June 12 – Editor’s Note: This is the fourth in a four-part series highlighting the Milledgeville-Baldwin County Chamber of Commerce finalists for 2024 Small Business of the Year. The winner will be announced on Saturday 15 June during the Chamber Awards Gala.
Hinton Construction has built quite a reputation and a large number of decks in just four years of doing business in this field.
Owned by Stockbridge, Georgia native Joseph Hinton, the company specializes in exterior deck construction, dock repairs and home remodeling. Hinton Construction’s work in these areas since 2020 has earned the company a spot as a finalist for the 2024 Milledgeville-Baldwin County Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year.
It all started ‘by accident’, according to the owner and founder, who grew up in a family of construction workers.
“My family had just returned from Arizona,” Hinton said. “We were traveling to state and national parks when they started closing them all because of COVID.”
He was visiting his father in nearby Monticello when someone posted on social media that a deck needed to be built. Hinton had the knowledge, time and skills to do the job, so he threw his hat in the ring for the job and got it.
“Before we finished that, we had two more decks lined up,” he said.
And so a new venture began. As the company was built, Hinton Construction began adding remodels, renovations and small additions to the list of jobs. The focus remains on those areas, as well as deck construction and dock repair, as Hinton’s crew travels primarily around the Lakes Region making customers’ dreams come true.
The owner said the Small Business of the Year finalist nomination is “a testament to all the long hours, weekends and hard work” his employees have put into making the business successful.
Hinton estimates that decks make up 70% of Hinton Construction’s revenue in terms of the number of jobs. His seven-person field crew can knock out most deck projects within a month. Many can be completed in two to three weeks, even though no two are exactly the same.
“We don’t get a lot of the standard square and rectangular type decks,” Hinton says. “Generally speaking, our customer base wants something unique. I definitely prefer that because we like to have something that’s a little bit more challenging.”
It is those unique challenges that keep the work fresh day after day.
“Even though we do a lot of porch remodels, bathroom remodels and basement remodels, they’re all always a little different,” Hinton added. “Everyone wants their own personal touch. It’s satisfying to see the completed project and how happy the customer is. You feel like you’ve accomplished a task instead of doing the same thing over and over.”
After four years as a business owner, Hinton has the same hope for customers who choose his business as he did on day one: that they will be satisfied.
“We want customers to be ecstatic and feel like they got their money’s worth,” he said. “I don’t want them to think they paid too much or that they want something different to be done. I want them to be happy and know that while we probably weren’t the cheapest guys in town, they got their value and saw the difference in what we offer compared to others who might do it cheaper.”
Hinton Construction rounds out this year’s field of four finalists for the Chamber’s Small Business of the Year award. Hinton is one of the three initial finalists, along with OrthoGeorgia restaurant and Surcheros Fresh Mex. Edward Jones: Financial Advisor-Crystal Law is a finalist for the third year in a row.
The winner, along with several other annual Chamber Awards, will be announced during the awards gala on Saturday evening.
