Howard County natives appear on ‘Dirty Jobs’

Jul 21, 2023

Troy Reed thought it was a joke.

“Which one of my guys put you up to this?” he asked the man on the telephone.

After all, it’s not like the hit show “Dirty Jobs” just cold calls people, especially some family-owned business in Knoxville, Tennessee.

But that’s exactly what happened.

“Dirty Jobs” was looking for a business in central Tennessee. CTR Coatings, owned by Charlotte and Troy Reed, fit the profile of the dirty type of job the show specializes in.

CTR Coatings rehabs wastewater and water structures. Put another way, they make sure manholes are air tight.

It’s certainly a dirty job, requiring workers to go inside manholes, pressure wash them and find leaks.

CTR Coatings uses a polyurea foam coating to spray the inside of manholes. Polyurea is a type of elastomer that protects surfaces from deteriorating.

“Everything we do is out of sight out of mind,” Troy said.

This process prevents storm water from leaking into the manholes and entering the wastewater system.

When manholes are not properly maintained more surface water infiltrates into a municipality’s water treatment system. Those in the industry call this inflow and infiltration, or “I and I” for short.

“Everybody across the U.S. wants to cut down on their I and I,” Troy said. “Our goal as CTR Coatings is to stop your leaks.”

The additional water causes more strain to the treatment system. More wear and tear means more maintenance.

“If you have extra storm water getting in there, you treat all of that,” Charlotte said.

“It all ends up being the taxpayer paying more money,” Troy added.

Charlotte is president of CTR; Troy is vice president. The 20-some-employee, $5-million company keeps the two more than busy.

It’s the latest stop in a lifelong journey that started in high school in Howard County.

Troy was a good athlete at Eastern High School. Charlotte was a cheerleader at Taylor High School. Naturally, they crossed paths.

After graduating in 1982 and marrying, they moved to Indianapolis. Charlotte took a job with Roche Diagnostics. Troy worked in infrastructure.

Both held these careers for more than 20 years. The Reeds flipped a few houses, too.

Then the economy crashed.

Troy linked up with a friend and bought a stake in a manhole rehab company. That didn’t last too long, though.

The Reeds relocated to Tennessee, near family, in 2009. Well, just Troy. Charlotte stayed in Indianapolis at Roche. A year later, they founded CTR Coatings.

“It was sort of a mid-life thing,” Troy said. “We just decided to branch off and do our own thing.”

Troy spent six months selling their new business to potential customers.

Then finally, CTR coatings got a $1,200 job at Krispy Kreme in Chattanooga.

The second job was for a utility district, paying $10,000. Not bad, a little momentum for the small family business.

Then came the third one.

An engineering friend of Troy’s tipped him off about a big project. CTR Coatings placed a bid on the project, which included 250-some manholes.

They got the $1.2 million job.

“All heck broke loose after that,” Troy said. “The logistics were a nightmare.”

Charlotte joined Troy in Tennessee, and the two of them lived in an RV with her stepsister, a Great Dane and two dachshunds while growing their business and saving up money for a home.

Filming for CTR’s appearance on “Dirty Jobs” took place last year in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Film crews shot footage for eight hours that was condensed down to 20 minutes of air time.

“Nothing is scripted,” Troy said. “There’s no take one, take two, take 20, none of that.”

True to what viewers see on television, host Mike Rowe got down and dirty.

“He did at least part of everything we do on a daily basis,” Charlotte said.

“It was the best eight hours,” Troy added. “Mike Rowe, that man is unbelievable.”

The episode aired Jan. 29.

“They picked us out of every company in the country,” Troy said. “They picked us out of everybody. Just bonkers.”

Business hasn’t slowed down since that $1.2 million gig.

There was the one at a Tyson Foods plant in Arkansas. The CTR crew cleaned the largest tank on site.

Tyson Foods uses a lot of water to clean its facilities. To cut down on its water bill, the water is treated, stored and used again. However, the chemicals used to treat the water ate away at the tank.

The CTR team pressure washed and covered the inside of the tank with its polyurea coating. CTR was hired by Bush’s Beans for a similar tank job.

The orange foam product CTR uses is produced by OBIC, based in Bryan, Ohio. Troy is a minority owner.

OBIC was applied to the manhole shown on the “Dirty Jobs” episode. It has a minimum lifespan of 50 years.

“Brand recognition is amazing, can’t beat it,” said OBIC owner Dustin Schlachter.

Schlachter connected with the Reeds a few years ago.

“We wanted to develop a better product, and unbeknownst to us, Dustin was doing the same thing,” Troy said.

It made for an easy partnership.

“They’re a great family run business,” Schlachter said. “It’s a pleasure to just know them as people and human beings.”

When Charlotte and Troy spoke to the Tribune in early February, Troy was at an industry conference in Orlando, Florida, where CTR was recognized for project of the year.

The project involved rehabbing 62 manholes in Lake Lure, North Carolina. The manholes required the lake’s water levels to be lowered. CTR built a barge, had the water levels lowered and rehabbed each manhole.

Lake Lure was the primary filming location for the film “Dirty Dancing.”

From the guy in Wisconsin who emailed CTR asking if they’d work on his basement to people across the country wanting to work for the company, the reception has been more than the Reeds could have imagined.

“It’s been fantastic for business,” Troy said.

While “Dirty Jobs” is a show about weird, dirty and gross professions, it’s also a show about people who work hard.

It’s fitting then that the Reeds were featured.

Work ethic is important to Troy and Charlotte, and their sons Shane and Andrew, who also work for the company.

Troy lost his dad when he was 11. His mom, along with Charlotte’s parents, worked at Delco.

“We (had) nothing; Charlotte was in the same boat,” Troy said. “Both of us wanted to work. We knew what our families didn’t have. Sometimes, it pays off.”

Charlotte said CTR is booked through the rest of the year. Most of the jobs are government work with utility districts and municipalities.

“We could do a lot more work, but you gotta have employees to do it,” Troy said. “Not everyone wants to crawl out of sewers.”

Spencer Durham can be reached at 765-454-8598, by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at @Durham_KT.

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