Just a shout out to the world wide web.  Here we are in the last quarter of a long, tough year (2009).  Being a small business, there is no need to get up on our soap box and whine or cry about our financial statements.

But, we know all small business owners are doing their best.  It’s been a hard lesson to learn  this year, and it’s simple accounting/business practices.  

If your revenue is down, then there are 2 options to fix that problem:

1. Increase Sales
2. Decrease Expenses

This company has made great strides to obtain both of those objectives.  Yes, we have a smaller employee roster – but don’t we all?

We don’t like being grouped with other companies that have folded up and closed their doors.  WE ARE STILL HERE!!

We sincerely value each and everyone of our customers, and each and every order!

We have NOT expanded our product line – we choose to stick to what we do best.  “WE CUT WOOD – plain and simple”.   We manufacture excellent quality survey stakes, grade stakes, survey lath, hubs – and any stick of wood you need.  We make our clients happy.

We have NOT become a distributor of other finished goods…..we have spent our energy perfecting our product, our production efficiency, and our business practices. 

We want the opportunity to be your supplier – visit our web site or give us a call.  You will like our product and we will do everything we can to make you like our prices!

Just an formal announcement……….(drum roll please).

Prime Stakes has gotten a full make over on it’s corporate web site.  So please, go take a peak and save it to your favorite places.

With the Web 2.0 surge, and SEO optimization techniques, Prime Stakes needed to get current with internet technology and update it’s web site.   It was a tough task, especially for someone like me that is NOT super-techy!

We want to attract the professional surveryors, general contractors, and civil engineering firms to visit our site & see our survey stakes.

We want the road construction firms to consider us as a source for their grade stakes.

Wood stakes are our primary product.  If this blog post has turned up in your Google search, please visit our site to learn about our company, about our manufacturing, and our quality products. 

We want your business, and we will take great care to make you a happy customer!

Our goal is to be YOUR primary supplier!

Here we are creeping up on the end of the 3rd quarter, so I wanted to post a blog to all our clients concerning everyone’s business in 2008. It’s been a tough one, for all of us. But, remember…..we will survive!

Each day we talk to our clients, and listen to your worries during the slow market, slow construction & development. We don’t want to jinx things, but we are experiencing an increase in business this month. Could the ice be cracking a bit?

In the last couple of months, we have taken and filled orders from out-of-state surveyors from storm damaged areas too.

One new client is buying survey stakes and grade stakes for contracted jobs they have in Iraq.  Our production team takes pride in knowing their hardwork is a valuable tool for engineers, contractors, and surveyors all over the globe.

The biggest “OUCH” we have had lately is the price of steel. So many of our customers use our #4 and #5 Iron Rods. And everytime we order our steel, the price has gone up again. It’s frustrating.

Our best seller is our survey lath. Year after year, it’s our top item. Our 1/2″ x 2″ x 48″ lath has precision points. Everyone LOVES our points! And if you haven’t tried our survey lath, you should call for a sample – it will impress you.

Hopefully, our increased sales is the ground floor statistic that the construction & real estate market may be on an upswing here in Florida. Time will tell……

Yes, we’ve cut our production staff, just as you have reduced your field crews – but we are still here!

We will survive!

Give us a call or visit our Web Site - We want your business!

Are you looking for a supplier for survey lath? Well here we are!!

Why not buy direct from the manufacturer? Our company has established delivery routes throughout Florida and South Georgia, BUT….we can ship anywhere you need it in the USA.

If you need just a bundle of lath 1/2″ x 2″ x 48″ or 1/2″ x 2″ x 36“, we can ship it to you via United Parcel Service. Our strapped bundles for that size are 50 pcs.

If you need more, we can ship via overland carriers and we get competitive rates from freight companies.

All you need to do is pick up the phone and call us toll free at 1-888-758-8610, and we can discuss your needs, your location or job site, and provide you with a quote that includes “delivery to your door”.

Check out our web site for our standard variety sizes.

Our survey lath, grade stakes, and hubs are manufactured from kiln-dried, southern yellow pine. Our quality control process will make you and your field crews very happy. Our newest feature is precision cut points. We have gotten excellent feedback from our customers that are pleased that our “even” points help drive the stake in straight without twisting and breaking.

We want you to get “OUR POINTS” and we want to be your supplier for Survey Lath, Survey Stakes or Grade Stakes.

Are you frustrated with your survey stake suppliers? If so, then please give us a try. We have built ourselves a good strong reputation of being a good vendor to our clients.

Two of our most popular products are survey lath. This is our 1/2″ x 2″ product. It is available at any length you require, but the most popular lengths are 36″ or 48″.

Our machinery puts a smooth surface cut on our product with a precision chisel point. Your field crews will be happy with low breakage and no-twisting when they drive our stakes into the ground.

We strap our survey stakes 1/2″ x 2″ x 36″ and 1/2″ x 2″ x 48″ in 50 pcs per bundle. You can buy them by the bundle or by the pallet. And, we can deliver to your office or your job sites.

Please call us for a quote on your next job! We want you to try our product and compare our quality and price.

We will not disappoint you on delivery. We want your business and we would like you to “get our points”.

Prime Stakes wants to be your vendor “stable and reliable vendor” for survey stakes! We want you to get our points!

Prime Stakes, Inc. was incorporated in Feb. 2004, and began operations in March 2004. The owners Warren Bohn and Chris Bohn purchased an existing business that was operating in Lake City. During the purchase of E.A. Stakes, we learned the history of the founder of the original company called Jonas Survey Stakes.

Jonas Survey Stakes was founded by Buis Jonas, a true Florida pioneer and operated
in Branford, FL. Mr. Jonas was born in Levy County (Gulf Hammock) on January 18, 1909. In Feb. of 1930 he married Bessie and began his family and had eight children. Mr. Jonas was a jack-of-all-trades and worked hard at family farming, and struggled year after year in tobacco farming and dealing in turpentine cups.

In 1951, someone suggested that he “cut” some tobacco sticks.
Farmers would buy these wood sticks to cure out their tobacco crops.
That is how it all got started. His business cutting sticks for the tobacco farmers, got another farmer interested in the “sticks”. Soon the poultry farmers needed “chicken sticks” to build their cages for the chicken farms. To this day, Prime Stakes still gets orders from customers that Mr. Jonas had back then. The tobacco stick & chicken stick industry served his family and paid the bills until one day in 1958 a man can to visit. That man was with a company called Florida Power and told Mr.
Jonas that he was a surveyor. He said his company needed “stakes”. So Mr. Jonas and his wife Bessie cut 100 stakes for that surveyor from Florida Power. And that sale, that day started the survey stake business.

As his customer base grew, Buis Jonas made saws & machines that could handle the work, and revised and re-worked the machines. In 1969 he built a new shop and had 10 employees that cut survey stakes.

Jonas Survey landed large projects that built Florida. Jonas Survey stakes were bought and used for the construction of Cape Canaveral, and the Florida Turnpike. His biggest customers were civil engineering firms like Morehead
Engineering from 1970 to 1978, the State of Florida Road Works.

Soon to follow were customers that were the large developers like Deltona Corporation and International Paper. One of his largest jobs on the company’s books was with the Road Department of the State of Arkansas.

Jonas Survey Stakes served the growth industry in Florida. The customer base he developed is the customer base that Prime Stakes serves today.
Elva Jonas Ordway compiled his biography “Biography of Buis M. Jonas” in 1978, and it is a live interview recorded at Hildreth, in Suwannee County Florida and Mastered at Emmit Brooks Recording
Studio.

In March 2005, the Jonas Family was invited to Prime Stakes’ Grand Opening celebration of our new 14,000 sq.ft. facility in Trenton, FL.

We were proud that his daughter Glenda Jonas Sanford, granddaughter, M. Charlene Sanford and other family members were our honored guests. They gave Prime Stakes, Inc. a copy of this CD and a written copy of his biography. The Jonas family was amazed that two of our six production lines are equipment that Buis Jonas designed and built.

We at Prime Stakes are proud of this company’s history and legacy.

The Jonas family says that Mr. Buis Jonas would be very proud of what we have done with his business.

   Company Mascot of Prime Stakes, Inc.

I am new to blogging and WordPress!

I am hoping that blogging will be a new way to promote my business.  My clients are Professional land surveryors, Civil engineering firms, Road builders, Cities and Municipalities, Utilities, Planners & Developers.