Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/298794
WORLD FENCE NEWS • MAY 2014 • 23 on – quiet. Roads and warehousing are doing okay. Companies like John Deere and New Holland are expanding their plants. Foreclosures are not a factor. We then asked about the company strategy for 2014 and were told that they are cutting back on advertising but using more internet and are adver- tising more locally. Finally for this issue, we caught up with Josh Kalena of U.S. Fence and Gate, Inc. in Orange, Texas. Josh told us that the season is "pid- dling along." The company mix is 95% com- mercial and 5% residential. The com- pany is licensed in some 40 states, doing work which includes prisons, airports, seaports, and Home Depot fa- cilities, along with other federal and state work. (A huge perimeter fence job at Louis Armstrong New Orleans Inter- natioal Airport that the company re- cently completed was the subject of the cover story in the April 2014 edi- tion of WFN.) The company has another location in Lake Charles, La. On the residential side, the company does automatic gates, chain link and dog runs, along with cedar fencing. We then asked Josh what, if any, trends or changes have been seen in the fence business in their area. We were told that a lot more projects are switching to ornamental metal from chain link. Further, he has noticed that perimeter fencing has gone to much higher heights. We then asked whether these changes have been for better or worse. Josh told us that the changes have been for the better. He told us that there is more con- crete work/mowstrip going under the fence. In Louisiana, he pointed out that they are putting more fence in the ground. We then asked about the economy in the area, and were told that it was "pretty decent." Industry in southeast Texas has been pretty steady over the last five years. On the commercial side, some ex- pansions at plants have been occur- ring. On the residential side, it has been slow but steady. We then asked about the com- pany's strategy for 2014. Basically, the company is internally rebuilding their offices from an organizational stand- point – to operate in more of a stream- lined fashion. They are also working on making their advertising more productive, es- pecially with a local presence. Yellow Pages will be about the same. Josh left us with a comment re- garding the current status of some gen- eral contractors in the area. He told us that more GCs are getting involved with "paid when paid" contracts, which is exactly what it says. This has forced subs to carry jobs longer. He talked briefly about a current job involving a $1,900 dumpster en- closure and gate which carries with it a 16 page contract! Can you believe it? If you would like to share your ex- periences and observations with your fel- low fencers by being a part of the Fencer's Field Report, please contact me through World Fence News at 800-231- 0275 to set up an interview. As it has been for many years now, it is always a pleasure speaking with you!