TUPELO, MS (SEPTEMBER 18, 2005) – With sales expected to hit $8 million this year - double the amount from just two years ago - it's no wonder that Hawkeye Industries has again been named one of the state's fastest growing companies.

In just 10 years, owner Bryan Hawkins has expanded his sheet metal contract manufacturing and fabrication business five times. From a humble 6,000-square foot fabrication shop to its current 55,000-square-foot, technology-laden facility, Hawkeye Industries has found its place in a key niche market. And along the way, Hawkins has picked up the Small Business Administration's Small Business Person of the Year Award to go along with three mentions in the Mississippi Business Journal's list of the top 40 fastest growing privately held companies.

All of the accolades, Hawkins insists, are the result of plain hard work and dedication of the company's 28 employees.

"It's not me - it's finding the right people and putting them in a setting where they feel comfortable and where the enjoy coming to work," he said.

Still, that only partially explains how Hawkeye's sales grew 75 percent last year.

"Things have gone well," Hawkins readily admits. "There are always going to be people who need the kind of things we do. The major challenge now is controlling the growth."

In simplest terms, Hawkeye Industries produces custom-made parts from sheet metal. Companies can submit CAD - Computer Aided Design - drawings to Hawkeye's team of experts, who can turn over a product within days.

"We've also gotten designs on paper napkins," Hawkins said with a laugh. "If you can draw it, I can make it on flexible sheet metal."

Customers include commercial refrigeration companies, lighting manufacturers and helicopter manufacturers.

Fulfilling those custom-made orders sets Hawkeye apart from others. There isn't much competition to speak of, especially from overseas, a drastic change from what most manufacturing companies have to deal with these days.

One reason is that the business is technology driven - Hawkins has invested an average of $1 million to $2 million a year in top-of-the-line laser cutters, presses and other equipment, mostly from Trumpf. Because he's such a good customer, he's usually one of the first customers to get the latest "toy."

"That keeps us on the leading edge," Hawkins said. "You have to spend money to make money, and keep on spending money ... it never ends."

Finding the customer

Despite Hawkeye's explosive growth, the next 10 years could be a little tougher.

A shrinking customer base is the company's greatest challenge. While Hawkeye is unique is what it does, the flip side is that there are fewer companies utilizing its products.

"What we do is not high volume," Hawkins explained. "This is a customized service. You'll get it in a day or so, from several hundred to several thousand. That's the edge that technology gives us - we're very quick, very flexible."

It also means that cost pressures aren't as great. Because companies are looking for high quality parts as quickly as possible, they're not necessarily looking at the price.

"I don't worry about foreign competition because of what we do, because we're selling quality and service, not price," he said.

Hawkeye's largest customer is Heatcraft Inc., the leaders in commercial refrigeration. In an ironic twist, Hawkeye sends its parts to Mexico.

"I've flipped NAFTA on its head," Hawkins said with a laugh.

Hawkeye also recently completed the final audit for the coveted ISO 9001 certification, taking only three months. That certification led to a new customer Hawkins - a former Army helicopter pilot - was especially proud to get.

"We're going to start making parts for American Eurocopter," he said. "They told me if I didn't have that ISO certification, they wouldn't have even looked at us. That says a lot for what we do."

But Hawkins, who built his business by being able to spot trends early, isn't going to be satisfied with just landing another customer. The window of opportunity that opened for his company 10 years ago clearly remains open. However, Hawkins said the major task now is making sure that window doesn't close - and looking for what he calls other "strategic windows of opportunity."

He expects more contract fabrication work - longer-term commitments for a particular job - than batches of customized fabrication work that has long been the bread-and-butter for the company.

"And my role will probably be less hands-on," he said. "I'll be doing more coaching and training, being more of a manager - that's my personal challenge. On the business side, we've always got to think we have a competitor right next to us."

By DENNIS SEID - Tupelo Daily Journal

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