B-J Manufacturing, Inc.
Owners: Joe (right) and Pat Jones
Location: Harrison, Ark.
Company History: Joe came to work at B-J Manufacturing in January of 1982. The company was owned by several large farm stores. In 1984, Joe and his wife, Pat, took the opportunity to buy the company. Both Joe and Pat grew up on a farm. Joe also has a degree in vocational education and taught school at Bruno-Pyatt for nine years. A lot of the ideas for new equipment develop from needs on their own farm. Joe said, “Most of the things we build, we try them on the place before we put them on the market.”
Products and Services: “Our No. 1 product has been a metal end feed bunk, with polyethylene liner, which I developed myself 25 years ago. That’s been the most successful product we’ve ever built.”
B-J Manufacturing builds feed bunks, loader spikes, bale feeders, goat and horse feeders, a calf creep feeder, box blades, rock rakes and many other products. They sell wholesale to co-op stores, independent farm stores and ranch stores.
Joe said they are in the process of developing a new creep feeder on wheels, and a rock bucket with grapple.
What do you see for the future of your business?
“In two weeks, we’re going to have to kick it up a little bit. Our inventory is low but people are getting interested. You just have to be ready to change and pull in your horns for whatever length of time it takes to survive. You’ve got to be a survivor. People like to deal with somebody that they know is going to take care of the problem. If you have a problem, they know it’s as simple as a phone call to get it taken care of. No hassles, no nothing. They expect quality, and they expect to get what they pay for. That’s one thing that we have going for us.”
By Jack and Pam Fortner
