Video: Tupelo Company Maintains Steady Growth, Improves Technology

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TUPELO, MISS. (WCBI) -A northeast Mississippi company that made a $750,000 capital investment to upgrade equipment at its plant has a track record of customer satisfaction and low employee turnover.

Bryan Hawkins is a CEO who believes in the hands on approach. He is often on the floor of “Hawkeye Industries,” the company he founded in 1995, when it was in a 6,000 square foot building on Eason Boulevard.

“We started out with three employees, my wife and I and one employee and now we are at 31,” Hawkins said.

Hawkeye Industries is a regional manufacturer of precision sheet metal components and assemblies for a variety of customers. Since 1995, the company has expanded five times , the plant is now 55 thousand square feet.

This new state of the art punching machine represents a$750,000 investment. It is producing parts for LED lighting systems made by Daybrite.

Hawkins believes a key to success is investing in the newest technology.

“A lot of customers have bought similar technology but they don’t reinvest in it as often as we do, that’s our challenge, to always have better and more advanced technology then our customers, as well as our competitors,” Hawkins said.

Less than a year ago, Hawkins invested $1.3 million for a laser machine.

Hawkeye Industries is truly a family business. All three of Bryan’s sons work for the company. Alan is the plant manager and says all employees are close.

“We’ve got a good family atmosphere, very low employee turnover, that way we can all congregate, get to know each other and really have a good workday,” said Alan Hawkins.

Whether they’re longtime employees or the newest hire, Hawkeye employees say they look forward to coming to work everyday.

“There’s always something different to do, don’t really get much of a chance to get bored, there’s always new customers, new products, new problems to solve,” said Anthony Youngblood.

“It’s a big opportunity, probably the biggest opportunity so far,” said Cory Ball, the newest employee at Hawkeye Industries.

Hawkins says employees should be busy, if the first part of the year is any indication.

“First quarter is normally a slow part, but we are as busy now as we have ever been, so that’s a blessing, it really is,” Hawkins said.

Hawkeye Industries will have a celebration for its 20th anniversary later this year. By the way, “Hawkeye” was the nickname Bryan Hawkins was given as a helicopter pilot for the US Army.