L&C is “Around the Corner” in the September edition of the Escanaba Express (monthly City of Escanaba publication). A couple of highlights include the recent IT infrastructure expansion, coupled with switching IT vendors, updating the business website (Delta Fence was also updated) and a decent sized building expansion to accommodate the growth in fence tie sales. To read the full edition visit Community Newsletters 2024 | Escanaba MI
Quality Work and Community Involvement Leads to Business Success
Weekly Podcast Featuring Kevin Sodermark, Owner L&C Enterprises-USA & Delta Fence
On this episode of the SBAM Weekly Podcast, Michael Rogers talks with Kevin Sodermark, Vice President of L&C Enterprises-USA d/b/a Delta Fence & Construction. They were recently recognized by Michigan Celebrates Small Business as one of the Michigan 50 Companies to Watch for 2024. “We support many different things around the community, and then doing quality work, I think, is one of the main things,” he says. “They’re happy with our product. They tell their neighbors, they tell their family to come to us. We do work all over the UP into northern Wisconsin, and a lot of that is you’ve done work for my sister, you’ve done work for my mom. I mean, we get a lot of that. So with quality work comes more work, and our name is respected in the community for that. So it’s if you do good work, you have good customer service, the work will find you.”
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L&C Enterprises-USA to be honored at the 20th Annual Michigan Celebrates Awards Gala.
5.21.24 (Escanaba, Michigan) – Long-time Escanaba business, L&C Enterprises-USA, parent company of Delta Fence and Construction has been recognized as one of the 2024 awardees for the Michigan 50 Companies to Watch Award, presented by Michigan Celebrates Small Business. L&C Enterprises will be acknowledged on-stage at the awards ceremony during the 20th annual Michigan Celebrates Small Business Gala on May 21, 2024. The event will be held at the Breslin Events Center on MSU’s campus. Over 800 guests are expected to attend and celebrate the 50 Companies to Watch in 2024. The Escanaba business is one of six Upper Michigan Businesses to receive the award in 2024. Previous local awardees include Race Driven (2018), Delta Force PI (2020) and Independent Machine Company (2017). See the full history of Award Winners HERE.
Together, the 2024 Michigan 50 Companies to Watch have made a substantial collective economic impact, responsible for over $400 million in total annual revenue during 2023 and projected to increase their revenue by 18% in 2024. As a whole, they provide over 1,500 full-time equivalent employees, with the majority living within the state of Michigan, and are projected to create over 330 new jobs in 2024.
Hired in 2013 as a laborer and working his way up to Vice-President, Kevin Sodermark recounts, “coming to this company and then seeing a future in it is very encouraging. To be able to be a part of one expansion and then now another expansion. Being a part of bringing people in, training people, and seeing them succeed has been very good,” said Kevin. “We are fortunate to have 15 full-time dedicated staff, most have younger families.” Kevin continues, “This award is great recognition for our staff, an exciting time for all of us.”
To be nominated for the Michigan 50 Companies to Watch Award, companies must be second stage, defined as having 6 to 99 full-time-equivalent employees while generating between $750,000 to $50 million in annual revenue. Additional requirements include, that the companies must demonstrate the intent and capacity to grow, be privately held and located in Michigan.
Michigan Celebrates received over 500 nominations for the 2024 Michigan 50 Companies to Watch Award. The businesses who are selected by the judges go through a vetting process prior to the final decision.
Judges from economic and entrepreneurship development organizations across the state annually select the winners. The judges evaluate the applicants’ demonstration of intent and capacity to grow based on the following:
- Employee or sales growth
- Exceptional entrepreneurial leadership
- Sustainable competitive advantage
- Other notable factors that showcase the company’s success
The natural growth of the fencing business contributed to early L&C successes. Ron Chouinard, President of L&C Enterprises-USA/Delta Fence & Construction adds, “we started out trying to stay an hour from the office. This keeps us mostly in the UP. We have branched out into Wisconsin, northern and western parts of the UP. I do want to express that we do such good quality work that people request us to come out there. They call us up because they heard of our reputation and we strive for quality work, we get the job done and the customer is always happy.”
“As we celebrate our 20th Anniversary of MCSB, we’re reminded of the incredible resilience and innovation within Michigan’s small business sector. This year’s winners demonstrate the collective entrepreneurial spirit that drives our state’s economy forward,” said Jennifer Deamud, MCSB Board Chair. “Congratulations to this year’s awardees. To all the winners, your dedication and leadership inspire us all, proving that success truly is best when shared.”
Additional information and ticket information can be found at MichiganCelebrates.org.
L&C Enterprises-USA is honored to be selected as an award recipient to be recognized at the 20th Annual Awards Gala! Thank you to everyone who has been part of our journey, this achievement is a shared success. Let’s celebrate together! The Awards Gala will take place on May 21st at the Breslin Center in East Lansing. We are thrilled to join the ranks of Michigan’s finest small businesses!
2024 Michigan 50 Companies to Watch Awardees List
Learn more here: michigancelebrates.org.
Michigan Celebrates Small Business (MCSB) remains on the forefront of championing small business and fostering the entrepreneurial spirit in Michigan. The MCSB’s role is to serve as a catalyst for creating an entrepreneurial culture while inspiring the next generation of entrepreneurs. The mission of MCSB is to honor and recognize Michigan’s small businesspeople and those champions and advocates that support them. MCSB brings together the resources of collaborative partners and supporters so that they may raise the profile of small businesses in Michigan, build a network of entrepreneurial companies, and tell the stories of successful, growing Michigan entrepreneurs.
Delta Fence owner is Top of the Chain!
ESCANABA — Ron Chouinard, president of Delta Fence and L & C Enterprises was recently featured on the cover of Fence News, a Fencing Industry Trade Publication.
He was featured in the Fence News article, “Top of the Chain.” Fence News is a monthly publication dedicated to providing current fencing information, products, industry trends and successes.
For more than 40 years, L & C Enterprises-USA, parent company of Delta Fence & Construction, an Escanaba based company, has been a leading provider of fencing equipment, hardware and parts in the fencing industry.
People ‘always need fences:’ Delta Fence & Construction is expanding.
ESCANABA, Mich. (WLUC) By Published: Feb. 16, 2024 – The owner of Delta Fence & Construction and L&C Enterprises USA said people will always need fences.
“I think the economy’s changing, definitely things are getting more expensive,”
Ron Chouinard said. “But people do realize also that they have to protect what they have. So, the fencing industry ain’t going nowhere.”
Chouinard and a partner started Delta Fence 37 years ago after being told to install a mile of 6-foot-tall metal fence by hand.
Five years ago, Chouinard’s employees were putting out 7.5 million ties a year. Now, they’re producing more than 15 million. In the next six months, a third tie machine will be added as part of an expansion.
An expansion that includes a new partner after the company’s co-founder Jeff Lancour passed away several years ago.
About his new partner, Chouinard said, “He’s got new ideas and new things, and I realized that if I’m going to be part of Kevin’s growth, we have to expand.”
For more information visit – FULL ARTICLE HERE
Fence News – Top of the Chain with Ron Chouinard
Our very own Ron Chouinard, President and Owner of L&C Enterprises-USA and Delta Fence is featured in the February 2024 issue of Fence News! LINK HERE
“A few years later we found ourselves in another situation that required a little outside the box thinking. This time the same Lower Michigan company contacted L&C Enterprises-USA to do a job for a prison but this time they also wanted the fence tied. They wanted us to tie the prison fence with old military fence ties. We asked if there were ties made for this. Was told no. So, we once again went back to the drawing board, got an engineer, developed our own ties, had them machined and tried them. That is where Twist Tight Ties came from”.
“There has to be an easier way,” was a common question during the early years. Learn more about the near 40-year history of an Upper Michigan business through the development and sales of fencing hardware and tools.
READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE
This article appeared in Fence News. It details the early beginnings of L&C Enterprises-USA and the development of fencing tools and hardware used in the industry today.
“We said isn’t there an easier way to do this, were not going to be able to do this by hand, we have swamp to go through”. My business partner and I talked about it and decided, “were going to make something to do this for us”. So, we drew something up on paper, built a machine that would be able to stretch, carry, and roll fabric out all this with a tractor. That’s how we came up with the Installink fence dispenser. We brought it to a welder; the welder built it. After we made the first one, we did the job with it. The 1st Job was a 1 mile of 6-foot tall 6ga material, weighing in at roughly 310 pounds per 50ft roll!
This article appeared in the World Fence News. It describes how the Barbed Wire Dispenser was used on a commercial chain link installation project shortly after it was developed.
Snow Job: Fighting Mother Nature all the way ~ March, 2005
Fighting Mother Nature all the way, a combination of the right equipment and dedicated crew helps Delta Fence complete major airport job.
Completing a 27,000-lineal-foot chain link job in 60 days would be fairly routine for most sizeable fence contractors. Delta Fence and Construction of Escanaba, Michigan agrees, unless the job was located in the snow country of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and you couldn’t start the job until September, which is the usual onset of the area’s “Arctic style” winter…