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16 • JULY 2011 • WORLD FENCE NEWS We recently spoke with Brian Thorpe of Automated Gates and Equipment in Seattle, Washington, who told us that this year was follow- ing the same pattern as last year: streaky. A lot of calls come in for a pe- riod of time, then there is a drop off, then the pattern repeats. We were told that the company’s business mix is 60% commercial and 40% residential and that the company has been in the business of gate access and parking systems since 1980. Although most of the company work is concentrated around the greater Puget Sound region, from Bellingham to Vancouver Washington, Automated Gates serves residential and commercial customers throughout the Pacific Northwest. They have FENCER’S FIELD REPORT A monthly column of industry bits & pieces Compiled by contributing editor Jim Lucci and the staff of World Fence News many projects in eastern Washington, Alaska, Oregon, Idaho and even Cali- fornia. For maintenance and repairs, the company offers service to Seattle, Everett, Bellevue and the Eastside, Tacoma and Olympia. Further, the company custom designs gates for res- idences, security gates for businesses, and controlled parking systems for ho- tels. We then asked Brian if the rising material costs have affected the way the company was bidding, and he re- sponded that it has, and that the in- crease in prices for materials has to be reflected in the bid to the customer. In response to whether or not it has affected his business in general, we were told that it has created tighter margins, as the company may choose to lower its margin on a case-by-case basis in order to win a bid. We asked whether or not the com- pany has seen any significant change in the fence market in the area, and Brian told us that it has been very con- sistent over the past couple of years. They have been doing more of the cre- ative pricing themselves. We also asked what the overall outlook is for the area’s fence market in 2011, and Brian indicated that it would appear to be one of low growth in the area, al- though some of the local industries, such as Microsoft and Amazon.com, are growing. When we asked about the econ- omy in the area, we were told that con- ditions in general are slow, particularly construction. The high tech area seems to be growing, as well as the health care sector (particularly geriatrics). He said that there were a lot more foreclosures than before; if people would see even a slight rise in home values, it would be good. Brian said that consumer confidence is lower than it should be, in his opinion. ™ On the residential side, there are a lot more people doing remodeling, and because it is so slow, there is a lot more “hand holding” with customers than ever before. On the commercial side, it has slowed down as well. He said that stimulus money is either very min- imal or almost non-existent in the area. Brian also said that apartment va- cancy rates are up significantly, to about 14.5%, as opposed to the normal rate of 6% to 8%. Regarding company strategy for 2011, Brian said that the company is planning to increase its web presence and reduce its Yellow Page ads. They are looking to increase market share, increase geographic territory and in- crease goods and services accordingly. The company has been in “sur- vival mode” for a long time, he said, and is hoping that these three actions will help increase market share. We also had an opportunity to speak with Dirk Henderson, presi- dent of Kansas Fencing Inc. of Topeka, Kansas, who told us that while last year was up 35%, he was looking to be up even more this year. He said that the company business was 80% commercial and 20% resi- dential. On the commercial side, they are very involved with the military and in addition to other projects, they do a lot of schools. On the residential side, Dirk said High Strength Composite that, so far this year, it has been good with vinyl and ornamental iron lead- ing the way in customer preference. Dirk then told us that he was born *Shipping not included. While quantities last. CHEMQUE, INC. PH. 416 679 5676 WWW.CHEMQUE.COM INFO@CHEMQUE.COM and raised in Topeka and that he, along with Julie Henderson (his secretary) and Lance Henderson (general man- ager), both also born and raised in Topeka, started their fence company in 1998. They have extensive regional ex- perience on projects all across the U.S., spanning from Camp Pendleton, California to Scranton, Pennsylvania. continued on page 18