Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/63069
58 • MAY 2012 • WORLD FENCE NEWS Metro Fence Company, Inc., head- quartered in Commerce City, Colo., has had a big year already, and it's not even half over. The company celebrated its 28th anniversary in March, and also re- cently won a National Eagle Award for Excellence in Construction from As- sociated Builders and Contractors (ABC), a construction industry trade association. The National Eagle award is the highest and most prestigious honor granted by ABC. Metro Fence Company began as a small operation based in Broomfield, Colo. in 1984 and has grown to be- come the largest fence and gate instal- lation company in the Denver, Colo. region. The company began operation under the ownership of two partners, but the partners wanted to retire in 1999 and were seeking someone to carry on what they had started and grow the company to the next level. In March of 1999 Vern and Shirley Anniversary, national awards highlight big year for Metro Fence Company, and it's just begun Knorr were able to secure financing through an SBA loan, by providing personal capital to acquire the com- pany and begin the growth and expan- sion. The couple came from a rural background, having grown up on farming operations near Green Bay, Wis. The work ethic of long days, short nights and the entrepreneurial spirit "to always get the job done" has provided the spirit to grow the com- pany from its small beginnings to where it is today, said Vern. "Everyone here takes a lot of pride in the projects that we take on," he said. "We would rather pass on a proj- ect than install something that did not meet or exceed the values of the cus- tomer and contractors that we work for. "All of the staff at Metro Fence Vern and Shirley Knorr purchased a five acre industrial lot with a 12,000 square foot plant in 2004 (above). The facility gave them room to grow, and they began manufacturing products such as cantilever gates. (Metro Fence Company) Company are of the same entrepre- neurial and customer value mind set," he said. "Long ago it was decided 'to get the right people on the bus and the wrong people off the bus,' so to speak, so that the company could grow to the next level and beyond." The original company headquar- ters in Broomfield was a small 1,200 square foot shop/office combination sitting on less than one-half acre. This was limiting their growth and service capabilities due to working in cramped facilities, Vern noted. Shirley and he spent a great deal of time searching out a larger facility that would accommodate growth. In the summer of 2004 a five acre indus- trial lot with a 12,000 square foot fa- cility was purchased in Commerce City with financial backing. This new facility gave them room to expand both in products/services offered and geographic territories. The new and larger facility en- abled them to start in-house manufac- turing of custom steel/aluminum gates, ornamental fence and balcony panels. Many of the products that they build are custom design/build products that cannot be purchased elsewhere, Vern noted. "Times have changed in the con- tracting world since the days of running around to various plan rooms and gen- eral contractors offices to pickup printed plans and or do takeoffs," he noted. "Everything now is done with electronic plans and computer takeoffs, then proposals are forwarded to customers in- stantly via e- mail. Most all pay applications are done elec- tronically as well, which leads to more ac- curate comple- tion of work estimates with fewer errors." The com- a project on a remote island in the Ba- hamas. Their products and services have The National Eagle Award that Metro Fence won from the Associated Builders and Con- tractors was for a high security fence sur- rounding the FBI regional field office in Denver, above. Shown is entrance/exit to the installation, equipped with a crash rated hydraulic wedge barrier system from Delta Scientific. Specific information on the fence system is found within the text of this story. Below, a portion of the Ameristar K-8 crash rated Impasse Stalwart anti-ram vehicle barrier fence which surrounds the facility. expanded to a significant amount of military and Department of Defense perimeter security products that in- clude anti-terrorist and anti-crash fences, and gates and barriers of many sizes and types. Along with these products they have moved into multi- family installations with custom hand/balcony railings and gates and gate operating systems. Many types of tradi- tional commer- cial fences from chain link to var- ious composite and wood prod- ucts are also in the installation mix. Regarding their high secu- rity and anti-ter- rorism work, the National Eagle Award which Metro won from ABC involved just such a proj- ect. pany has grown from a primarily Denver metro company that installed commercial/industrial chain link fences to a firm which services Col- orado, Nebraska, Wyoming, New Mexico, Utah, North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas and Arizona. Most recently they were awarded The award recognizes Metro Fence's design and in- stallation of one- half mile of high security fence surrounding the FBI Regional Field Office in Denver, meeting the exacting installation parameters re- quired by the U.S. Department of State for a facility of this type. The fencing system meets U.S. Department of State K-8 anti-terrorist crash rating certification standards to continued on page 60