Reese Phifer, Chairman, and CEO of Phifer Wire Products, Inc., has been called the prototype of an entrepreneur. Reese Phifer, Chairman, and CEO of Phifer Wire Products, Inc., has been called the prototype of an entrepreneur. In 1952, he rented an old, vacant warehouse in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and set up a small, fiveloom weaving operation which he called Phifer Aluminum Screen Company. From this humble beginning arose Phifer Wire Products, Inc.
This corporation today sells its products in all fifty states and exports products to over 125 countries. The corporation, still locally owned and operated, has also become one of West Alabama’s largest and most respected corporate citizens.
One of three sons of William and Olga Gough Phifer, Reese Phifer was born on February 19, 1916, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where for many years his father owned and operated a grocery store in Tuscaloosa’s West End. During his years in the public schools, the young man was a good student as well as a good athlete. In high school, he was one of the area’s outstanding athletes and later (in 1968) was named to the Tuscaloosa High School Football “Hall of Fame.”
After graduating from Tuscaloosa High School, Reese Phifer entered The University of Alabama and earned a B.S. degree in commerce in 1938 and a law degree in 1940. With the advent of World War II, he served as a pilot in the Army Air Force and logged many hours flying the famous P-51 Mustang.
After his discharge from the service, Reese Phifer returned to his hometown to resume his career as a lawyer. He served briefly as an Assistant City Solicitor for the City of Tuscaloosa before entering private practice.
While practicing law, he conceived the idea of a wire-screening weaving operation. After two years of studying the feasibility of setting up such an operation, he established in 1952 a manufacturing plant that would eventually become the world’s largest producer of woven screen wire. The original company, Phifer Aluminum Screen Company, was soon renamed Phifer Wire Products and by 1956 had moved to larger facilities. Installation of fine wire drawing equipment enabled the company to produce the .013-inch diameter wire necessary to weave insect screening. Later a large breakdown mill allowed the company to have more control over the final product. From the very beginning, Reese Phifer put major emphasis on “Quality, Service, and Delivery.”
In 1963, Phifer Wire Products, under Reese Phifer’s leadership, developed a totally new product – a woven, all-aluminum screening which acts as a solar screen to help keep out solar rays and solar heat gain. This Phifer invention, marketed under the brand name SunScreen, gave the company an exclusive product to add to its product line.
In 1974, Phifer adapted the aluminum SunScreen concept to the new fiberglass yarns, because in 1970 Reese Phifer had the foresight to initiate the construction of a fiberglass weaving plant with the finest weaving machines available.
In the 1970s the company continued to expand and modernize its facilities, as well as to search for new products and markets. A new warehouse and shipping facility as well as a yarn-coating division, a chemical division, and a new international headquarters office building were all constructed in the Kauloosa Ave. Industrial Park area. Phifer Wire Products, Inc. emerged as the most modern and efficient plant in the world for the production of aluminum and fiberglass insect screening.
In 1982, the company added another woven product, Phifertex, a vinyl-coated product widely used in the outdoor and leisure furniture market.
Today, Phifer products – all manufactured in Tuscaloosa – may be seen by customers in Phifer warehouses and sales offices in Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago, New York, Salt Lake City, St. Petersburg, or Honolulu. The company’s corporate aircraft is used extensively by the home office sales team in Tuscaloosa to work with salespeople and customers in the field, and to regularly bring in customers and potential customers to Tuscaloosa. The company’s fleet of modern tractor-trailer trucks travel over a million miles a tear to make deliveries to customers from coast to coast and to all major ports for export abroad.
Under the leadership of Reese Phifer, the company has achieved national and international recognition. In 1984, he was a special guest of President Ronald Reagan at the White House to receive the prestigious “E” Award in recognition of the company’s success in export sales. He had realized early on that the seasonal demand for screen wire reached its peak every summer, so he turned to exports to countries with seasons opposite the U.S.A.
Also under his leadership, Phifer Wire Products has always been an equal opportunity employer. In 1981, Phifer was presented the very first Human Rights Award ever given by the local NAACP organization. In 1988, Phifer Wire Products was the recipient of the Presidential “C” Award. The familiar “We Can…We Care” Award was initiated to recognize companies such as Phifer for corporate involvement in such areas as education, drug abuse, job training and assistance to the handicapped. Also, under Reese Phifer’s leadership, job opportunities have been made available to physically challenged and mentally handicapped persons, disabled veterans, and persons with hearing problems; and the company has always felt fortunate and grateful to the employees who do such an outstanding job.
Through the years, Reese Phifer has made many contributions to The University of Alabama through Phifer Wire Products as well as the Reese Phifer, Jr. Memorial Trust, the charitable arm of the company which was established in 1964 in memory of Reese Phifer, Jr., who died in an airplane accident.
In recognition of Reese Phifer’s continuing support of The University of Alabama, the Board of Trustees this year named the Old Union Building (which now houses the College of Communications) Reese Phifer Hall.
Reese Phifer has always had a vision of the American Dream – based on hard work, ingenuity, and innovation – as well as a sense of social responsibility. Phifer Wire Products, Inc. represents his fulfillment of that dream and reflects the vision of its founder, now Chairman and CEO.
Other officers of this family-owned, Tuscaloosa-based, international industry are members of Reese Phifer’s family. His wife, Sue Clarkson Phifer, is Senior Vice President; his oldest daughter Beverly Phifer serves as President; daughters Karen Phifer Brooks and Susan Phifer Cork serve as Vice Presidents; sons-in-law Brad Cork and Jim Brooks serve as Senior Executive Vice Presidents.
Today, the Phifers and Phifer Wire Products, Inc. continue to chart a course which opens windows to the future and around the world.
