B&R Industrial Supply has been serving Laurel, MS since 1979. In the ’90s, Nathan Stringer, who worked in the business, purchased the company from the owner at the time who was looking to relocate. Today, the Stringer family has grown B&R Industrial Supply into multiple categories, meeting many of the needs of their customers beyond welding supplies.
“Dad just really saw the potential of the business, of what we could do if we really put our heads down and invested back into the company,” said his son and B&R CEO Weston Stringer. “We ventured out into safety and janitorial and anything we could get our hands on. We quote and stock for people, and it shows them the service side of what we do.”
Business has increased tenfold since Nathan took the reins with his family running the place beside him. B&R is the product of his vision aided by the financial and business acumen of his wife, Melissa Stringer, and their sons, Weston and Trenton.
“It’s a family-oriented company, and we try to treat everybody like that,” Weston said. “Most of our guys have been with us 20 or 25 years, so they all feel like family to us.” And that relationship-first approach seems to fit right in with the way B&R approaches the NetPlus community. We had a chance to speak with Weston about all the ways their engagement leads to growth and what they’re looking forward to in 2026.
NETPLUS: What does all-in engagement in the group mean to you?
B&R: It’s really about jumping in and getting connected with the NetPlus team to understand how the group can benefit what we do. I’m studying all the vendors I’m able to work with within the group to grow our business as much as possible.
NETPLUS: When you’re setting strategies to grow your business, what are a few aspects you focus on?
B&R: This is our third full year with NetPlus, so we’re still pretty new. We started out by getting familiar with suppliers in the group that meet what we already do and reaching out to them to compare what they’re offering to what we were buying outside of the group.
We try to work intimately with our supplier companies; we use their salesmen just like we use our own. Our offerings are so broad that it’s hard to know everything, so we really lean on their people to teach us and show us what’s out there. Last year I got really close with Chris (Keagle) at FyterTech and we’ve grown big time with them. It’s worked out very well for us, getting products faster than we had (with another company outside of NetPlus). We try to really focus on two to three companies each year, really diving into it with them to see what we can produce over the year with our outside sales guys.
NETPLUS: How does your NetPlus membership play a role in your overall growth?
B&R : It goes hand-in-hand. If you’re trying to venture out and see new products you can get your hands on and easily getting set up with new people, you’re only going to grow. Two years ago we started with Milwaukee — we hadn’t had the opportunity to work directly with them before. We have and still do a lot of volume with DEWALT, but we were finding a lot of walk-ins asking specifically for Milwaukee. NetPlus gave us the opportunity to get connected and we’ve seen incredible growth with them we couldn’t have had otherwise.
Some bigger companies see that we only have 30 employees and it deters them from setting up smaller businesses like ours, not understanding what we are able to accomplish inside our company. When they finally give us the opportunity and they’re like, “Wow! Ya’ll did amazing!” So our NetPlus membership gets our foot in the door, so to speak.
NETPLUS: Why do you prioritize increasing your in-network purchases year after year, and how do you achieve that?
B&R: NetPlus has grown so much that companies prioritize you being in a group like that, so if you need help from a vendor in NetPlus, you’re in. It feels like they’re going to be a little more intimate with you. So if I can find more companies like that within the organization, I know I can reach out to them and they’re going to get on it so I can continue to grow. I also know I always have the NetPlus team I can reach out to if I can’t get a vendor right away to help me get what I need for my customers.
NETPLUS: How have product trainings and other educational opportunities played a role in your success?
B&R: It has been really cool to be able to go to organizations like Southwire and Radians and places like that. It helps my guys to go see these operations for themselves and feel like they get connected a little better, get some more ties to those companies and understand what they do a little better. It also gives them the opportunity to kind of let their hair down and learn in an easy setting away from the everyday bull rush that you do Monday through Friday. I’m very visual person. So, when I see stuff, it really sticks with me. I feel like a lot of guys learn better that way.
NETPLUS: What are some ways you’re specifically looking forward to engaging with the NetPlus community this year?
B&R: We’ve already set up a couple Growth Plus plans for this year, and I’m also looking to bring in my hydration solution purchases into the group — we have a plan ready for that, too. It gets pretty hot in Mississippi pretty quick, so we should start seeing some sales growth on that in the next month or so.
We’re definitely coming to the Annual Meeting; we always have a really good time seeing everyone, meeting some new sales guys and jumping off ideas with each other on how we can grow together. We really enjoy getting to do all that.
We’re just a small company trying to grow like everyone else. We try to find what fits strategically for us, and it’s really huge what NetPlus can help you find for your customers.