Springdale’s Multi-Craft Contractors Thrives Under New Co-Owners

MCC President Hex Bisbee has been with the company he now co-owns since 1999. (Michael Woods)

Having co-owners of a multi-million dollar company can be a tricky business, but Hex Bisbee and Scott Barrows are making it work — and work well — at Multi-Craft Contractors Inc. of Springdale.

MCC lives up to its name, providing a host of industrial and commercial engineering and production services to clients in 30 states. In 2024, it generated approximately $158 million in revenue, slightly down from $160 million the previous year.

Bisbee, the company’s CFO since 1999, and Barrows, the son of longtime majority owner Rick Barrows, assumed control of MCC in 2020 in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Bisbee became president while Scott Barrows continued on as chief operations officer.

“Scott and I have known each other for a long time, and we had an honest conversation; not an easy conversation, not a hard conversation, but an honest conversation,” Bisbee said. “What are our strengths, what are our weaknesses? Scott and I decided together, I needed to be the president, and he was going to be the COO, which is what he was already.

“It has worked out well, we have a healthy relationship. We talk all the time on a daily basis, and anytime we disagree, we stay put until we can find an agreement.”

Scott Barrows joined MCC in 1986 as a regular ol’ worker — “I ran a jackhammer the first three years,” he said — before moving into the front office two decades ago. His father had joined the company when it was known as ABC Plumbing in 1969 and became an owner in 1983.

To Completion

MCC’s motto is “From Concept to Completion” to reflect the many different services it can provide.

Barrows said the company’s versatility pays off. He shared an example of when MCC was contracted to do a minor job. MCC did it so well that the client hired them for a multi-million dollar project.

“On the industrial side, a company will get a new contract for a different type of product [line], and they’ll want us to come in and revamp their whole line,” Barrows said. “They’ll call us and ask us to come look at this, and it will turn into a big job. Sometimes it’s incredible how the industrial stuff just falls out of the sky.”

Bisbee and Barrows said MCC’s success is thanks to its 700 or so employees.

“We can throw a lot of muscle at a change out and get it done quickly,” Bisbee said. “That allows the customer, especially industrial, to get going again.”

When the pandemic hit, the company took a $10 million Paycheck Protection Program loan and relied on its cash reserves to keep its workforce. A multi-service company is nothing without its collection of skilled labor.

“We’ve learned 2007-08 and 2001-02 when there were other crazy conditions that we need to hang on to our people,” Bisbee said. “If they scatter, we’ll never get them back right. For Scott and I, our motivation is we recognize that we have 700 families that depend on us to provide for them and their families and their children and well being. We’re willing to sacrifice profits to keep them intact and provide good benefits, and we know through time that will pay us back later on.”