Land Surveying Company Moves into New Location

Crescent Moon Land Surveying, Inc. (CMLSI) invited the community to a pig pickin’ on Friday, Dec. 21, from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at their new location at 645 Hwy. 701 S. in Loris. Barry Suggs, president and owner, invited businesses and individuals to have lunch under the tent in the parking lot to show his appreciation to the community for their support.

Crescent Moon is not only a business with employees who earn a paycheck each week; they share a family atmosphere of dedication and respect.
Suggs said, “We are a diverse company and we work mostly in land surveying, we work with local engineering companies, construction and private builders to provide land surveys.” They serve both North and South Carolina and have an in-house professional land surveyor and drafter on-site to answer any questions.

In 2006 Suggs’ back yard served as a home-base company; as it grew they moved the office to Broad Street in Loris. CMLSI outgrew the small office and Suggs began searching for a location to fit the growth and he purchased the building that once housed Custom Multimedia. Suggs said they will be hiring field crewmen in the future. “We hire people who are interested in learning to survey land and are not afraid to get into the depths of the land which includes swamps or going deep into the woods,” says Suggs. The field crews are young, many a few years out of high school, one is part-time as he finishes his last year of high school and will hire on once he has received his diploma.

One reason for hiring what they consider ‘green’ crew members is to teach them the style that CMLSI uses to survey, “Train them right from the beginning so we all work the same,” says J T Barfield, “and the best way to train is hands-on.” Barfield is a semi-retired land surveyor with 45 years experience and comes to help out occasionally. He is the old-school trained and has learned to use the new technologic equipment to survey land as well as his using his trusty ole compass.

Barfield has his cane and machete as he goes out to survey, and has many interesting stories of his experience through the years. He said that he has recently worked with the city of Loris on the flood study at no charge or a discounted rate.

Many of the field crew and lead supervisors said that Suggs’ wife Kelly is the mother hen who keeps them straight and the backbone of the company. Again the word ‘family’ is spoken with great respect. Kelly has gotten the team onboard to support breast cancer awareness with all the men wearing the pink T-shirts. She suggested that the company take a vacation to Jamaica, with D. Graham supporting the idea and pressing Suggs to make the final decision. The company rewards the crews with incentives; they are recognized for their accomplishments and certifications. The crews work 40 to 60 hours a week and have had unlimited overtime for the last three years. This is not just a job for those working for CMLSI it is a career. It is amazing how well the employees work together showing a tremendous amount of respect.

It takes a village to cook up the three hogs smoking them overnight and delivering in the smokers to be pulled apart into barbeque. Derrick Graham, lead supervisor and Suggs’ right hand man, Maci Graham, age 7, and Charles Graham were at one of the smokers pulling the pork. Charles retired from the city of Loris as a maintenance mechanic five years ago but isn’t totally retired. He has a shop at his home and he farms. Kelly Suggs provided the side dishes and shopped for the desserts.

When Suggs purchased the building it came with a dog named Shiloh who answers to the name Kiwi. “We adopted him as the company mascot;” says Crystal McLeod, “he has had surgeries and has been hit by a car, he is so loving and welcomes everyone who visits our office.” She further stated that when Kelly leaves the office, Kiwi will talk to everyone. McLeod said, “She has a bad case of separation anxiety, though she trusts us, she has become attached to Kelly.”

D. Graham said, “We are family based and want everybody to succeed.” And Suggs said, “I wanted to show my appreciation to the community with good food, have a good time and to network.”