Local companies among fastest-growing in region
Amanda Steen | Herald-Standard
Amanda Steen | Herald-Standard
Directly above, company president and CEO J.D. Ewing speaks about the growth of his business, COE Distributing, a wholesale office furniture distributor located in Franklin Township, which was recognized in August by the Pittsburgh Business Times as one of the top 100 fastest-growing companies in the Pittsburgh region. In the upper left corner, Ivan Nieves, who works in receiving at the wholesale office furniture distributor COE Distributing, sorts through orders in the company’s warehouse in the Franklin Commercial Park.
Amanda Steen | Herald-Standard
COE Distributing, a wholesale office furniture distributor located in the Franklin Commercial Park in Franklin Township, was recognized in August by the Pittsburgh Business Times as one of the top 100 fastest-growing companies in the Pittsburgh region.
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard
Sleighter Engineering, located on Connellsville Road in North Union Township, was recognized by the Pittsburgh Business Times in August as one of the top 100 fastest-growing businesses in the Pittsburgh region.
Robert Sleighter is president of Sleighter Engineering, an engineering and architecture firm located in North Union Township that was recognized by the Pittsburgh Business Times in August as one of the top 100 fastest-growing companies in the Pittsburgh region.
Courtesy of Sleighter Engineering
Two Fayette County businesses were recognized last month as being among the fastest-growing companies in the Pittsburgh region.
JMJS Inc., doing business as COE Distributing, in Franklin Township and Sleighter Engineering in North Union Township were ranked 50th and 52nd, respectively, in the 2014 Pittsburgh 100, published in August by Pittsburgh Business Times.
“We don’t see the ups and downs from local economies that other businesses do because we’re not tied to a specific economy, regionally,” said J.D. Ewing, president and CEO of office furniture distribution company, COE Distributing.
The company sells office furniture — desks, chairs, filing cabinets, cubicles, accessories — wholesale to suppliers who then sell the products at retail price.
“We ship nationwide on a daily basis and serve upwards of a thousand customers. If things are down in the Pittsburgh market, that doesn’t affect our business,” Ewing said.
COE Distributing, which operates an additional distribution center out of Charlotte, N.C., employs more than 30 people at its headquarters and main distribution center in Franklin Commercial Park on Route 51.
The distribution business was started in 1986 by Ewing’s father. Ewing joined the fold in 1989 before acquiring 100 percent of the business in 1995 and growing it from a local business to a super-regional company over the course of two decades.
Sourcing products globally from places like Malaysia, Taiwan, China and South America, then marketing them to potential buyers, Ewing said COE Distributing focuses on providing quality products that are unique compared to its competitors.
“One of the reasons we’ve been able to grow significantly is that we have product available immediately,” Ewing said. “If a client would call and say ‘we need 20 desks tomorrow,’ we would have 20 desks tomorrow.”
The largest demand for the company’s products comes from the Baltimore-Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, said Ewing, where a lot of the products are sold to contractors for the federal government.
According to Pittsburgh Business Times, COE Distributing saw a sales growth of nearly 59 percent over a three-year period from 2011 to 2013.
Continued growth is expected, said Ewing.
Within the past month, the company, which already covers the entire east coast, hired a sales group to extend its customer base to an additional seven states in the Midwest.
“This expands our coverage and prepares us for another jump in growth,” he said.
The company possesses a 120,000-square-foot warehouse in the commercial park, which Ewing is working to expand by 25 percent, and he also hopes to have upwards of 40 employees by the end of the year.
“We would like employ additional people and run a company that provides gainful employment to the local area,” he said. “With our undertaking of the additional seven states, we’re in a position where we’re in need of additional space here.”
Ewing said the company distributes to four businesses in Fayette County and currently has about 600 active customers nationally. He anticipates the number to grow to more than 800 over the next year.
COE Distributing notched a spot in the Pittsburgh 100 for the second consecutive year after ranking 14th in 2013, while engineering and architecture firm Sleighter Engineering was previously recognized in 2011.
“It’s really about building a personal relationship with people,” Sleighter Engineering president Robert Sleighter said of the business’ success.
“We have a fairly young staff that knows how to connect with people. When you bring that to every meeting and every project, people want to come back when they know you have their interests at heart.”
The firm offers a full range of site and building design and construction support services, said Sleighter, who formed the business in 1995 after completing a civil engineering degree and working for a Pittsburgh firm for several years.
The company handles clients — about 50 a year — all over southwestern Pennsylvania, as well as eastern Ohio and northern West Virginia. About half of the clients, Sleighter estimates, are located in Fayette County.
“We’re consistently striving to build our client base. You have to continue to meet people and build relationships to give you opportunities,” he said.
The firm boasts a portfolio of projects totaling over $100 million for an array of clients, including municipal agencies, school districts, nonprofit organizations and commercial entities.
Sleighter said an uptick in business came in 2008, after the business had begun to garner a reputation based on past projects. As the company started to strengthen its client base, a steady stream of work came along with it.
Pittsburgh Business Times reports that sales grew 58 percent for Sleighter Engineering from 2011 to 2013.
Like Ewing, Sleighter is preparing for additional growth. The company is constructing a 7,600-square-foot office in the University Business Park in North Union Township, visible from Route 119.
“We hope that it creates a greater awareness of who we are,” said Sleighter. “One of the purposes of the building is to show clients and visitors what we’re capable of doing, to create an impression that gives our clients a sense of innovation and technology.”
Sleighter hopes to couple the move with the addition of personnel. Currently overseeing 15 employees, he envisions adding 10 positions within the next year.
“We’re embedded in this community,” said Sleighter. “You can’t work here and not care about what happens in this community.”