Business View Magazine | Volume 8, Issue 8

29 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 8, ISSUE 8 ALLSTATE STEEL COMPANY bid a project with a structural steel building, which we typically do. And then, in the same compound or project, there’s a pre-engineered building. So, what we’re doing now is, any time those two buildings are together it gives us the option to build both, which gives the client a complete package where they don’t have to deal with two separate subcontractors for the structural and pre-engineered work.” Allstate Steel currently employs 89 people at its 170,000-square-foot Jacksonville facility. Approximately 22 of these employees are office- bound and make up its sales and administrative workforce, while the remaining staff work in the shop. Although the industry overall is experiencing a chronic shortage of qualified tradespeople, Barrera points out that this isn’t an issue for Allstate Steel. “We do a pretty good job of retaining our staff,” he says, “with most of our turnover being in the front office, we typically tend to maintain our employees in the straight out of high school.” Soon after the junior Suggs took over the company as president in 1991, Allstate Steel experienced tremendous growth owing to his keen sales acumen. Sharon admits, “He was quite the salesman, and even before he took over, he had extensive business networks within the state and across state lines. So, when he took up the reigns, he naturally tapped into his salesmanship, growing the company tremendously over his close to 21-year tenure.” Ken Suggs’s stewardship saw the company win contracts across the United States, Puerto Rico, and other parts of the Caribbean. At the height of this rapid growth, the company and the Suggs family soon faced tragedy when Ken passed away after a bravely fought illness, leaving Sharon to step into his shoes. Continuing the proud legacy, she has led the company to even greater heights over her 10 years at the helm. Sharon hopes to carry on until her youngest son, Joseph Suggs (Joey), who is currently working his way through the company ranks, takes over. Allstate Steel is what you might call a value- added steel company. The company does extensive steel fabrication and detailing services for commercial projects, including everything from economy value engineering to complete design and construction. More recently, Allstate Steel added pre-engineered metal building services to its roster of services. As Barrera explains, “Instead of a structural steel building where we only provide the structure (or skeleton), we provide a complete metal building with our new service. We purchase and supply all the items, including pre-engineered beams and columns, while also being responsible for building and installation.” This new service came as a natural progression of value addition. Barrera adds, “Often, we would