seattle City Light issued a report critical of Stone & Webster's presence in Seattle, listing 49 companies under Stone & Webster's management at

1035-527: The company acquired a 20% interest in the Westinghouse Electric Company , the rest majority owned by Toshiba . In September 2011, Toshiba was reported to be in talks to acquire the Shaw stake. Toshiba is paying $ 1.6 billion for the 20% stake under a Shaw-owned option, Shaw CEO J.M. Bernhard Jr. said. Shaw said it was the 50% rise in the yen on its yen-denominated debt over five years which led it to exercise its sale option. The option

1080-624: The deal, Shaw also acquired rights to The Shaw Group trademark" The Shaw Group has moved its headquarters from Baton Rouge, Louisiana to Houston , Texas . The CEO is Mike Childers, COO is Sachin Singh, and CFO is Andrew Cannon. Stone %26 Webster Stone & Webster was an American engineering services company based in Stoughton, Massachusetts . It was founded as an electrical testing lab and consulting firm by electrical engineers Charles A. Stone and Edwin S. Webster in 1889. In

1125-419: The destitute. Facing starvation, people chopped wood, broke rocks, and sewed by hand with needle and thread in exchange for food. In some cases, women resorted to prostitution to feed their families. To help the people of Detroit, Mayor Hazen S. Pingree launched his "Potato Patch Plan", which were community gardens for farming. President Grover Cleveland was blamed for the depression. Gold reserves stored in

1170-559: The early 20th century, Stone & Webster was known for operating streetcar systems in many cities across the United States including Dallas , Houston and Seattle . The company grew to provide engineering, construction, environmental, and plant operation and maintenance services, and it has long been involved in power generation projects, starting with hydroelectric plants of the late 19th-century; and with most American nuclear power plants. Stone & Webster failed and became

1215-459: The economy and thereby end deflation , which was forcing them to repay loans with increasingly expensive dollars. Mining interests sought the right to turn silver directly into money without a central minting institution. The Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890, while falling short of the Free Silver movement's goals, required the U.S. government to buy millions of ounces of silver above what

1260-511: The economy deepened, people rushed to withdraw their money from banks, and caused bank runs . The credit crunch rippled through the economy. A financial panic in London combined with a drop in continental European trade caused foreign investors to sell American stocks to obtain American funds backed by gold. The economic policies of President Benjamin Harrison have been characterized as

1305-522: The former Shaw Group's pipe fabrication assets to Shaw Acquisitions Holdings LLC for an unknown price. The assets include pipe fabrication, piping, structural steel fabrication, mechanical assembly, and modularization subsidiaries. In this transaction, Shaw Acquisitions Holdings LLC received seven facilities located in Walker and Lake Charles, Louisiana; El Dorado, Arkansas; Laurens, South Carolina; Clearfield, Utah; Abu Dhabi, UAE; and Askar, Bahrain. "As part of

1350-548: The inauguration of U.S. President Grover Cleveland , with the appointment of receivers for the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad , which had greatly overextended itself. Upon taking office, Cleveland dealt directly with the Treasury crisis and convinced Congress to repeal the Sherman Silver Purchase Act , which he felt was mainly responsible for the economic crisis. As concern for the state of

1395-523: The labor movement. Established in 1891 as a result of the Populist movement, the People's Party reached its height in the 1892 presidential election , when its ticket, consisting of James B. Weaver and James G. Field , won 8.5% of the popular vote and carried five states (Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Nevada, and North Dakota), and the 1894 House of Representatives elections when it won nine seats. Built on

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1440-616: The largest contract in Stone & Webster's history. But the plan went bad, and the company fell along with it. Subsequently, Stone & Webster filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2000 because of cash flow problems. It was bought at auction by the Shaw Group for US$ 150 million. The Shaw Energy and Chemicals division integrated Stone & Webster branded technology. Shaw's E&C division attempted to compete with other more successful engineering contractors such as Bechtel , Foster Wheeler , Jacobs and Technip . Since

1485-628: The loss of life savings kept in failed banks, meant that a once-secure middle-class could not meet their mortgage obligations. Many walked away from recently built homes as a result. As a result of the panic, stock prices declined. Five hundred banks closed, 15,000 businesses failed, and numerous farms ceased operation. The unemployment rate hit 25% in Pennsylvania, 35% in New York, and 43% in Michigan. Soup kitchens were opened to help feed

1530-764: The necessary fissionable material for the Manhattan Project . The company was selected in June 1942 by the first head of the Manhattan Engineering District, James C. Marshall . In January, 1946, the name of the business, was changed to Stone and Webster Securities Corporation. Stone and Webster Securities was one of the 17 U.S. investment banking and securities firms named in the United States Department of Justice 's antitrust investigation of Wall Street commonly known as

1575-488: The number of offices of the firm from nine to 28, but cultural and style differences between the parent company's traditional engineering management and retail brokerage management led to an exodus of key employees, and the Securities firm closed its doors in 1974. The company collapsed in 2000 after a major bribery scandal. It had attempted to pay $ 147 million to a relative of Indonesian President Suharto to secure

1620-438: The opening of numerous mines in the western United States led to an oversupply of silver, leading to significant debate as to how much of the silver should be coined into money (see below). During the 1880s, American railroads experienced what might today be called a " bubble ": investors flocked to railroads, and they were greatly over-built. One of the first clear signs of trouble came on 20 February 1893, twelve days before

1665-487: The rate for a bushel of wheat by rail dropped from 14.70¢ in 1893 to 12.88¢. This rate continued to decrease, reaching a terminal rate in 1901 of 9.92¢ and never reached 12 cents between 1898 and 1910. Between 1893 and 1894, average shipping rates by lake or canal per wheat bushel decreased by almost 2 cents, from 6.33¢ to 4.44¢. Rates on the transatlantic crossing from New York City to Liverpool also decreased, from 2 and 3/8 pence to 1 and 15/16 pence, but this reflected

1710-717: The state —beginning with Puget Sound area street railways. By 1900, they had controlled and merged eight small rail lines in Seattle; soon after, they also took over the street railway systems of Tacoma and Everett. By 1908, Stone & Webster listed thirty-one railway and lighting companies under its management including five located in Washington State: the Puget Sound Electric Railway, Puget Sound International Railway and Power Co., Puget Sound Power Co., The Seattle Electric Co., and Whatcom County Railway and Light Co. Stone & Webster leadership

1755-417: The time. By 1912, the company, nationally, had divided itself into three specialized subsidiaries: In 1927, Stone & Webster expanded the investments business, merging its securities subsidiaries with the investment banking firm of Blodget & Co. founded in 1886, to form Stone & Webster and Blodget, Inc. Stone & Webster was selected as the overall contractor for building the plants producing

1800-424: The total railroad mileage in the U.S. was 176,803.6 miles. In 1894 and 1895, railroads only expanded 4,196.4 miles, although 100,000 miles of rail was added from 1878 to 1896. In 1893, the year following the panic, one fourth of all rail mileage went into receivership. The U.S. Census placed this value at close to $ 1.8 billion (not adjusted for inflation), the largest amount recorded between 1876 and 1910. This

1845-479: Was an economic depression in the United States . It began in February 1893 and officially ended eight months later, but the effects from it continued to be felt until 1897. It was the most serious economic depression in history until the Great Depression of the 1930s. The Panic of 1893 deeply affected every sector of the economy and produced political upheaval that led to the political realignment and

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1890-593: Was over $ 1 billion (also not adjusted for inflation) more than the next largest amount, in 1884. In 1894, the U.S. Army intervened during a strike in Chicago to prevent property damage. The Pullman Strike began at the Pullman Company in Chicago after Pullman refused to either lower rent in the company town or raise wages for its workers due to increased economic pressure from the Panic of 1893. Since

1935-496: Was part of the 2006 purchase terms. The transaction was completed in January 2013, and brought Toshiba's stake in Westinghouse to 87%. In July 2012 CB&I agreed to buy Shaw for approximately $ 3 billion. In December 2012 shareholders from both companies approved the transaction and it officially closed in February 2013. In January 2020 McDermott filed for Chapter 11. On June 1, 2020 it was announced that McDermott has sold

1980-457: Was required by the 1878 Bland–Allison Act (driving up the price of silver and pleasing silver miners). People attempted to redeem silver notes for gold. Ultimately, the statutory limit for the minimum amount of gold in federal reserves was reached and U.S. notes could no longer be redeemed for gold. Investments during the time of the panic were heavily financed through bond issues with high-interest payments. Rumors regarding financial distress at

2025-564: Was sensitive to the concerns of large utility holding companies and were careful to emphasize the complete independence of these utilities, but Edwin Webster believed that outside capital was crucial to develop the resources of Washington, and chided those who thought otherwise. In 1905, Stone & Webster bought out the power and lighting properties that were once owned by the Bellingham Bay Improvement Co., including

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