Hawkeye Industries Is One of the State’s Fastest-Growing Companies
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When he failed to persuade his employer to invest in top-of-the-line technology in 1995, Bryan Hawkins did what any fledgling entrepreneur might: He quit a good job and invested in the technology himself.
In Hawkins’ case, that decision has paid off handsomely. His Hawkeye Industries Inc. has enjoyed phenomenal growth in the past 13 years, supplying the commercial HVAC and lighting industries with custom precision metal products, manufactured on the latest high-tech equipment.
“We try to stay with the latest, greatest technology all the time,” says Hawkins, of what sets his company apart from others in the field. “I liken it to buying your first vehicle. If you buy a Mercedes, it sure hurts your pocketbook that first time. But the vehicle holds its value. Our equipment is the Mercedes of equipment.”
Since opening his business in 1995 with two machines and two employees, Hawkins has expanded to a 59,000-square-foot manufacturing facility with 28 employees. Based in Tupelo, Hawkeye is known as one of the state’s most successful small businesses, with customers around the world.
“We specialize in smaller lot sizes and production, stuff where technology really shows its wares by reducing setup time and allowing us to make very precise parts in small quantities,” Hawkins says. “We don’t specialize in volume. We’re more ‘gotta-have-it-right-now,’ and ‘we’re building a new prototype.’ ”
Hawkins was born in Tupelo and attended the University of Mississippi in Oxford on a full ROTC scholarship. He spent four years on active duty in the Army, piloting attack helicopters, and then returned to his hometown, where he and wife Brenda are raising a family.
Hawkins earned a master’s degree, learned the engineering business and served in sales and management for other companies before his “leap of faith” into his own business.
He has twice been named Mississippi Small Business Person of the Year by the Small Business Administration and has received numerous other kudos over the years. Still, Hawkins says his team at Hawkeye Industries is the secret to the company’s success.
“Success is a one-word definition: relationships,” Hawkins says. “When you have the level of technology we have and support it with people who love to see technology work, it creates an environment for customers where you are not just a supplier, you’re someone who can make them even better than they are.”
He is also duly proud of Hawkeye’s certification by the International Standards Organization and its participation in the highly selective Safety and Health Achievement and Recognition Program conducted by the federal Occupational Safety & Health Administration.
One of the greatest challenges to Hawkeye’s success, oddly enough, has been controlling growth, which, he says, “can start controlling you so that you go into a reactionary mode rather than a proactive mode.”
For the time being, the national economy has eased that particular challenge. But, while Hawkeye’s growth has slowed – Hawkins predicts the company’s revenues will be down somewhat from 2007’s $7.2 million – he remains bullish on the future.
“I’m an optimist – my glass is always half full,” says Hawkins. “You look for those little glimmers of opportunity and take them.”
Story by Laura Hill
Photo by Jeff Adkins
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