Fast 15: Chris Chandler

People often ask Chris Chandler the exact location of his family business.

That’s about to change.

“They’ll know with this new building,” said Chandler, CEO of Chandler Equipment Inc.

The two-story structure currently under construction — on Sunset Avenue in Springdale — will include about 11,000 SF of office space and another 8,000 SF of manufacturing space. All of it is needed to accommodate CEI, which centers most of its business around oil and natural gas drilling and movement accessories.

There are other numbers that exemplify the rapid growth of the company that’s about 40 years old and was started by Chandler’s grandparents. In those days, it specialized in waste-hauling equipment, catering to companies like Tyson Foods Inc. and George’s Inc.

Since 2005, Chandler said, the company has grown from about 15 employees to 60. Revenues, meanwhile, have gone from about $5 million to an expected $25 million this year.

Much of that has been under the watch of Chandler, who graduated from the University of Arkansas with a degree in criminal justice in 2004, and his father. Chandler said he intended to go to law school before the opportunity to take on a significant role at CEI presented itself.

“I originally wanted to be an attorney,” Chandler said. “I got into that field, fell in love with that field, but this job opened up and I ran with it.”

Since then, Chandler said he’s been “on a warpath of bettering myself, which betters the company and everybody here at Chandler Equipment.”

That passion and energy have resulted in more than just improved numbers. CEI formed a printing and graphic design division when the Chandlers decided it would be more efficient to print their own catalogues.

Now the division is on the brink of becoming a stand-alone company. It handles everything from business cards to web design.

“We don’t have to depend on other companies to get where we want to go,” Chandler said of the firm’s self-sufficient philosophy.

Chandler attacks his life away from business in much the same manner. He’s active in numerous charitable endeavors, including the Ryan Murphy Cancer Fund, which provides screenings for people who can’t afford them.

Chandler said Murphy, a former Rogers resident, was a “friend of a friend” who died from colon cancer.

“You can always do better as a person, you can always do better as a company,” Chandler said. “That’s kind of how I live my life.”