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profile a g at e s t e e l i n c .

“We’re able to do everything in- to the Pentagon for the funding. Forging Ahead
house,” he says. “We’re one of the Even so, Agate has found a successful Huffman says the biggest obstacle
only companies that install and manu- niche in serving the armed forces, standing in the way of Agate’s growth is
facture our own product. The actual Huffman says. “We’ve done everything the higher price of steel.
material we’re putting up is Agate from maintenance facilities to guard “Everything revolves off steel and
material.” shacks, and some flightline work,” freight, so those are our biggest obsta-
The company performs all of its steel Huffman says. “We’ve even done a dog cles to date,” he says. He says the com-
fabrication out of its 42,000-square- training facility.” pany is looking for ways to build
foot, state-of-the-art production facili- Agate began taking on projects for the stronger alliances with the steel mills
ty. Its equipment includes a CNC plas- Air Force in 1995, but Huffman says the that supply it.
ma burn table, an automatic beam drill company had done some government However, Huffman says, quality is
line, a camber machine and a CNC auto- work before then. He characterizes more important than price, and Agate
cycle saw. working for the military as “just a differ- counts on customers recognizing the
Agate’s pre-engineered steel build- ent world altogether.” value it brings to each project.
ings are designed and built from the The biggest difference between mili- Even with the challenges, Huffman
ground up, the company says. Agate tary work and other projects, Huffman says Agate has a bright future ahead of it.
handles every step in the manufacturing says, is the rigid procedures that must “I see Agate expanding and getting larg-
process, from the initial design to fabri- be followed on every aspect. “Every per- er, trying to get into some different mar-
cation to erection. The company stress- son that you use to work on an Air Force ketplaces, trying to expand into larger
es that its highly individualized designs base goes through a full background structural steel jobs, specialty niches,”
can suit any customer’s needs, and also check,” he says. he states. x
offer features such as roll-up doors,
mezzanines and insulation.
Huffman says the company is await-
ing a patent on its airport canopies,
which offer protection for planes from
the sun, rain and snow. The company
says the canopies are bolted together,
making it easy for users to remove and
relocate them. It was these canopies,
Huffman says, that survived Hurricane
Katrina 100 percent intact, with no Whether as a general con-
structural damage. tractor or steel fabricator,
Agate says its work speaks
for itself.
Called to Attention
Agate’s work for the military has been
one of its strongest areas, but it isn’t
always easy to secure the work, even
with the company’s strong reputation
and relationship.
Huffman says that even though indi-
vidual base commanders are high on the
company’s work, getting Washington to
loosen the purse strings is a major chal-
lenge. “In the Air Force, everybody
wants our product, but the way the
money drops you can chase the projects
for eight or nine years before you get it,”
Huffman says. On the company’s most
recent Air Force project, he adds, the
commander had to petition all the way

114 b&c southwest fall 2008