HOUSTON — National Trench Safety, the Houston-based company specializing in the rental and sales of trench and traffic safety equipment, last month announced the opening of a new branch in Gonzales, La., just north of Baton Rouge.

The branch is managed by Donnie Reynolds, a 20-year veteran of the trench and traffic safety industry. Reynolds is responsible for the Baton Rouge and New Orleans marketplaces.

The Gonzales branch, which features a new 10,000-square-foot building on an acre-and-a-half yard, is NTS' second expansion outside Texas, and is the company's sixth branch.

NTS CEO Ron Chilton told RER that while the company had plans to open in south Louisiana later this year, the demand generated by Hurricane Katrina inspired the company to speed up its plans.

“We were already getting business from that area through our Beaumont store,” Chilton said. “With so much activity in the area, it made sense to get started sooner rather than later. We're about 15 minutes from Baton Rouge and about 45 minutes from New Orleans, so it's a great opportunity for us.”

NTS formed in January 2004, opened its first branch in Houston that spring, and expanded to Beaumont, Texas, in the fall of 2004. It opened branches in San Antonio, Austin and Fremont, Calif., in 2005.