Chip Howison of Barrette Outdoor Living Recognized for Outstanding Business Development & the 2021 Duke Energy Partner Award for Sustainability Excellence
Hernando Progress recently presented its Outstanding Business Development award to Chip Howison, Vice President of Production, Barrette’s Outdoor Living. The award recognizes a local company for outstanding success and business growth.
Shortly after the Hernando County Summit, Barrette Outdoor Living was named the recipient of the 2021 Duke Energy Power Partner Award for Sustainability Excellence. The award recognizes customers that have shown exemplary leadership and extraordinary partnerships with Duke Energy. Barrette Outdoor Living and Duke Energy joined together to create a solar array on the company’s 300,000 square foot manufacturing facility’s rooftop in Brooksville for solar energy production. The rooftop solar array was the largest privately-owned solar project in Florida at the time of contract.
The array, which can produce more than 2,352,489 watts D.C. of power output, offsets approximately 81 percent of the facility’s electricity consumption. In addition, Barrette Outdoor Living’s Brooksville facility is an industry leader in its efforts to recycle aluminum scrap, steel parts, cardboard, and wood.
The plant also reclaims and reuses 97% of over-sprayed material in its aluminum powder coating process, which generates no hazardous waste and reduces CO2 emissions by up to 60% compared to liquid paint. The plant’s use of a closed-loop process water system and LED lighting systems also contributes to greater energy efficiencies.[I]
“We take a lot of pride in being ‘green’ and have developed solid partnerships with local vendors who take our recycled material and reuse it in a variety of ways. The company’s continuous push to further our sustainability efforts really resonates with our employees as well,” said Chip Howison, Vice President of Production, Barrette Outdoor Living.
Chip Howison & Alumi-Guard
Chip began his lifelong career in manufacturing at General Electric when he was 18 years old. He continued in manufacturing, working several years for Pall Aerospace, currently recognized as the world’s largest aerospace and defense filtration company.
In 2007, Chip acquired Alumi-Guard. Since that time, Alumi-Guard has grown from 45 to 420 employees, with revenues increasing ten times.
In 2014, Chip sold his local company, Alumi-Guard, to join the leading North American supplier of exterior home products to the residential market, Barrette Outdoor Living. Alumi-Guard remains a prestigious brand of Barrette Outdoor Living, providing innovative, high-quality aluminum fencing, railing, and gate systems to professional contractors, architects, builders, and homeowners. The Alumi-Guard brand manufactures a wide variety of elegant, durable, and low-maintenance products, available in several different grades, designed to protect homes, businesses, municipalities and proudly securing some of our nation’s military facilities.
In 2020, Alumi-Guard was named in the “Top 50 Shops for Liquid and Powder-Coat” by Products Finishing Magazine for the fifth time, an honor that no other fence manufacturer shares. For the recognition, shops are measured based on more than 50 operational metrics including lead time, on-time delivery, first-pass quality yield, and finishing equipment usage, among others.
Barrette Outdoor Living
Barrette Outdoor Living is the leading North American supplier of exterior home products to the residential market. The company produces vinyl, aluminum, steel, composite fencing and railing, composite decking, and other outdoor products sold through specialty retailers, home centers, and lumberyards.
Barrette Outdoor Living employs more than 2,000 people at 10 locations throughout the United States and its distribution center in Canada. Their recognized brands include ActiveYards, Freedom Outdoor Living, Alumi-Guard, Veranda, and rdi collection.
[i] Barrette Outdoor Living, Company News Page. “Barrette Outdoor Living Receives 2021 Duke Energy Partner Award for Sustainability Excellence”, entry dated 14 July 2021, Barrette Outdoor Living Receives 2021 Duke Energy Partner Award for Sustainability Excellence – Barrette Outdoor Living: accessed 02 August 2021.