Pulliam Pools brings century of experience to small business honor

A company that began pouring concrete over a century ago and eventually morphed into one of the largest swimming pool companies in the county, took home a Small Business of the Year award on Thursday at the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce’s State of the City event.

“We’re very pleased,” said Andrew Fluty, general manager at Pulliam Pools, which took home the Small Business of the Year award for companies between 51-150 employees.

Founded in 1916, Pulliam Pools specializes in new construction, renovations, service and maintenance. Pulliam Pools is the continuation of a family construction business founded by brothers Theodore Creswell Pulliam and Frank ‘Pop’ Pulliam.

The company builds about 200 pools annually and services more than 1,000 pools every week, Fluty said.

“We have really expanded our servicing business over the past couple of years,” he said. “That’s something we’ve worked really hard on.”

The company has about 72 employees and many of those have been on the job for many years. Fluty has been with the company for more than 30 years.

“We’ve built a great place to work,” he said.

Other nominees in the same category were Ampersand Coffee and Alliance Vision Institute.

Other honorees:

1-20 Employees
Winner: The Jordan Elizabeth Harris Foundation

The foundation was formed in 2014 with the mission to prevent suicide, provide help for people struggling with depression, and support research. The foundation’s work was cited for helping lead to a 20% decrease in all deaths by suicide in Tarrant County since 2023, and a close to 90% decrease in youth deaths by suicide — five in the 2024-25 school year.

Other finalists:

HF Custom Solutions
mForce Capital

21-50 Employees
Winner: Bob Moore Construction

Bob Moore Construction is a legacy general contractor based in Fort Worth, building across Texas for over 78 years. In the past two years, they have worked on more than 2.5 million square feet in Fort Worth and central Tarrant County, totaling over $185 million in value and adding an estimated 1,800 jobs.

Other finalists:

Emerging Business

Winner: At Your Home Caregiving of Texas

At Your Home Caregiving of Texas is owned and operated by nurse practitioner Sabina Tamang. At Your Home specializes in supporting retired executives and aging professionals, individuals managing chronic illnesses or movement disorders, and families providing care from a distance.

Other finalists:

D1 Training Alliance
Darkhorse GovCon LLC

Fort Worth’s Best Place for Working Parents also presented the organization’s annual innovator awards that recognize local businesses for their strategies to support working parent employees through unique policies and practices in three award categories.

Family Resources Innovator Award

Winner: The Ashton Depot

Policy Innovator Award

Winner: Recaro Aircraft Seating

Events Innovator Award

Winner: BNSF Railway

Sponsored by Bank of Texas, the Small Business of the Year awards honor outstanding Fort Worth small businesses demonstrating best practices. Both chamber members and nonmembers are eligible for the awards.

Bob Francis is business editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at bob.francis@fortworthreport.org.
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