year, says Stelly, has affected his sales drastically, and he predicts even better sales and even more expansion in the future. Stelly’s sales totals — which have hit over 500 vehicles in one month — have earned him a No. 26 spot on Black Enterprise Magazine’s list of top auto dealers in February of 2011. He has been honored with the Owner First award for nine consecutive years.
STINE HOME + YARD $150 million-$199.9 Million Employees: 800 www.StineHome.com Stine was founded as Starlin Lumber Co. in 1952 in Sulphur by J.W. Stine and his partner, J.C. Carlin. The company was a supplier for residential building contractors. Beginning in 1966, each of six of Stine’s sons would join Starlin Lumber. In 1974, the company became Stine Lumber. New stores were added in DeRidder and
Lake Charles. The company has continued to expand, and now has 12 locations serving Louisiana: Sulphur, Lake Charles, DeRidder, Jennings, Iowa, Crowley, Natchitoches, Alexandria, Abbeville, Walker and Broussard. The company also has a store in Natchez, Miss. Stine is among the Top 100 building material dealers in the U.S. I.ts association with Ace Hardware has been successful; the company’s sales place it fourth among the 6,000 Ace retailers worldwide. As for the six sons, Dick runs the safety and employee performance programs; Gary runs the real estate, insurance and new construction; Jay and his family run the DeRidder operation; Dennis is company president; David directs merchandising and marketing; Tim is the CFO. Revenues are up, and growth is expected as the area economy rebounds and major expansion projects begin.
$75 MILLION$99.9 MILLION PORT AGGREGATES, INC. $75 million-$99.9 million Employees: 210 www.portaggregates.com Port Aggregates was started in 1979 in Mermentau, La., as a subsidiary of
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Guinn Bros., Inc. It became an independent company in 1985, when Andrew Guinn, Sr., took over as president. The company was founded with the purpose of furnishing aggregate locally. The company expanded into Lake Charles in 1986. In 1993, Port Aggregates opened its BT-4 deep water aggregate supply yard in Lake Charles, and in 2000 it opened its pre-cast concrete facility in Jennings. In 2002 the company expanded to include a concrete plant in Jennings with five concrete trucks. Since then, the company’s opened six additional concrete plants and two aggregate yards throughout Southwest Louisiana. It has expanded its concrete delivery capability to 68 concrete trucks. It now serves a 100-mile radius from Jennings. In August of 2012, Port Aggregates purchased all Angelle Concrete western assets and added 150 employees. The company now operates 20 concrete plants and 130 ready-mix concrete trucks.
SOLAR SUPPLY $75 million-$99.9 million Employees: 250 www.solarsupply.us Ray Dingler and Thelma Manuel Dingler founded Solar Supply in 1954 with one location, in Lake Charles. The company now has 57 sales offices in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas and
Mississippi. Solar Supply is a wholesale distributor of air conditioning, heating, ventilation and refrigeration equipment, parts and supplies. The company distributes products from 500 vendors throughout North and South America to 7,200 customers. The company’s received numerous awards, and continues to grow year after year. A recent expansion has meant an upturn in revenues for the company, and sales over the last year are up, with a moderate rise predicted for the future. The company is active in local MakeA-Wish Foundation activities. Solar Supply has three operations in Lake Charles: its corporate office at 1212 12th Street, its warehouse at 3935 Hwy. 90 E., and the sales outlet at 317 E. LaGrange St. The company is heavily invested in all geographic areas of the state, with operations in Leesville, Opelousas, New Iberia, Natchitoches, Alexandria, Baton Rouge, Monroe, Houma, Lafayette, Mandeville, Gonzales, Gretna, Harahan, Hammond, LaPlace, Slidell, Shreveport and Ruston. The company’s many Texas operations include key sites in Beaumont, Orange, Port Arthur and other Southeast Texas locales. There are four Houston facilities. Products distributed by the company include A.O. Smith, Airmate, Allstyle Coils, Amana P-Tac, Aspera, ATCO