On a recent visit to Southern Fabricators Inc., Polkton, N.C., l learned how brothers Ken Carpenter Sr. and Everett Carpenter first set up shop in 1968 in a tiny 10,000-sq.-ft. facility that just so happens to be the size of its powder coating department today. Let's just say the company has done well over the years, and the last couple of years, even with the recession, haven't slowed it down.

 One of the company's keys to success has been its willingness to take on all sorts of fabricating jobs. If it can be done, Southern Fab will try to make it happen. Such was the case in the early 1970s when a gentleman showed up at the front door asking the Carpenters if they could fabricate boxes for an electrical application. After Ken offered up a "yes," the gentleman went back to his car and retrieved blueprints. As it turns out, the visitor had been charged with finding a fabricating source that could replicate the services of a unionized shop that was to be shuttered in accordance with corporate directives. (more...)