To say that Dustin Preston, winner of the 2007 Entrepreneurial Award for Distribution, is a busy man, may be a slight understatement. In addition to being president of Capital Steel & Wire, Inc. (which we’ll get to in a moment), he owns KJK Properties, LLC; Capital Auto Group, LLC; PresVan, LLC; and Sunset Rentals, LLC. He’s also the current acting president of the Central Michigan Football Alumni Association (he’s a CMU graduate who lettered four years in football) and has had Capital Steel & Wire named to the Entrepreneur Magazine hot 500 list of fastest growing companies in America.

Top that off with “a beautiful and wonderful wife and family,” and it’s clear that Preston spoke the truth in his acceptance speech when he said, “This has been a great run we’ve had so far, and I’ve been lucky enough to steer the ship.”

Capital Steel & Wire’s primary business is the processing and distribution of steel. Its customers are companies such as Demmer Corporation (see article elsewhere in this month’s magazine), and those who make parts for the automotive, heavy truck and rail car industry. The majority of its employees are college graduates that have either a marketing or sales degree. In addition to wholesaling steel, Capital also has saws that enable it to cut product to length and do custom work.

Why Lansing? As Preston told it: “I grew up in Grand Rapids; my wife’s from Mount Pleasant. I worked out of Detroit.” When they started their company, “We wanted to be on our own, away from the Detroit area. We really liked the logistical, capital part of Lansing, which we incorporated into our name.”

Incorporated in 2001, Capital has seen sales grow to over $20,000,000 in 2007 with a current workforce of 15. A recent trend Preston took note of is the growing number of Asian companies in the U.S. market. “With the change in the value of our dollar,” he explained, Asians companies “want to come in and buy our scrap and our raw material to make steel. So not only have we lost some product overseas to their manufacturing base, we’re also losing what it takes to make steel here in the country with the weakness of the dollar.” And continuing weakness means that’s not likely to change.

Preston said that he’s always had the entrepreneurial spirit in him. “I was always involved with Junior Achievement as a gradeschooler and highschooler; always took the lead role; always wanted to be the man to make the calls and the decisions. It’s been part of my nature.”

Asked what makes a successful entrepreneur, he opined, “You have to take chances. If you feel there’s an opportunity there and you feel you can put yourself in a position to take a risk that’s calculated for success, you [have to] take it. Take those first two steps, and hopefully the rest start following behind you.”

Preston’s plans for the future of Capital Steel & Wire include installing another carbide cold saw (which should be operating by the time you read this), bringing their total to four, and expanding the number of products they stock. From an entrepreneurial standpoint, he’s looking to acquire a business that will complement his current stable, and he said that the weak market has “created opportunity.” With his track record, it’s a safe bet that he won’t be the one answering the door; he’ll be the one knocking.