Central States Manufacturing

Central States Manufacturing Inc. has seen phenomenal growth since it was founded in 1988 by Carl and Rick Carpenter, and they foresee continued success ahead.

Central States manufactures and delivers high-quality metal building components to more than 2,000 post-frame commercial and residential customers.

Rick Carpenter, president, credits much of the company’s success to operating on Christian principles of honesty and integrity and exceeding customers’ expectations.

Another factor in its success, Rick Carpenter said, is that the company set up an employee stock ownership plan in 1991. The more than 215 employees are empowered to make decisions and are expected to provide the highest level of customer service.

The company began in Rogers but quickly outgrew its space and moved to Lowell in 1990. In 1995, it opened a retail operation at Lowell called Metal Express. A second operation was opened at Michigan City, Ind., in 1997 and in 2000 a third plant was opened at Cedar Hill, Texas.

In March 2001, the company bought out a retail division, Steel Builders Supply, in Mississippi, and in 2003 it launched a self-storage division, Central Storage Works, which offers building systems for mini-storage, boat storage and RV storage.

Carpenter said sales grew about 25 percent last year, aided more by the run-up in steel prices than by additional volume. Steel was in such tight supply that the company couldn’t take on much more business.

By 2010, the company’s strategic plan calls for sales of $200 million and five plants. That will come from both expansions and acquisitions, Carpenter said.

Carpenter, who had been in computer sales, and his father, Carl Carpenter, had talked for a long time about going into business together.

“My father was a real entrepreneur and willing to take a risk, but admittedly not the greatest manager. I learned a lot of management skills while in the computer business and it’s been a good fit,” Rick said.