Brothers, friends, partners

“We’ve been best friends for…,” says Spencer Hatzell.
“Ever,” injects Dustin Hatzell, finishing his brother’s sentence.
Best friends, brothers, and business partners, the Hatzells are transforming the old aluminum foundry building on Ind. 67 at the east edge of Redkey into the new home of a rapidly expanding enterprise.
“Our plan is to be the biggest metal (roofing and siding) manufacturing company in the mid-United States,” says Dustin.
But manufacturing is only the newest part of the equation.
Spencer, 34, and Dustin, 35, have been installing metal roofing and siding for the past 15 years.
For the past year and a half, the two Jay County High School graduates been operating on their own as Hatzell Brothers Standing Seam Solutions LLC, which they founded in June of 2011. That business started in a garage but has been in the old aluminum foundry building since November 2012. The Hatzells bought the building this summer.
“We actually run two different businesses out of here,” explains Dustin.
Standing Seam Solutions is the installation part of the business.
Excell Metals was launched in August as a manufacturing operation, making agricultural panels and roofing on a roll former that transforms coils of steel to ready-to-install pieces. The extra L in Excell is meant to mimic the two L’s in Hatzell, says Spencer.
Jay and surrounding counties have seen a tremendous growth in agricultural construction, much of it related to large-scale hog and poultry operations. But the Hatzells’ business isn’t limited to that small radius.
Projects have ranged from Chicago to Kentucky. “We do a lot at Camp Atterbury,” says Dustin.
And because a hog barn roof has a limited life span, local projects will also keep them busy. “We don’t see it coming to an end any time soon,” Dustin says.
To the Hatzells, the abandoned industrial building on the edge of Redkey was the perfect site to locate their business.
The south end of the building now has new steel siding and a new, pitched roof. “We’re going to do the same thing to the north side,” says Spencer.
There’s also a measure of community pride in helping bring back a neglected property. “The community’s really behind us,” Spencer adds.
Now, with the building still a work in progress and the business growing, the Hatzells often find themselves juggling their time.
“We know who does what,” says Dustin. “I’ve got to be here full-time.”
Meanwhile, Spencer is more likely to be found on an installation job site.
“It’s hard for us to be out on the job site all the time,” says Dustin. “We have our own roof system and we make sure that it’s done right on each and every job.”
Excell Metals buys its steel in pre-coated coils, so there’s no painting involved in the Redkey operation. The colors are already on the steel.
Future plans call for the production of ag panels that would be marketed wholesale to lumberyards.
“The roll former could run all day every day,” says Spencer, manufacturing products with a variety of hardness, finishes, and gauges of steel.
“There’s a lot that goes into it,” Dustin says of the manufacturing process.
For now, with nine employees keeping busy and an office that’s still a construction site, the brothers love to come to work every day.
“This,” says Dustin, with a look around the building, “was a lifelong dream of ours.”[[In-content Ad]]