One of Sacramento's best known and most well respected testing contractors is entering its third decade of servicing the residents of the Greater Sacramento Area and Northern California with high quality fencing at a reasonable price.
Sacramento, CA (OPENPRESS) January 15, 2009 -- One of Sacramento's most well known and most well-respected fencing contractors, S&S Fence Company Inc., is celebrating its 20th year of doing business in the Greater Sacramento Area and Northern California. The fencing company which is also a member of the Disabled Veterans Business Enterprise (DVBE) group of contractors.
S&S Fence was started by brothers Gary and Stephen Siewert in the late 1980s. As with many entrepreneurs of that era, the Siewert brothers literally started their fencing contractor business out of their garages. fencing is tough work, and in the beginning the majority of the backbreaking work was done by Gary and Stephen--and no one else. Very long days in the hot Sacramento sun was the norm back then.
S&S Fence began as a chain-link and ornamental iron specialist. Now, the Sacramento fencing company delivers all types of fence and fencing materials including automatic gate operator systems, ranch fencing, horse fencing, redwood fences, arbors, vinyl fencing, razor wire, and security fencing. Additionally, S&S Fence constructs specialty items such as batting cages, tennis courts, baseball and softball diamonds, indoor chain-link fencing, and swimming pool fencing.
Many of these fencing projects take a lot of manpower. When they first started, however, it was just the two of them.
"In the beginning, we really couldn't afford to hire anybody, and had to do all the work ourselves," says Gary Siewert, the younger of the two brothers. "I had been doing fencing for many years prior to opening my own business with my brother Stephen," he says, "and there are a lot of challenges when you decide to go out on your own. There was a lot of uncertainty in the beginning, but the two of us just kept pushing forward and did what we could to stay in business and pull in more fencing jobs."
Running a business requires the wearing of many hats. Even though S&S Fence was just a two-man operation in the beginning, all of the other functions of the organization -- like sales, marketing, accounting, and the like -- still had to be covered. And neither Gary nor Stephen had any formal training as managers or executives.
"When you decide to run a business of your own, the hard part isn't necessarily the technical aspects of the business. In other words, the actual fencing part of our business was not necessarily that difficult as we both knew how to do fencing," says Stephen Siewert. "What tends to be difficult for the entrepreneur is the administrative side. You really don't appreciate the organizational aspects and how difficult it is to own and grow a business until you try to run one yourself."
Despite some initial growing pains, the Siewert brothers persevered and gradually learned what it took to run a successful fencing business. One of their more successful actions -- and one that would hold them in good stead and be a fundamental component in their successful growth -- was their insistence on high quality workmanship regardless of the size of the job or who the customer was.
"From the beginning, we really made it a point to give great customer service and to deliver very high quality workmanship when it came to building fences," says Gary. "It really didn't matter if it was a small residential fencing job, or a big commercial fencing job for an important client, the quality of workmanship when it came to building the fence was going to be maintained at a very high level. When we build the fence, we use high quality fencing materials and build it to last."
Another major component of their success is the way that S&S Fence has treated its employees over the years. At the end of the day, every organization is only as good as its employees. In the fencing and construction trades, finding great workers who are willing to stay with you for the long haul can sometimes be a tough call for many contractors. By its very nature, much of the work force tends to be transient, and not many stay with the same contractor for many years.
At present, S&S Fence has a large number of fencing crews, comprised of individuals who have been with the company for many years.
"Unfortunately, you do sometimes have to go through a large number of employees in this industry to find a really good workers," says Siewert. "I am really proud of the guys that I have here at S&S Fence. They work hard, and they do great fencing work. Many of them have been with us for quite a long time and I think the reason for that is that we really tried to create a good work environment for them. It's my personal belief that if you treat your employees well, listen to what they have to say and respect them, and keep them employed and busy year-round, you can really establish some loyalty and dedication."
For the past 20 years the U.S. Economy has certainly seen its share of ups and downs. Fortunately for S&S Fence, the fencing company was located in one of the fastest growing regions of the United States -- the greater Sacramento-Elk Grove area. Elk Grove in particular has seen tremendous growth in the past 20 years. The fencing industry tends to benefit from growth because just about every building project --be it residential or commercial -- needs some kind of fencing. As S&S Fence's reputation for high-quality workmanship grew, they began to work with bigger and bigger companies and organizations.
Now, their roster of satisfied customers includes some of the biggest and most well known companies and organizations in the world. Corporations like Apple Computer, Hewlett-Packard, AT&T, PacBell, and Campbell's Soup have all used S&S Fence as their fencing contractor on a variety of projects. S&S Fence also has a great working relationship with governmental agencies at every level of government, and has completed major fencing projects for a large numbers of municipalities throughout Northern California and the San Francisco Bay area. The fencing company has done work for the cities of Sacramento, Stockton, Elk Grove, Santa Rosa, and San Jose just to name a few.
For the majority of the past 20 years, S&S Fence was located at the junction of Highway 99, and Sheldon Road in Elk Grove, California. At that ideal location, the fencing company was a virtual Elk Grove landmark due to its high visibility and longevity.
"Unfortunately, our fencing company fell victim to the highway construction and the widening of the roads that were going on in the area and we were forced to move to new location," says Gary Siewert. "There is no question that we took a big hit in terms of visibility, marketing, and public relations for our fencing company," says Siewert. "Now we are located at 7448 Reese Road between Gerber and Florin. What we miss in terms of visibility and location, we have made up for in terms of space, and at the rate we are continuing to grow, the new location provides us with room for expansion."
The current US economy may be in a recession, and the housing industry in the Sacramento area has definitely slowed down, but to Siewert brothers feel that they will make it through and continue to expand as they continue to build fences into the future.
"Had this current economic situation hit us when we first starting out I don't know that we would have made it," says Gary. "In order to complete the big commercial jobs or jobs of any size, a fencing company has to be big enoughUSo absorb the capital outlay in order to complete the job. We are fortunate in that anyone who hires us knows that we are going to complete any job once started, which certainly gives us a certain advantage. Unfortunately, I know that some smaller fencing companies and fencing contractors are having a hard time of it and some are even going out of business. It will be tough, but I know that S&S Fences is going to make it through this."
The road has been long, but S&S Fence is definitely a Sacramento business success story. The future definitely looks bright for the fencing company as they move forward into the next decade of their existence.
For more information about fencing or S&S Fence Company, please contact Gary Siewert at 916-682-1100 or email him at gary@fencing-contractors.com. Or visit the website at www.fencing-contractors.com.
