Those who know Meredith Smith Anderson are probably not surprised at her selection as the U. S. Small Business Administration's Prime Contractor of the Year for Region IV. As Managing Member of Can’t Be Beat Fence & Construction, LLC, Anderson has led the limited liability company to stability and multi-state growth. Established in 1982, the company provides wood, vinyl, chain link, and cable barrier fencing to residential, commercial, and governmental entities.
Anderson sort of backed into the fencing business. She married Lloyd Anderson who for years managed Pit Grills on the Coast while working in his uncle's residential fencing business on weekends. Meredith started helping him and they picked up jobs while her grandmother helped with the couple's four children, Olen, Davy, Vicky and Dusty. "That was in the 1970s and those were tough times”, she said. “We grew the business from residential to commercial fencing when the casinos came to the Gulf Coast.” The next phase was government subcontracting work through the Roy Anderson Corporation.
Led by Meredith Anderson, Managing Member, Can’t Be Beat has grown exponentially. The firm is certified as HUBZone, 8(a) and a Small Disadvantaged Business. It holds certifications with the Department of Transportation and Women’s Business Enterprise; is accredited with the Better Business Bureau; and has garnered contracts throughout the nation. Since October 2010, Anderson has successfully bid contracts ranging from $3.5 million for a demolition project at the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Fl to $12.1 million for a construction project in Great Lakes, Illinois.
The firm’s main office is located in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi with other office locations in Perkinston, Mississippi; Orange Park, Florida; and Odon, Indiana.
The SBA’s Prime Contractor of the Year regional award is given to a small business that provides outstanding goods and services as a prime contractor to the government and private sector. Anderson competed against other prime contracting firms in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee to acquire the Southeast region’s prime contractor of the year award. In May 2011, she traveled to SBA’s National Small Business Week Award celebration in Washington, D.C. to accept the regional award and compete against other regional winners from around the country for the National Prime Contractor award. She was also recognized and received an award during the Mississippi SBA’s 2011 Small Business Award Reception in Jackson, MS on June 14, 2011.
Anderson was nominated for the regional award by Marcia McDowell, Director of the South Mississippi Contract Procurement Center in Biloxi, MS and Delores Butler, Acquisitions Branch Manager of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Southeast in Jacksonville, FL.
For information regarding SBA’s 8(a), HUBZone and other certification programs or small business awards, contact the Mississippi District Office at (601) 965-4378, Gulfport Branch Office at (228) 863-4449 or visit our website at www.sba.gov/ms.
SBA Region IV Prime Contractor
Meredith Anderson, Owner
Can’t Be Beat Construction, LLC
1020 Old Spanish Trail
Bay Saint Louis, MS 39520
(228) 467-3300
Email: MLSMER@aol.com