Recognizing Hayes Manufacturing

Topics:  Ford Model T

Senator David Vitter
Congressional Record: 114th Congress
28 September 2016

Mr. VITTER. Mr. President, for over 60 years, one small business based out of Pineville, LA, has played a major role in building central Louisiana and creating hundreds of jobs along the way. This week, I would like to recognize Hayes Manufacturing as Small Business of the Week.

In the early 1950s, James Hayes, Sr., worked in a local fabrication shop and quickly realized that he could produce a better product on his own. Working out of his garage with a welding machine mounted on a Model-T Ford, Hayes, Sr., established his namesake manufacturing small business in 1954. Over the next two decades, Hayes, Sr., acquired a small machine shop and successfully provided steel manufacturing products for central Louisiana. In 1972, his son James Hayes, Jr., joined the family business, and was shortly followed by his brother Cliff. Under their combined leadership and vision, Hayes Manufacturing has grown to become one of the highest regarded steel fabrication shops in the south.

Today Hayes Manufacturing is one of three divisions under the Hayes Companies, which is operated out of a 13-acre property in Pineville. Hayes Manufacturing regularly partners with the local community to give back. Following the deadly, historic flooding in south Louisiana this August, Hayes Manufacturing organized volunteers to help Baton Rouge families repair their flooded homes. Hayes Manufacturing has also worked with the State and local governments in public-private partnerships that build Louisiana's infrastructure and grow hundreds of direct and indirect jobs. In 2011, as the CEO of the Hayes Companies, James Hayes, Jr., was awarded Small Business Person of the Year by the Central Louisiana Chamber of Commerce.

Congratulations to the entire team at Hayes Manufacturing for being selected as Small Business of the Week, and I look forward to your continued growth and success.