Hurricane Fence, a commercial and residential fence contractor serving Virginia and the Mid-Atlantic since 1994, has been certified as a small business under Virginia's Small, Women-owned, and Minority-owned Business (SWaM) program, a designation that qualifies the company to bid on set-aside public-sector fencing and access control contracts.
The SWaM program is administered by the Virginia Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity, which certifies companies that meet the state's size limits so public agencies can direct a share of their purchasing to smaller in-state firms. Hurricane Fence qualifies under the program's small business category, which covers companies with fewer than 250 employees. The Commonwealth sets annual goals for the portion of state spending that should reach certified small firms, and the certification lets state agencies, public universities, and many Virginia localities count work awarded to Hurricane Fence toward those goals.
The company has worked across the Mid-Atlantic for more than 30 years and holds a Virginia Class A Contractor license, number 2705024990, the state's broadest contractor classification. It completed 3,143 projects across its markets in 2025 and has finished more than 20,000 projects from its Richmond location alone. The company operates from offices in Richmond and Portsmouth, Virginia, and Dunn, North Carolina, and serves commercial and residential customers within roughly 50 miles of each office, with larger security and government work handled on a regional basis.
Hurricane Fence also runs a dedicated gate operator and access control division that designs and installs automated gate systems with its own staff rather than through subcontractors. Its commercial crews handle perimeter security, dumpster enclosures, generator screening, and high-security fencing for government, military, and data center sites. That work includes crash-rated barrier systems, engineered to stop or slow a moving vehicle, and automated gates linked to a facility's entry credentials.
Beyond the SWaM designation, Hurricane Fence holds other credentials that public and commercial buyers screen for. The company is an American Fence Association Blue Ribbon member, carries an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau, and its field crews complete OSHA 30-hour safety training. In 2025 it also earned Gold-level safety recognition from the contractor rating platforms Highwire and ConstructSecure, which score vendors on jobsite safety records before agencies and general contractors clear them to bid.
For general contractors and public agencies, the certification makes it easier to meet Virginia's supplier diversity targets without moving fence and gate work to a less experienced installer. Facilities managers and property owners planning publicly funded projects can now include the company in solicitations that carry SWaM participation requirements, and commercial buyers outside the public sector can treat it as one more sign the company passes formal vetting.
"The SWaM certification does not change how we build a fence, but it opens doors on public work that used to be closed to us," said Mike Kelly, co-owner of Hurricane Fence. "Agencies want to keep their spending with in-state small businesses, and now they can send that work to a contractor who has been doing commercial security fencing here for three decades."
Hurricane Fence provides free in-person estimates for commercial and residential projects across its Virginia and North Carolina service areas and can be reached at (804) 353-6030. Public agencies and general contractors seeking a certified vendor for upcoming fence and gate solicitations can request the company's SWaM documentation directly. Details on the company's completed work and customer reviews are available on its Google Business Profile.
About Hurricane Fence
Founded in 1994, Hurricane Fence is a licensed and insured fence contractor serving Virginia, North Carolina, and the greater Mid-Atlantic from offices in Richmond and Portsmouth, Virginia, and Dunn, North Carolina. The company installs residential and commercial fencing, gate systems, and access control, and holds Virginia Class A Contractor license number 2705024990. Hurricane Fence is an American Fence Association Blue Ribbon company and maintains an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. More information is available at https://www.hurricanefenceinc.com/.
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For more information about Hurricane Fence Company, contact the company here:
Hurricane Fence Inc.
Tina Estep
(804) 353-6030
testep@hurricanefence.com
1300 Dinneen Street, Richmond, VA 23220