Associated Scaffolding, a multi-generational, family-owned business, has established itself as a trusted leader in scaffolding and safety solutions across the Carolinas, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, and beyond. With seven retail outlets and a successful new e-commerce platform, the company has expanded its reach nationwide, making it the go-to choice for access and safety services.
Growth through the generations
Founded in 1947 as Associated Scaffolders and Equipment Company, ASC provided scaffolding rentals to area contractors, and has been owned and operated by the Hawkins family since they purchased the company in 1968. Initially under the leadership of Gene Hawkins, the company has continued to grow with every generation that has come on board.
In the 1990s, growth in the Raleigh-Durham area spurred a move to a larger facility, and from there the company would go on to establish branches in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1998; Columbia, South Carolina in 2001; Richmond, Virginia in 2003; Knoxville, Tennessee in 2009; Raleigh, North Carolina in 2010; and Charlotte, North Carolina in 2020.
Branch Manager, Brian Hawkins, says that the company’s impressive growth reflects its dedication to reinvesting in its capabilities and the commitment of its leadership to adapt and evolve for greater efficiency and impact. Brian grew up in the business, giving him a unique perspective. His father, Tommy, is President of Associated Scaffolding, and the family’s commitment to the company’s success runs deep.
Tommy—and later his sons Brian and Jeff—learned the ropes and built strong relationships with the company’s team of employees, many of whom are still with the company today. ASC has grown from only four employees to over 150, growth that is also reflected in its fleet, which has expanded considerably.
Indeed, the company was built on the tireless effort, hard work, and determination of the previous generations; now, the plan is to up the ante to ensure that it remains relevant well into the future.
Building a track record of success
By continually optimizing its systems and enhancing its services, Associated Scaffolding has continued to evolve to meet the ever-changing needs of its customers across its growing market footprint without compromising on the high standard of safety and quality its customers have come to expect. The team takes pride in the provision of durable scaffolding, accessories, safety equipment, and training, but even more so in being a trusted name for the customers it serves.
Today, with more than 14 new product categories including full-service access equipment and safety training and supplies, Associated Scaffolding offers sales and rentals of scaffolding, swing stages, re-shoring, trash chutes, and fencing, as well as personal protective equipment (PPE), branded products, fall protection, and other jobsite supplies.
In addition to quality products, Associated Scaffolding’s legacy has largely been made possible because of its safety program. Throughout its history, Associated Scaffolding has held a deeply rooted commitment to doing the right thing, especially when it comes to the delivery of service and ensuring the safety of the people, its job sites, and the communities in which it operates. Beyond upholding safety on its own, the company is also a Scaffolding and Access Industry Association (SAIA) accredited training center and can deliver training at each of its locations as well as its customers’ sites. With many courses to choose from including OSHA construction safety and health program training, suspended and supported scaffold training, fall protection training, confined space entry, first aid, and CPR, Associated Scaffolding is a recognized safety leader.
“Our branch manager in Charlotte has become an accredited trainer for the SAIA, so now we have two trainers accredited through them,” Hawkins explains.
Rising to the challenge
Indeed, from the state-of-the-art equipment Associated Scaffolding installs (both erection and dismantling), rents, and sells, to the safety training it delivers, the specialized professionals within its ranks have the experience to design the safest structures for even the most complex projects. The Duke Chapel project in Durham, North Carolina, for instance, required a delicate touch and the specialization that only Associated Scaffolding offers, which is owing in large part to its longevity in the market and its familiarity with the communities it calls home.
“Our teams are familiar with the buildings, the structures, and how to access them; we know where we need to be because we’ve been around so long, we’ve likely already worked before on the same building,” explains Hawkins. This makes Associated Scaffolding the trusted choice for to deliver the desired outcomes on projects, especially those that are community landmarks.
“When they’re not building new construction in our areas, they’ve been renovating a lot of historic downtowns and converting them into apartments. We’ve been able to take advantage of that part of our business because there’s been pretty high demand,” Hawkins tells us.
Welcoming the future
To ensure Associated Scaffolding’s future is as bright as its past, it is scaling its own operations to sustain growth without compromising the core values that have been foundational to the company’s success. This means investments in strengthening its own systems and reinforcing the value it offers to its customers, exemplified by the company’s growing e-commerce platform, a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, and a more active approach to social media and marketing.
“We’ve been operating on an old software system for 35 years,” says Hawkins of a major change that will have significant implications for how the business operates moving forward. “Having everything under one umbrella for this new system is going to be really good for us, and we don’t know until we go live how it will change how we do things—but we know that it will.”
While the company’s e-commerce platform isn’t new, it will be greatly enhanced by the new ERP system. Soon, the company’s internal systems will be modernized, streamlined, optimized, and scaled to ensure that it has the capacity to support growth and maintain the high standard of service it brings to the market, a market that has expanded greatly with the e-commerce push.
“There was a lot of growth opportunity on the e-commerce side of our website,” explains Donovan Brantley, Retail Sales Manager and Senior Purchasing Agent. “It’s done extremely well and the opportunity for growth there is just exponential.” By integrating new elements such as tablet-based customer delivery verification, an internal automated inventory replenishment system, a modern integrated platform for 50-state nexus reviews in support of national sales, and automatic monitoring of sales and inventory trends to predict and meet customer needs, the company’s modern developments are reflecting its generational shift.
As Hawkins notes, “the company’s getting a little bit younger. There are some long-term employees who are starting to retire, so that’s a culture change,” but one that is being embraced. To date, the company’s reputation has spoken for itself, but now, reflecting this, more is being done to highlight the value it offers through a marketing strategy that includes a more active social media presence to share the provision of products, services, training, and support the company offers.
Of course, new product offerings are always in the works at Associated Scaffolding, and the latest developments include both internal chutes and pedestrian stairs. Three types of internal chutes—linen and laundry chutes, trash chutes, and recycling chutes—can be installed in hotels, apartments, dorms, and more, and necessitate the team’s early involvement, getting them on the job even sooner.
The company’s pedestrian stairs, meanwhile, represent a different offering than a typical construction access stair tower, with public access areas, wider spans to allow space for people going up and down at the same time, continuous handrails, and international building code compliance.
Just as safety and quality products make up large parts of Associated Scaffolding’s value proposition, so too is service—not only to its customers but to the communities it calls home. This was particularly evident in the devastating wake of Hurricane Helene when Associated Scaffolding stepped into high gear to provide disaster relief efforts for western North Carolina. Its Durham location became a drop-off point for donations which were delivered into the mountains by employees using company trucks.
The company also donated extension cords, ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs), and fuel cans to support storm recovery efforts and ensure safety in those communities when they needed it the most.
Adaptability and evolution
Certainly, Associated Scaffolding is in a period of transition internally, with its workflow becoming more seamless and integrated to support growth. But while some things change, the work on the jobsite will remain the same: focused on safety, access, and the ability to reinforce the company’s reputation for quality equipment and a job well done. Paired with the strength of its retail storefronts, e-commerce platforms, and outside sales teams that are driving sales with boots on the ground, Associated Scaffolding is asserting its strengths on all market fronts.
“I think we’re fortunate to be in the areas that we’re in right now geographically,” Hawkins says. “We’re in a very good spot in our country for construction commercially and residentially, so I think we’ve been able to take advantage of that and seek out that growth,” particularly the large commercial and industrial projects coming down the pipeline.
“In all of our regions, we’re seeing residential go up and down a little bit right now… we see ebbs and flows, but I think we’re in a great position and continue to grow,” notes Brantley.
Indeed, companies like Associated Scaffolding don’t thrive for more than 75 years by accident, and this next phase of investment will guarantee that the company remains relevant and revered for many decades and generations to come by holding on to what matters and making it easier to deliver quality, safety, and service across its growing market presence.
