Forty Under 40: Chris Chandler

Chris Chandler spent two summers interning with the Florida state attorney’s office while attending the University of Arkansas.

While on track to earn a criminal justice degree, he envisioned a high-risk life fighting bad guys. The state attorney envisioned something else.

“He told me, ‘I can tell you’re a business guy. You are a problem-solver and are big on efficiencies, and that’s business,’” Chandler recalled.

The state attorney was right. Chandler abandoned plans to pursue a law degree and was hired as a purchasing agent in 2004 at CEI, which centers most of its business on oil and natural gas drilling and movement accessories.

When his grandparents retired in late 2007, Chandler and his dad bought the business. Thanks to an exploding market for oil and gas — and the birth of an in-house print and advertising division that later became Moxy Ox — CEI surged from 50 to 110 employees by the end of 2012. Revenue went from $15 million to $25 million.

Those numbers have tapered a bit, but CEI still imports products from three countries and exports to 37. Earlier this year, Chandler even hired an international sales manager to augment growth.

Chandler, a married father of two, considers family and real estate his biggest hobbies. He earned his Realtor’s license in 2013, and he and his wife have already built two houses as residences — and are about to start a third.