Humble beginnings

FabArc Steel grows into one of South's largest steel fabricators

By Angelle Bergeron

When friends Gene Heathcock, David Pugh and Cary Lewis first opened their Oxford, Ala., fabrication company in 1979, they set up shop beneath the vinyl cover of a swimming pool, said Tony Pugh, vice president of business development.

"I was 12 years old and my dad was one of the original founders," Pugh said.

From those humble beginnings, FabArc Steel Supply Inc. has grown to include two manufacturing plants with a total fabricating and inventory area of more than 700,000 sq. ft., a work force of more than 280 highly skilled employees and an annual production in excess of 40,000 tons.

Although the company's home base remains in Oxford, its service area has expanded across the United States. FabArc handles a variety of projects, from shopping centers to large industrial complexes.

Although two of the founders, Pugh and Lewis, have since retired, Heathcock serves as the company president and maintains the close-knit, familial integrity that made FabArc a success.

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State-of-the-art technology ensures the highest quality in production, but "it's our FabArc family of dedicated people who make it happen," Pugh said. "We take great pride in our work and our reputation is our greatest asset. We've always maintained attention to our customers. We're very service-oriented, so we do a lot of repeat business.

FabArc has grown into one of the larger health care structural steel builders in the region, if not the country.

"It's a niche we have," Pugh said. "We follow and perform work for four or five main contractors who work all over the country."

Truss fabrication represents a significant portion of FabArc's work. The company added its west plant about six years ago, affording the capacity to handle member lifts in excess of 40 tons.

"That makes it unique because we're set up to do projects most can't do," Pugh said. About four years ago, FabArc manufactured the roof trusses on the Houston Rocket Arena, which is now called the Toyota Center. "The trusses were in excess of 30 feet deep and extremely large," Pugh said.

Trying to stay one step ahead of the technology curve, FabArc maintains the latest in fabrication equipment. However, the biggest challenge in today's market is material availability - trying to keep customers supplied on time despite tremendous lead times, Pugh said.

Although steel prices are expected to escalate during the latter part of this year, it won't affect FabArc's business much. FabArc's financial strength and excellent credit rating enable the contractor to purchase raw materials from the most competitive sources.

"People will still want steel," Pugh said. "It just makes it a bit more challenging for us to try and produce it cheaper and keep pace with market demands. We're just trying to do better for less money."

Whether fabricating materials for retail stores, shopping centers, bridges, hospitals, schools or small office buildings, FabArc is the right company for the job, Pugh said.

"We do what we say we are going to do," he added. "When we sell a job, we set a schedule and perform according to that. Contractors learn to trust us and seek us out for tougher, more demanding jobs."