With 18 years of industry experience behind him and $10,000 at his disposal, Doug Kuiper took a leap of faith and founded Suncor, Inc. in 1992 with the very specific goal of building a self-sufficient, debt-free operation.
Over the course of 25 years, Kuiper has accomplished just that. The $25 million structural steel fabrication specialist is free of bank loans and investment partners and, Kuiper says, “a comfortable size.”
“It took many, many years to build this company with our own resources and cash flows. There are other ways of growing a business faster but we chose to grow slow and solid to maintain complete control. This requires a great deal of patience but believe it was the right path for us”, says Kuiper, Suncor’s president.
Suncor, Inc. has forged a sterling reputation and regularly works with major national contractors ranked in the top 50 based on their volume. The company typically employs 30-40 and averages 20-25 jobs per year with competencies in office buildings, airports, medical buildings, public works and school projects. The company maintains offices in Longwood, FL, Hialeah, FL and De Forest, WI. Suncor’s state of the art plant is also located in De Forest, WI.
Suncor also shares common ownership and partners with National Metals, LLC, a separate company founded by Kuiper in 2009 with his sons. National Metals, LLC focuses on structural steel and aluminum fabrication. National Metals, LLC holds current certification by the American Institute of Steel Construction.
“Our focus is on the customer. When you develop solid relationships, we might be working with them on a sizable project but they might also need assistance on a smaller one. When you partner with customers, it is important that they know you will be there for them on projects that don’t fall within the range of our target work. So that’s why we have a pretty wide range of job sizes,” says Kuiper, adding “most of our customers we’ve had for many, many years.”