Lexicon Holding Co. of Little Rock is No. 15 on this week’s list of the state’s largest private companies (see 2020 Brought Feast, Famine to Private Companies), but it was No. 1 in revenue growth.
Lexicon’s revenue grew by more than half, from $530 million in 2019 to $817 million in 2020.
“What we experienced in 2020 was the fruit of some of the strategies we put in place over the past few years,” said CEO Patrick Schueck, son of founder Tom Schueck, who died in March 2020. That includes investing in state-of-the-art robotics that have been deployed in Little Rock and Blytheville.
Lexicon’s 2020 performance included the start of a $100 million job for Tesla in Austin, Texas — “Working for Tesla is a different ballgame,” Schueck said — and continuing work for Nucor and Big River Steel, which he said had benefited from the Trump administration’s policies on steel manufacturing.
Lexicon is also doing work for Amazon all over the country. “We believe we’re one of their best vendors.”
His father “set the tone” for the company, Schueck said, and the one-two punch of his death and COVID-19 “really required our senior management team to step up … and get more intentional about living our values,” he said. “People first, quality first and safety first, and we added innovation to that.”
A case in point: Lexicon created metal brackets for plastic face shields for use by local health care professionals early in the pandemic. “We didn’t make any money on it, but it shows how nimble we are,” Schueck said.
“I’m damn proud. I know my dad’s smiling.”
