Chesley Fence Inc

Chesley Fence Inc

August, 1967 Tom Chesley, Sr. worked for Union Packing in St. Louis. He began selling Anchor chain link fence out of his home in Fairview Heights while working at the packing house. After graduating from Belleville East Tom (Junior) began working for his dad while attending St. Louis College of Pharmacy. He worked for his Dad through Pharmacy school. After 4 years of Pharmacy School, he chose to work for the family business instead of pursuing Pharmacy as his career. In 1986, Tom gave his Dad the choice of selling the business to him or he would go to work for another (fence) company. With that choice, his Dad sold the business and the warehouse to Tom. Upon the close of the business deal, his Dad said “you will never make it.” Tom, after buying the business began to specialize more in residential/decorative fencing opposed to the prior chain link and a small percentage of aluminum and wood. Eventually, Tom chose to sell strictly residential, opting also out of commercial work. In 1989, Patty began working with Tom in the business. It went from $100,000 in gross sales in 1986 to $1,000,000 in sales in 1994. The business was run from the office in their home until 2002. Blessed with a good economy and working well together, sales kept rising yearly. In 2006, the year prior to the recession, the business grossed almost $3,000,000. On March 14, 2014, Tom and Patty sold the business to Scott and Bud Jacob. Enjoying the business and the customers, Tom and Patty wanted to continue to be involved with the company. This transition has continued to work well for everyone involved and July 1, 2016 Chesley moved their operation to join Jacob Family Enterprises, Inc. at their Fairview Heights location. Today, Chesley Fence & Deck is continuing to expand with the help of a dedicated team. Scott and Bud are looking forward to the next step in the company’s history.