Summerville, South Carolina

June 18, 2009 – Pyramid Enterprises, Inc., a company born
in Dorchester County in June 1959 in a small backyard shop, had no grand opening ceremony with
a ribbon cutting by some dignitary.
It did not come here after gaining
notoriety elsewhere.

It began with a few pieces
of equipment, some bought form Sears Roebuck and Company, various
hand tools, and a strong desire for independence by
a metalwork craftsman named Lonnie Rowell.

In the early days,
or perhaps nights, the
work was done in the
evenings by Rowell after days as the operations manager at an industry in Charleston.

There has always been
a great variety of products produced at Pyramid. Among the early products were
pieces of apparatus used in the research
laboratory of
West
Virginia Pulp and Paper Company in
North Charleston. Also, there were laps and
gauges and
other items used in producing
contact
eye
lenses when they were
made of hard plastic.

In September 1960,
Pyramid began operating on a full-time basis and began
hiring additional help
as well as acquiring
more and larger equipment.
The product line
expanded to include the design
and manufacture of woodworking
machinery for producing parts for furniture, redwood
flower
pots
and window-box planters. Even main propeller shafts for tug boats and propeller shafts for U.S. Army landing craft were modified or reconditioned
at Pyramid.

The company has
served customers from South Carolina
to Mississippi, Florida,
Georgia, North Carolina,
Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.
Some Pyramid products,
according to one customer, have
been shipped
abroad for service in foreign countries.

Pyramid Enterprises was
founded by Rowell
in 1959 as a proprietorship and was
incorporated in the early 1980s.
Lonnie
retired in 1993 and passed control
of the business on to two of
his children who have worked
for the company for several years.

Marcus Rowell, who
is now president and
general manager, has worked
for the company since he was
old enough to be employed. He
is a graduate of Trident Technical
College with
the degree in industrial technology.

Sallie Rowell
Barfield is the secretary and
the
treasurer and office manager.
She is a graduate of Young Harris College with
the degree in education
and had experience in banking and
government accounting before
coming to Pyramid.

Pyramid is open
for business Monday-Friday from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. For more information call
873-4500 or visit pyramidenterprisesinc.com.