APR honored as one of Central Pa.’s Top 50 Fastest Growing Companies
The Central Penn Business Journal announced and honored the top 50 businesses that have made significant contributions to the growth, strength and success of the Central Pennsylvania region. The Journal held the 11th annual Top 50 Fastest Growing Companies awards breakfast at the Hilton Harrisburg on September 14. For the second consecutive year, APR Supply Co. is proud to announce its rank of number 49 on this year’s list.
To be eligible for nomination, companies had to show revenue of at least $500,000 in each of the fiscal years ending 2004, 2005 and 2006 and show revenue growth in 2006, as compared to 2004 (a three-year period). Eligible companies had to be for-profit entities based in Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster, Lebanon, Perry or York counties.
Presenting sponsor, SF & Company, calculated the nominations and then ranked the companies according to revenue growth over the three-year period. Both dollar and percentage increases were taken into consideration. This ranking formula led to the recognition of the 2007 Top 50 Fastest Growing Companies, consisting of both large and small companies.
For more information, visit www.aprsupply.com.
Ferguson opens new facility in Minnesota industrial park
Ferguson opened a new location in Cohasset, Minn., on November 12. Located at 26377 Industrial Blvd., the 15,000-square-foot facility features local inventories of name-brand products in the plumbing, construction and heating and cooling industry. The Cohasset location will service local contractors as well as their pulp and paper, mining and utility customers.
Ferguson’s locations are designed to provide customers outstanding service and a comprehensive selection of plumbing, appliances, lighting, fireplaces and heating and cooling products from today’s most recognized manufacturers. Ferguson offers daily delivery service as well as an experienced in-house customer service staff. Highly trained associates are available to help customers throughout the building process.
To contact the branch directly, call 218/328-9900. For more information, visit www.ferguson.com.
Gerber goes green with WaterSense certified toilet products
The Gerber Ultra Flush® line of toilets recently received WaterSense certification for water conservation efficiency. WaterSense, a voluntary public-private partnership program sponsored by the EPA, recognizes and promotes water efficient products that are independently tested and certified. Unlike previous water-saving programs and mandates, the WaterSense criteria include a performance requirement in addition to water efficiency.
Generally, WaterSense-labeled products are about 20% more water efficient than their counterparts in the same category. Gerber Ultra Dual-Flush models meet this criteria, while the Ultra Flush 1.1 gpf models have an even higher level of performance. With a powerful, yet quiet pressure-assist system, these low-consumption toilets help reduce ecologic and economic concerns affiliated with waste disposal. The pressure assist flush uses compressed air to force 1.6 gallons of waste out with 1.1 gallons of water.
These versatile toilets are available in a variety of configurations, including shapes and rough-in dimensions that fit nearly any application. The Gerber Ultra Flush family is a complete selection of pressure-assist toilets, each covered by a 10-year limited warranty. These same toilets are also GreenSpec certified and meet California’s high efficiency toilet standards (het).
For more information, call 630/754-0278 or visit www.gerberonline.com.
Grundfos acquires Peerless Pump
Effective December 1, 2007, the Grundfos Group, with headquarters in Denmark, acquired Peerless Pump Company, a U.S.-based manufacturer of pumps and fire protection systems. With more than 400 employees and annual sales of $110 million, Peerless is Grundfos’s largest acquisition to date. Grundfos continues its aggressive growth strategy in North America.
Carsten Bjerg, group president and ceo of Grundfos Group, commented, “Recently we have focused on growing our business globally, especially in Eastern Europe, Asia and North America. The U.S. market has a significant growth potential, and the acquisition of Peerless is of great strategic importance to Grundfos. Combined with the continued expansion of our r&d facilities and production capacity in North America, this acquisition is crucial to strengthening our U.S. market position.”
Today, Grundfos’s sales in North America are $300 million. The U.S. pump market alone is estimated to be $6 billion, so the business potential for Grundfos is huge. With the latest acquisition, Grundfos expects to double its sales within a four-year period.
In 2004, the Grundfos Group announced its strategy for North America. Since then the group has made the following strategic investments on the continent:
- 2007 -- Acquisition of Peerless
- 2007 -- R&Dd office in Silicon Valley
- 2006 -- Dosing pump competence center in Georgia
- 2006 -- Acquisition of Paco
- 2005 -- Product development in Kansas
- 2005 -- Factory in Mexico (opens in early 2008)
- 2004 -- New headquarters in Kansas and significant sales force expansion.
Over this period of time, employment has increased from 530 to more than 1,200 and sales have grown from $144 million to $410 million, including the Peerless acquisition.
For details, visit www.grundfos.com.
Colonial Plumbing & Heating joins Johnstone Supply
Johnstone Supply Inc., an industry-leading cooperative distributor of hvacr parts and products, has announced that Colonial Plumbing & Heating Supply Inc. has officially joined the Johnstone cooperative. Colonial is a successful three-store company based in Albany, N.Y., with locations in Glens Falls and Oneonta, N.Y.
As an independent member of the Johnstone organization, Colonial will retain full ownership and management of its stores. At the same time, they will be able to access the expertise and business resources of a major national distribution company, including expanded product offerings and purchasing leverage, enhanced marketing materials and operational/logistical support.
Colonial is joining the cooperative as a way to provide a wider HVAC/R parts and equipment offering to the Albany region and to provide expanded services for its customers. Colonial business initiatives stemming from the agreement include major remodeling at its Glens Falls and Oneonta operations, as well as significant capital expenditures in a wholly new Johnstone Supply facility adjoining its Albany headquarters.
Colonial Supply has been a leading plumbing and heating parts and equipment supplier to the Albany region since 1947. More company information can be found at www.ColonialSupply.com.
Additional information about Johnstone Supply, as well as a searchable online catalog with the ability to order directly from local stores can be found at www.JohnstoneSupply.com.
PSDA to hold 47th annual installation and awards dinner
The Pacific Southwest Distributors Association member distributors, vendors and invited guests will gather together on Wednesday evening, February 13, at the Long Beach Marriott Hotel to honor a number of individuals who have made significant contributions to the industry on the West Coast and to recognize those who will be serving as PSDA officers and directors in 2008.
The format of the PSDA dinner in recent years has proven to be very popular, especially since it has offered both buyers and sellers an opportunity to invite many of their key employees and guests to take part at an affordable cost.
Good humor, food and drink are on tap for the 250 attendees who are expected to participate and pay tribute to award recipients in four categories: Distinguished Service, Wholesaler-Distributor of the Year, Industry Honor and Pioneer.
Anyone interested in attending the dinner is asked to contact PSDA’s Bob Bluth at 480/991-5703.
M. Cooper Supply is now operating out of its new distribution center, located at 8605 Spring Lake Drive in Mokena, Ill. The facility is located just north of 191st Street and east of 88th Avenue, easily accessible from I-80, via either the LaGrange Road or the Harlem Avenue exits.
All phone and fax numbers remain the same, as will hours of operation:
- Monday-Friday -- 6:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
- Saturday -- 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon
- Receiving -- 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Monday through Friday
- Main phone -- 708/444-1600
- Main fax -- 708/444-1616
- Purchasing fax -- 708/342-2152.
Selltis raises funds to launch new version of hosted CRM software
Selltis LLC, a provider of on-demand customer relationship management software for end-to-end sales process automation, has received venture funding from Advantage Capital Partners and Enhanced Capital Partners. The proceeds will be utilized to launch the next-generation version of the company’s namesake crm solution, Selltis Sales 5.0, delivered via hosted software as a service (SaaS) business model.
Expanding on the company’s unique, hyperrelational technology that offers “many-to-many” data linking, the new Selltis Sales 5.0, planned for general availability in early 2008, allows users to manage all aspects of the customer and partner relationship lifecycle. This Link the Way You Think approach provides the capability to proactively manage complex team sales environments. The Selltis Sales platform includes tools to automate marketing campaigns and lead management as well as quoting and field service.
For details, visit www.selltis.com.
SWA to host Profit Enhancement Institute
The Southern Wholesalers Association will be holding the 20th Annual Profit Enhancement Institute Seminar from February 6-8, 2008 in Atlanta. This industry acclaimed training is a state-of-the-art management seminar designed to provide the most industry-specific management skills to employees who are currently managers or are in a management track within a wholesale distribution company.
The seminar boasts three industry icons -- Dr. Michael Workman, Dr. Al Bates and Dr. Kathy Newton, who have a collective experience within the industry of more than 60 years. The first day’s training is Sales, the second is Operational Finance and the third is Human Resources -- all key areas a branch or corporate office manager has to know about to successfully operate a wholesale distribution company.
Space is limited for this event due to the high level and interactive nature of the seminar. For more information and to register, contact Terry Shafer at the SWA office at 615/771-3131 or by e-mailing terry@southernwholesalers.org. Online registration is available at www.southernwholesalers.org.
Activant releases Prophet 21 SBE
Activant Solutions Inc. has released Activant Prophet 21 Small Business Edition (SBE), a fully hosted enterprise software solution designed specifically for distributors with fewer than five employees.
Prophet 21 SBE includes the following core functionality: order processing, accounts payable, accounts receivable, commissions, contact management, general ledger, inventory, purchasing, and system setup and administration.
In addition, distributors have access to management summaries to proactively keep their businesses running smoothly and maintain high levels of profitability.
With Prophet 21 SBE, distributors can set alerts to notify them when margins drop below a point they specify or when a customer’s days outstanding reaches a critical point. Other features allow for the reconciliation of bank statements, calculation of landed costs, acceptance of foreign currency, setting tasks and much more.
It doesn’t require vast in-house technical expertise or expensive hardware investments, allowing distributors to maintain higher free cash flow levels to expand and grow their businesses. Sbe is available as an on-demand service; distributors can focus on their core business as opposed to maintaining database and application servers.
For details, call 800/776-7438, visit http://distribution.activant.com or e-mail distribution@activant.com.