By JEFFREY SMITH
Leader staff writer
Pinnacle Structures in Cabot is marking its 20th year in business.
The pre-engineered metal building systems manufacturer opened in 1995 with six employees in a double-wide trailer on South Second Street. It has since grown to 130 employees. Pinnacle Structures operates two shifts 24 hours a day, five days a week.
The facility on Hwy. 321 has expanded three times. The company had $36 million in sales last year. Pinnacle Structures has sold metal buildings all over the country, including the Carolina coast, Alaska and California.
Pinnacle Structures was started with $150,000 from three investors — the late Gerald Shock, Steve Tipton and Jerry Jones (not the Dallas Cowboys owner).
The company receives shipments of steel. Then, using rollers, benders and welders, makes beams, purlins, wall panels, downspouts, gutters and trim.
The building is put together like a large kit by contractors or buyers.
Some examples of Pinnacle Structures buildings are the Cabot School District’s Freshman Academy, Mountain Springs Elementary, the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Office, the Game and Fish Foundation Shooting Sports Complex in Jacksonville, the Cabot Fire Department station on Hwy. 5 and several hundred Dollar General stores.
The company produces metal buildings for churches, schools, fire stations, aviation, gas and oil industries and for agricultural uses. Engineers are also on staff to design buildings for customers.
“We have had steady growth since the recession,” company president Will Feland, a former prosecutor and judge, said.
Sandra Covington, vice president of administration, said many employees have worked at Pinnacle for five to 10 years. Feland said payroll was $7.7 million last year, making quite an economic impact on local businesses.
He said the benefits package, along with company stock, helps retain employees. A third of Pinnacle Structures’ stock is owned by employees.
Feland said there is a sense of pride employees have from owning part of the company.
Josh Fairchild, vice president of technical services, said, “Pinnacle Pride is our motto. We know we aren’t the biggest. We don’t have the fanciest equipment, but we feel like we have the best people. I put our guys up against any competitor. (Our workers) have the ‘can-do, will-do’ attitude to put out a quality product. You see it in the faces that work here.”
Covington added, “We are proud that we are very community-minded as a company.”
Feland said, “We’ve donated over $2 million over the past 20 years. We have an outreach called Pinnacle Outreach. We are funding a rape crisis center in Helena. In the last year, we gave a minivan to Partners Against Trafficking Humans.”
He continued, “We donated the building for Lonoke County Safe Haven and the kitchen equipment. We are active in fundraisers. We donated a pavilion for Open Arms Shelter in Lonoke. We donated a building to Jacksonville High School for an indoor workout facility and many churches. During Christmas, the employees adopt a family (in need).”
Pinnacle Structures is credited by the International Accredited Service, the highest standard of quality production in the industry. It is also a member of the Metal Building Manufactures Association.
Pinnacle Structures is open to the public. And the Metal Store next door to the factory sells metal building supplies.
