Top of the Chain with Karl Stinson

CEO OF ELITE FENCE

Leading his family-owned company, Elite Fence, Karl Stinson says its success is the result of his mother and father’s dedication and work ethic. Together, with his sister Kristina as CFO, and his dad as president, they continue to focus on quality, safety, and top-notch customer relations.

WHEN WAS ELITE FENCE FOUNDED, AND BY WHOM?

My parents Harry and Karen Stinson in 1986.

WHAT LED TO ITS BEGINNING?

My grandfather Arlis Stinson had an installation company, Michigan Fence and Supply, that he started in 1965. My father Harry, worked for him selling and installing fences. As trends changed in the 1908s and aluminum fence began to become popular, my father began selling and installing various brands of aluminum fencing.

After a bad experience with a vendor in the fall of 1985, my mother and father decided to go into the aluminum fence manufacturing business for themselves. In 1986, they created American Aluminum and Steel Fence and started selling to Michigan Fence and Supply and other local Michigan-based companies. In 1987, they changed the name to Elite Aluminum Ornamental Fence Products, joined the AFA and began to expand the business into a national supplier.

HOW DID YOUR INVOLVEMENT WITH THE FAMILY BUSINESS COME ABOUT?

We grew up in the business. As kids, my sister, Kristina, and I would often be found helping around the business. I was off helping in the shop, and she was helping our mother in the offices.

Karl and Kristina in March of 1987 posing while fence sections were being set up for the company's first brochure.

I officially started my career in the panel assembly department in the summer of 1999 at 16 years old, then over the years, I worked in various departments in the shop and helped get our first powder coating line installed and running.

It was a natural evolution for me to move into sales in my early 20s. I had all the product knowledge needed since I had worked in every department on the shop floor. Dick Fromm taught me so much about sales and how to talk to customers. After about five years in sales, my parents started offering me opportunities to grow in the company and kept pushing me to challenge my level of comfort. I can 100% attribute our family’s success to the hard work and dedication our parents put into Elite, and the work ethic that they taught us.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF BEING A FAMILY-OWNED MANUFACTURING COMPANY FOR A CONTRACTOR OR CUSTOMER?

Being a family-owned company allows us to focus on customer service, long-term customer relationships and quality products. We take pride that most of our customers have been with us for over 15 years, and they appreciate the level of service we can provide to them daily.

As the industry has changed over the years, being family-owned has afforded us the ability to keep our quality standards high and provide the same or new products that our customers have come to expect from Elite.

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST LINE OF PRODUCTS SOLD?

Currently, our aluminum fences and gates are the largest products we produce. We have recently added decorative aluminum pedestrian railing to our product line and have had great success with this product on a few large projects along the I-75 corridor in Michigan.

This year, we are bringing multiple new products to market, including aluminum louvered fence and gates, aluminum privacy fence, a hybrid privacy fence allowing customers to purchase or supply their own PVC infill with aluminum post and rails and lastly, we are launching a new aluminum railing product line this year.

HOW ARE YOUR FACILITIES SET UP?

All our products are manufactured with domestically sourced materials within our own facilities, utilizing processes developed internally over many years of experience.

In Chesterfield, Michigan, we have 270,000 square feet of manufacturing space; this is where all our manufacturing takes place. All the raw aluminum extrusions come into our Missouri location for fabrication. We take pride in how clean, safe, and organized we keep our plants.

We apply an AAMA 2604 powder coated finish to all our products in Michigan, using our state-of-the-art powder coating line that has been certified to exceed the requirements of AAMA 2605 standards. Our powder coating line is one of the largest in the industry, being able to powder coat Ziptrack™ aluminum cantilever gates that are 10’ high x 53’ long and 2’ in width in production. In Murfreesboro, Tennessee, we have 26,500 square feet of light assembly and distribution along with another 22,250 square feet of light assembly and distribution in Hudson, Florida.

HOW MANY EMPLOYEES DO YOU HAVE?

We have approximately 110 employees in Chesterfield, 10 in Murfreesboro and 10 in Hudson.

HOW MUCH HAS YOUR BUSINESS INCREASED IN THE LAST 5 – 10 YEARS?

From 2014 – 2021, our production volumes increased 96%. Since 2021, we have seen volumes return to slightly lower levels and the sales seem to be trending towards a more seasonal volume trend again.

WHAT DO YOU ENJOY WHILE ON THE JOB?

I really enjoy being able to interact with the employees and customers. I spend a fair amount of time each day walking the plant floor and interacting with our employees, making myself available to team leaders to answer any questions they may have.

Talking with customers and getting feedback on how we are doing and new products they would like to see, or improvements to existing products, means a lot to me and I enjoy these challenges.

WHAT FAMILY MEMBERS ARE PART OF THE COMPANY?

My father Harry Stinson, remains as president. While not active in the day-to-day business anymore, he is often on the plant floor. He possesses over 50 years of fence installation and manufacturing knowledge, and he brings unmeasurable value when questions arise. In 2021, my mother unfortunately passed away; Kristina became the CFO and has continued to grow as a leader in our company.

WHAT IS A WORK-RELATED CHALLENGE THAT YOU FACED AT SOME POINT IN YOUR CAREER AND HOW DID YOU SOLVE IT?

One of the hardest things I have been faced with was learning to separate emotion from business decisions. I started talking with other business owners and asking questions and taking advice from them. We hired a business coach, and I devoted time to reading and learning ways to overcome the struggles. I found myself trying out new approaches and techniques with each situation, I kept evaluating how it was working out and kept changing it until I felt I was getting the desired results.

WHAT IS WITHIN YOUR JOB DUTIES AS CEO?

There probably isn’t one title that covers all the different duties you perform daily as a business owner. I oversee the sales, production, and product development end of our business. I play a key role between sales and production, often working with sales staff and the production team to ensure that the customers’ requirements are being met.

During my daily walks throughout the facility, I answer production questions, help solve problems, and make sure our team leaders have what they need to meet production goals.

I really enjoy the time spent with our sales team helping to build long-term relationships with customers. Our family has always seen this as key to our success, and what keeps us growing year after year.

GATE SAFETY HAS ALWAYS BEEN PARAMOUNT IN OUR INDUSTRY AND CONTINUES TO BE A PRIORITY. WHAT DOES ELITE FENCE DO TO PROMOTE GATE SAFETY?

We’ve always been committed to manufacturing products that help our customers fulfill safety requirements for their homes and businesses.

One of our core products, Lifegard, was developed in 1997 to comply with BOCA pool code and to this day is one of the most robust and reliable pool code compliant ornamental products in the fence market.

Similarly, our Ziptrack™ aluminum cantilever gates have undergone a number of engineering improvements to remain compliant with ASTM F2200 and pertinent UL 325 requirements.

We are committed to continual improvements in safety and usability of our products. We are aware of recent issues brought to light by groups such as The Hummingbird Alliance and our team continues to innovate and develop new ways to manufacture and install all of our gate systems to be as safe as possible. It has been exciting to watch as our industry has grown and become more conscientious of safety. Elite is absolutely committed to that growth and welcomes any collaboration with other gate manufacturers to review how we can make all gate and products in the fence industry as safe as possible.

WHAT DO YOU ENJOY WHILE NOT ON THE JOB?

I like spending time with my wife and am most excited about becoming a father to our baby boy arriving in July. When I'm not with them, I enjoy attending concerts and being with friends and family.

DO YOU PREFER MONDAYS OR FRIDAYS AND WHY?

I would have to say Saturdays, actually. I can get so much done in a few hours on a Saturday without interruptions. I listen to some great music in the office and get lost in my work.