This Natural Can’t Be Fenced In

By Leonard Shapiro

Photo by Doug Gehlsen Middleburg Photo

Photo by Doug Gehlsen Middleburg Photo

At the ripe old age of 15, Calob Harshman went to his father, Rick, the owner of Blue Ridge Fence, with an idea to expand the company’s business into new territory.

Blue Ridge is based in Hagerstown and primarily serviced Washington County in Maryland, southern Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia, a threehour radius around their home base. Young Calob had a better idea, suggesting an expansion over the Virginia border and into Loudoun County.

He was already working in the business after school at Green Spring High in Hagerstown and over summer vacations, and was totally enamored with everything about the operation. And his dad was all in on his idea, as well.

“I always liked the line of work and working with farmers and equestrians,” Calob said. “We got to work on some of the most beautiful farms and properties, which I enjoyed so much. I also realized that there would not be much of a future for me in the business if I did not think outside the box.

“I had to do something to grow the business so that I could also grow into it. I saw how much potential there was if we just broadened our service area, so that was my mission. With the fall of farm commodity prices, I also knew the equine industry would be my target.”

And he was so right. His dad’s teen angel—again, he was only 15 at the time—was armed with a laptop,

Photo by Doug Gehlsen Middleburg Photo Calob Harshman, a fencing master. a cell phone, and a Facebook account.

“I also had some will power,” said Calob, now 20. And so, with his father’s blessing, not to mention faith in his son’s instincts and precocious business acumen, “I started focusing on Virginia, with the primary focus of Loudoun County.”

Initially, he scored a couple of “decent projects” in 2015, and the following year he smacked what he likes to call “my first home run.”

“I connected with a barn builder and farm planner and sealed the deal on my largest sale to that date,” he said. “It was a completely new private farm facility in eastern Loudoun County. That project made my entire year and fueled the fire to keep this journey going.

“With that project, along with another new farm in New Jersey and another project in Culpeper County, 2016 was a total win for us and I was beyond excited. I knew this was the career path for me.”

Essentially, the kid was a Robert Redford-like Natural, knocking it out of the park with the consistency of Babe Ruth.

“From then on I’ve kept my focus in Virginia, primarily Loudoun,” he said. “Since then, we’ve tackled a number of projects from Virginia all the way up to Connecticut, and everywhere in between.”

Calob, who still lives in Hagerstown, an 80-mile drive from Middleburg, is often hands-on himself, spending half his time in sales, marketing, giving estimates and invoicing and accounting. At age 20, he said he’s essentially running the company, though his father also has plenty to say about the business.

“The rest of my time I’m still out in the field installing fence,” Calob said. “We’re now having our best year to date and we’ve had just unreal growth. In 2015 I had no idea where I would be in five years. But here we are, and I wouldn’t change a thing.”

For more information on Blue Ridge Fence, go to www. blueridgefenceco.com, visit their site on Facebook @ blueridgefenceco or call or text 301-302-5410.