Billy Coyle, Jr.
was 10 years old when his father moved the family down from
northern Louisiana to Houma. He felt like he had entered a whole
new world. At the time, seafood was going out and the oilfield was
coming in. Service companies were locating next to Houma because
of access to Grand Isle, Venice and Morgan City. In 1978, Billy’s
father was turning 62 and working at JEMOCO. He wanted to look at
early retirement, so Billy, Jr. came on board with his dad to try
and help him sell the business. He didn’t realize how hard it
would be. Billy and his father founded Bilco in 1978. Bud
Williams let them use part of his business, and Billy and his
father built the Bilco up from scratch. His brother joined the
company as well. In 1981, it felt like there was no end to the
business, but in 1982 things dropped quickly. Billy, Jr. bought
his brother out and much of his father’s share as well. Since that
time, Bilco went from having one patent to 18 and has some
technology that no one else has.
