By Sarah DeClerk and Kenneth Heard
During a time when mass production is standard and imports are a given, it can be easy to overlook local small-scale manufacturers but such businesses are nonetheless important. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, small businesses accounted for nearly 63 percent of net new jobs between 1995 and 2021, and small businesses provide more than 54 percent of jobs in rural areas.
The following businesses illustrate how manufacturers who keep it small and set up shop close to home play a vital role in their communities.
Osceola Machine Works and Manufacturing, Osceola
Situated within spitting distance of the Mississippi River in northeast Arkansas, the residents of Osceola find plenty of uses for water-control structures, both commercially when controlling field irrigation and recreationally when flooding land to attract ducks for hunting. However, Osceola Machine Works and Manufacturing’s reach extends beyond its hometown to ship water-control structures, duck pits and more to communities across the United States.
One of Osceola Machine’s more popular products is the duck pit, shown being installed, here. (Photo provided)
“We have had calls from other countries, but of course, shipping’s crazy, so you don’t see much happening in that, but the only place I don’t service too, too often is the Washington to Wyoming area, those five states up there,” said Andrew Scott, office manager. “Every other state sees pretty consistent orders. You’ll get a few New York orders, a few Maine throughout the year. You never go without. Our biggest area’s probably from Arkansas to North and South Carolina. All the states in that little circle get serviced the most.”
Established more than 70 years ago, the business is owned by Dusty Smith, who took the reins of the company in 2018, after his father-in-law retired. Smith builds all the products with help from two workers and, occasionally, his sons, Scott said, adding that his own role is to handle customer requests. He takes customer orders, including the specifications for the structure they need, and then sends the order to the manufacturing team for approval.
One of Osceola Machine’s more popular products is the duck pit, shown during assembly on the factory floor. (Photo provided)
“Usually, we’ll have a lot of the boxes, the frames, already built and made, so they’ll do all the grinding,” he said. “They’ll do the cutting of the metal and any other bending and then put it all together.”
The business can handle about a dozen two-, three- and four-foot structures a week, but larger structures take longer to build, he added.
“We do it on a que system,” he said. “We don’t like to put people who have an easy order in front of someone who has a hard order, so it could be one week we’re only getting out about five because they’re so big, [and] the next week, we’re getting out 30, 40 of them.”
He added that Smith takes an active role in the business and handles the skids, pits and flat gates, in addition to helping the other employees.
“He does almost anything,” Scott said. “He’ll jump at anything. If we’re a little behind, he’ll jump in and help them. If he thinks he can get somebody’s order out fast, he’ll do it himself, you know. He’s a very hands-on kind of boss.”
That attitude is the key to the business’ success, he said, adding that having an owner who is close but firm with his employees and never hesitates to lend a hand is what drives the business.
“If he was just in here directing and telling us what to do, it wouldn’t function as good as it does now,” Scott said. “He picks up the slack. He motivates everybody to follow how fast he’s moving and the building he does, and all around, his attitude toward business and getting the customers what they need really bones up everything.”
Scott estimated that there were only one or two other manufacturers making similar products in the United States, including the larger Agri Drain Corp. While some customers turn to general fabricators for their needs, most find that structures made by specialty manufacturers suit them best, he said.
“I can’t tell you how many times I have customers saying, ‘Hey, it will cost more.’ They don’t work as good as someone like Agri Drain or us because it’s just not someone’s specialty,” he said. “You have to have so many perfect measurements and stuff like that to work fully, and that’s kind of why they come to us. [A general fabricator] could do it, but it’s going to cost more, it’s going to take more time, and it might not work out.”
That said, small-scale manufacturing is not without its challenges, time being one of them.
“We’re not a big manufacturer,” Scott said. “We don’t have everything in stock, so when the time comes when people order the day they need it, the week they need it, usually it’s all about time is what we run into.”
He added that the volatility of material pricing is unique to the metal industry.
“Prices fluctuate like nothing else I’ve seen,” he said. “They go up. They go down. You might be paying 30 cents per pound one day; the next day, you’re paying 75 cents to a dollar. It’s something you’ve got to be a pro at and watch constantly.”
Despite that, Osceola Machine has only had one price increase in the past five years, he said.
“If prices go low, our prices are already decent, from my understanding from customers I’ve talked to, so we keep them the same. If the price of metal goes high, skyrockets, we’re kind of just sitting there. We’re making our money, even, and our customers know, ‘Hey, it’s not going to change.’”
Like other parts of Arkansas, farming is essential to life in Osceola, Scott said.
“I would say it’s the main focus,” he said. “We’re surrounded by fields, so I would say it’s very important. A lot of notable figures are farmers or come from that kind of family work, so you’re not going anywhere and not running into somebody like that.”
Duck season is the busiest time of year, he added. Like most everyone in Osceola, farming and hunting are a part of Scott’s life just like they are a part of his customers’.
“Everybody around here grows up with a few years of hunting, at least, before they move on to their own thing,” he said. “I used to go with my grandfather. He passed away, and it just kind of dwindled from there. We own farmland in my family.”
He added that telling others about local businesses is one of the best ways to support small manufacturers such as Osceola Machine and help them attract more business.
“I think that’s really the biggest kind of help because one person who’s not in the industry could turn around and tell their friend, who tells their friend, who tells the owner of the plant, who tells the people in that little circle,” Scott said. “It all just goes from one person’s word of mouth, goes up from there.”
Xpress Boats, Hot Springs, and Veranda Luxury Pontoons, Malvern
A good idea led to an innovation that grew Xpress Boats in Hot Springs and Veranda Luxury Pontoons in Malvern into the manufacturers they are today.
“Our founder, Kermit Bryant, knew there had to be a better way to construct aluminum boats, rather than with rivets,” said Clay Conner, vice president of marketing. “Mr. Bryant pioneered taking inert gas, and by all-welding his boats, he created a superior unibody construction. Still to this day, his innovation has paved the way, as everyone in the industry has followed.”
An aerial view
of the Xpress Boats factory in Hot Springs.
Founded in 1966, Xpress boats manufactures all-welded, high-performance aluminum boats for bass, bay, crappie and catfish fishing, as well as hunting. Veranda Luxury Pontoons provides luxury pontoon boats that feature an all-aluminum, all-welded interlocking deck system.
“In a sea of competition where most use plywood to deck their boats, which leads to predetermined obsolescence, Veranda offers a foundation for a lifetime of enjoyment coupled with a no-wood-no-rot guarantee — truly innovative and focused on a carefree boating experience for the greatest return on our customer’s investment,” Conner said.
Xpress boats are assembled and finished inside the company’s main facility.
There are 375 employees between both companies, which serve more than 175 national and international dealers across the country and around the world, he said. He added that the company seeks to build lean muscle with measured and calculated growth to ensure the business neither outpaces its capabilities nor underperforms.
“There is no doubt that our business has changed over the past 10 years, with more competitors entering the marketplace,” he said. “[The COVID-19 pandemic] has had an enormous impact on our business positively and negatively. Our focus has remained steadfast in producing the finest carefree product for our customers regardless of the season we are in at that time. The economy may change, the demand may wane, but our commitment will never vary.”
Xpress boats are assembled and finished inside the company’s main facility.
As a leader in boat manufacturing, Xpress was the first to make all-welded aluminum boats and the first to employ longitudinal rib construction, and the boats are constructed using expandable foam in order to exceed Coast Guard standards, he said.
“Xpress Boats changed the paradigm at the highest level of competitive fishing,” he added. “Four victories on the Bassmaster Elite Series, one of those being in the Bassmaster Classic, have proven there is no need to spend $100,000 or more when the top anglers can compete and win at the highest level. We continue to reevaluate our engineering practices and work tirelessly to refine production efficiencies while ensuring our vision is clear, based upon a focus of being innovative.”
As a family-owned and -operated business, the owners are intimately involved in day-to-day operations and have built a culture that focuses on the company’s greatest asset — the employees, Conner said.
“We truly do not see ourselves as a small manufacturer as we are one of the largest employers in Hot Springs,” he said. “Our company provides so much to our community, with jobs, tax revenue, national exposure and a destination for an amazing career opportunity for one of the finest employers in this part of the country. If other companies embraced similar values and developed a like culture, our country’s manufacturing would be unstoppable.”
WinChoice USA, Mountain Pine
Morgan Wiles saw the tough times in Mountain Pine when Weyerhaeuser Co. closed its mill in the Garland County town in 2006.
Wiles’ father worked there for 32 years, and Wiles, who had just returned from duty with the U.S. Army in Iraq, recalls the strain of the closure.
“My dad would put a positive light to it, but it really was a devastating time,” Wiles said.
The WinChoice factory in Mountain Pine produces fusion double-welded window frames. Once finished, warm-edge spacer technology, below, designed to reduce energy loss is applied.
About 300 lost their jobs when the plant closed on Nov. 30, 2006, the first time in more than 80 years the town of 700 was without a sawmill.
It took some time, but Wiles, who but for a two-year tour in Iraq has lived in Mountain Pine all his life, is helping his hometown.
He and his childhood friend and business partner, Shaun Keefe, moved their window manufacturing company from Hot Springs to Mountain Pine in 2016. WinChoice USA, which makes and sells its own windows locally, employs 100 people.
He said he hopes to increase the number of workers and expand the size of the factory shortly. Plans call for hiring up to 350 people in Mountain Pine and opening other window retail stores in nine states.
Wiles, 39, was born and raised in Mountain Pine. He graduated from Mountain Pine High School in 2002. His best friend since age 4, Keefe, graduated two years later, and the two went into the window manufacturing business together in 2006, after Wiles served in the Army. For two years, Wiles worked in network communication while in Iraq, earning both an education in life and a realization that Mountain Pine was his home.
“I’ve been all over the world [because of the service],” he said, “but when I came back, I realized I was home.”
He and Keefe opened Morfe Manufacturing in Hot Springs about nine miles from Wiles’ home in 2006. WinChoice was the retailing branch of the operation. The two thought first of establishing their business in Bryant, but the lure of their hometown brought them back to Garland County.
They worked in a 10,000-square foot building then, shipping windows all over the country.
In 2016, Wiles and Keefe saw an opportunity to return home. Weyerhaeuser’s 389-acre site — vacant for a decade — was for sale. The asking price was $2.2 million but the two were able to negotiate the cost down to $550,000.
After a year and a half of construction and remodeling, WinChoice opened its 50,000-square foot facility. Since then, business has been booming, Wiles said.
“We felt like we could do something incredibly special in this realm,” he said. “We took all the good we learned in business and left out the bad.”
While other window manufacturers sell their products to vendors, WinChoice makes its windows and then sells them directly to customers. Wiles applies a lesson his father taught him at an early age.
“It was the Golden Rule,” Wiles said, adding that his father often said, “Treat others as you’d want to be treated yourself.”
He said one of his main goals was to increase repair time for customers. If a customer’s window broke, Wiles said, they did not want to wait six months for any repairs.
“We wanted the maximum service time to be 30 days,” he said. “Our goal is to get there within 14 days. If you have a leaking window, you want a technician on site as soon as possible.
“We want to set high standards.”
Even the name Wiles and Keefe chose for their business reflects their customers and features a double meaning.
On first glance, “WinChoice,” of course, refers to the choice windows the two offer, but the pair also hope the name makes customers feel like they win when buying from WinChoice.
“We want them to win,” Wiles said. “Winning is a choice. It also means having a choice to do the right thing and bettering yourself. Our customers win when they have a choice.”
Wiles also chose to run for mayor of Mountain Pine and in November 2018, he won the majority of the vote in a four-way race.
“When the mill shut down, the town began spiraling down,” he said. “I didn’t see what was all going when I first returned [to Mountain Pine], but I was finding out. I thought if nobody else was going to fix it, I was going to have to.”
He first focused on restoring a strong police department. After Weyerhaeuser closed down, city revenue declined and the town had to reduce its police force.
“I wanted to better our community policing,” he said. “It worked. The community got behind it and on our side, and we got the bad elements out.”
Wiles also saw the benefits of increasing job opportunities in the area and touted development of a large industrial park but, in part because of his perfectionist and fast-paced entrepreneurial ways, the stress of the job began getting to him, he said.
“I had that spirit,” he said. “I wanted to move massively fast, and I think the town wanted to move slower.”
He said he was at a contentious city council meeting one evening while his son was playing soccer. He missed the game, a point that moved him to tender his resignation in March 2021.
“I realized I could be more of a value to my family and business,” he said. “I would have tried moving Mountain Pine too fast.”
Now, Wiles and Keefe focus on moving things at WinChoice rapidly. Plans call for another 10,000-square-foot expansion and the hiring of more workers.
The business partners also want to open more outlets in Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas and to expand other services such as roofing repair.
“We’ve learned through trials and tribulations,” Wiles said. “Most businesses are only about profit, and what’s lost is the customer. If you treat them right and take care of the customers like they want to do, the profit will come.”
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