Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/418584
22 • DECEMBER 2014 • WORLD FENCE NEWS FENCER'S FIELD REPORT A monthly column of industry bits & pieces Compiled by contributing editor Jim Lucci and the staff of World Fence News We had the opportunity to speak with Lynn Hayworth of Hayworth Fence in Altoona, Wisconsin. (Lynn is a past president of the American Fence Association.) Lynn told us that their season ended up pretty good. This year, we were told, their company mix was 50% residential and 50% commercial – generated in a 100 mile radius. Lynn told us that getting materials in a timely fashion is a problem during the season. Generally, it took an average of 2-3 weeks to get most materials in house and longer for gates. (More on that later.) We then asked what the big mov- ers were on the residential side this past season. We were told that chain link was perhaps their biggest mov- er, but that PVC had picked up nice- ly. Lynn noted that people who were looking for privacy as their reason for buying chose PVC and that the peo- ple who were mainly looking to keep dogs in, kids in, or other things out chose chain link. On the commercial side, we were told that the government renewed their three-year contract for line items at Fort McCoy, although other items have to go out for bid and Hayworth Fence has gotten some of those items as well. They are also involved with work involving a lot of sand process- ing plants. However, Lynn noted that there was no school work to speak of this past season. We then asked Lynn what the biggest challenge was to them this past season. She reiterated that get- ting materials in a timely manner was diffi cult, no matter who the supplier was. She further said that gates were running 6-8 weeks for delivery. This posed a challenge dealing with cus- tomers from time to time, she said. Another challenge she mentioned was health care costs. Her group rates increased some 20% this past year, Lynn told us. Next year they are ex- pected to go even higher and they are not sure at this point how they will handle that. We then asked what the biggest surprise was for them this past season. Lynn told us that she was surprised to see the rebound in PVC sales. She said that they have sold more PVC this year than in 2008, the last year they were fabricating their own. We then asked about the economy in the area. We were told that it is not as bad as some other states. The state has a surplus in the government bud- get and there have been some rebates on property taxes as a result. The unemployment rate is cur- rently below the national average, we were told. On the residential side, there are a few new homes being built here and there, but nothing like pre-recession 2008. Lynn also pointed out, that be- fore 2008, property was worth a lot more. She feels that housing prices will take 20 years to rebound to pre- 2008 levels. But things are moving a little. The average cost of a house is between $180,000-$200,000. On the commercial side we were told that there is not a lot of new build- ing going on. They are trying to put up developments of houses for the elderly as well as dog park areas, basically for beautifi cation. Lynn pointed out that the season for fencing in Wisconsin is 9 months, not 12 like some other parts of the country. We then asked about the company strategy for this past season and were told that they were focused on consol- idating their commercial properties. We were told that the company no longer needs such large areas of op- eration since they no longer do fabri- cating, etc., and that they feel that this could be fi nalized in early 2015. Finally, we asked Lynn how she saw the outlook for the fence industry in 2015. She expressed to us that she felt this coming year should be a good one. Perhaps small baby steps for the next two years while restoring confi - dence in the commercial side of the business. We then caught up with Santo Pernicano, distribution center man- ager for Master Halco in Dallas, Texas. Santo, like Lynn Hayworth, is as a past president of AFA. Santo told us that this past season went decently and that there are sev- en distribution centers in Texas and his location covers approximately a 100 mile radius, serving Dallas, Fort Worth, and McKinney. The company manufactures chain link at the Dallas location. The com- pany mix according to Santo this year MT40 TM High Strength Fence Framework Midwest Tube Mills, Inc. P.O. 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