Ozarks Profile - Tom Baron

What is your job?

Tom Baron sells for Scurlock Industries, 3401 W. Commercial St. "I guess you could call me sales manager. Everyone around here is a manager," he said. "Primarily I contact the customers and seek out work that we can bid on."

Please tell us about your company.

Scurlock Industries began in 1953 in Jonesboro, Ark., as Jonesboro Concrete Pipe, Baron said. "We became Scurlock Industries in 1989 because at that time we had four plants with four different names, in Springfield, Jonesboro, Ark., Fayetteville, Ark., and Miami, Okla., and it got so we were almost bidding against each other. Scurlock manufactures reinforced concrete pipe, manholes, concrete box culverts, storm sewer structures, treatment plant precast structures, electrical and specialty precast products. We also have made sidewalk carrier structures for running gas and water pipes underneath sidewalks."

What prepared you for work in your field?

Baron went to work for Knopke Bros. Contractors Supply in 1965 as a counterman "my first job with construction products," he said. He joined Thompson Culvert in 1973 as plant manager and territory sales representative. In 1976 he graduated with a B.S. in Business Management from Columbia College in Springfield. In 1985 he joined Rose Concrete Pipe, which became Scurlock Industries.

How is the current state of the economy affecting your field?

"You know, really, we're as busy as we've ever been," Baron said. "A construction company is affected the same as anyone else, but we've been fortunate enough not to have any layoffs. I think it's due to the diversity of the economy around us. The Ozarks should be proud of that."

Do you see expect any new trends to develop in your field?

"The advancement of concrete technology," Baron said, "in as much as new materials are being used for reinforcement, such as fibers." He also cited a growing industry in "prefab houses that are made of concrete."

What's the best part of your job or profession?

"People contact," Baron said. "Personal contact with customers. It's a case of feeling like you're able to help them, then trying to convince them you really can. And we do."

Can you tell us something about your personal life and family?

Recently widowed, Baron has "three daughters, all married," he said. "They're Michelle, Angela, and Elaine. I also have a son, Kevin, who lives in Arnold." Baron has eight grandchildren: Katelyn, almost 16; Melissa, 12; Quinton, Hannah and Micah, all 10; Alexander and Jacqueline, both 7; and Olivia, 10 months. "They're the love of my life," he said.

How do you like to spend your leisure time?

"I pretty much just do volunteer work through the Knights of Columbus, primarily with the sheltered workshop and the developmentally disabled," Baron said. "I've also been bingo chairman for them for 13 years. And I work on reports for the Missouri Gaming Commission."

by Frank Shipe