Calderon steps down as ASA leader
The Board of Directors of the American Supply Association announced that Inge Calderon has elected to step down as executive vice president of ASA in favor of accepting a new role as executive director of the ASA Education Foundation.
“Inge has been an exceptional leader for ASA since taking her position in 1995 and has successfully led the association through some of its more challenging times,” said Joel Becker of Torrington Supply Co., current ASA president. “Her tenure has included the implementation of the ‘White Paper’ organizational recommendations, navigating the challenge of tradeshow consolidation and partnerships, and building the Karl E. Neupert Endowment Fund past its original $10 million goal.”
Joe Poehling of First Supply, president of the ASA Education Foundation Board of Trustees, feels that Calderon’s insight will be invaluable to the Education Foundation. “With the established endowment fund, the Education Foundation is playing a greater role in serving our members and promoting the industry,” he said. “Inge’s successful history in identifying member needs and guiding ASA through uncharted territory makes her uniquely qualified to lead the Education Foundation as it grows and prospers.”
Paul F. Martin, who has served as the executive vice president of the Education Foundation since 1997, will continue his successful work, under Calderon’s direction, in researching and developing new educational programs to enhance the PHCP/PVF industry.
“I’m very excited about the new role that I’ll be taking on,” said Calderon. “Together, Paul and I will work with the Foundation staff to quickly expand our menu of training materials, get many more of our members actively involved, and promote the value that training and education bring to every company.”
The ASA Executive Committee, acting on behalf of the full ASA Board, has appointed a Search Committee to recruit and hire a new executive vice president for ASA. It has retained the professional recruiting firm of Tryon-Heideman to assist in identifying new candidates. The search is estimated to be completed by the end of the summer with a new executive vice president in place before ASA’s Annual Convention in late October.
“We are excited about the new opportunities that these changes present to us,” said Becker. “Even though we are sorry to see Inge step down, we are fortunate to have her lead the Education Foundation. Overall, we see a bright future for ASA with a new leader who will help us meet the evolving needs of our members and the industry.”
Ferguson has opened three new showrooms and expanded another. The new showrooms are:
- The 7,000-square-foot Ocala, Fla., showroom, opened in April, is located at 3501 SW 13th Street
- The 6,700-square-foot Naples, Fla., showroom, also opened in April, is located at 3406 Domestic Avenue
- The 11,000-square-foot El Paso, Texas, showroom opened in May and is located at 820 Sunland Park Drive.
Ferguson broadened its product offering earlier this month by adding a new appliance gallery to its existing showroom location in Charlotte, N.C. The 5,000-square-foot addition, located at 2000 South Boulevard, allows customers to choose from an endless selection of high-end appliance products.
Ferguson’s showrooms are designed with plumbers, builders, remodelers and designers in mind and offer an extensive selection of appliances, lighting and plumbing from today’s most recognized manufacturers. The quality products and selection in the showrooms are complemented by highly trained consultants available to help customers create a personalized, custom look in their homes.
First Supply breaks ground on new facility
On April 10, First Supply broke ground for its new wholesale plumbing supply distribution facility in the Platteville Industrial Park. This brand-new, 10,500-square-foot building will provide increased convenience and service for local contractors and communities. Initially, three full-time employees will call the facility home when it is completed in late June 2007. This will be First Supply’s 24th facility.
“This new facility will dramatically improve our ability to provide superior access and service to our customers in southwestern Wisconsin, northeastern Iowa and northwestern Illinois,” said Dave Prahler, vice president of First Supply LLC. “We’re a family owned and operated company and have been in business since 1897. We’re excited about the opportunities provided by the city of Platteville and the surrounding communities.”
HARDI, York break new ground to promote effective distribution
The Heating, Airconditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International added its first Integrated Wholesaler members to its current membership of more than 450 hvacr distributor companies. Johnson Control’s York Unitary Products Group, a long time manufacturer member of HARDI, became the industry’s first equipment manufacturer to formally recognize its factory branch operations as legitimate wholesale distributor businesses by making them HARDI’s first Integrated Wholesaler members.
The Integrated Wholesaler membership category was created by HARDI more than two years ago as a means to include the industry’s factory-owned distribution operations in the distributor community with access to distribution’s best practices, education, benchmarking data and idea exchange.
York factory branches have existed for decades and have evolved into multi-line, full-service distributor operations faced with the same tight margins, personnel and logistics challenges and channel relation dynamics as the traditional HARDI independent distributor member. However, unlike many HARDI members, York branch managers and branch personnel often come from manufacturing backgrounds rather than having grown up in the family’s wholesale distribution business, so the Unitary Products Group has reached out to HARDI to tap into decades of distribution experience.
This groundbreaking measure was initiated by the manager of York’s flagship Philadelphia branch, David Delancett, and led by the top leadership of the Unitary Products Group: vice president of sales and marketing Matt Peterson and vice president and general manager of the Unitary Products Group Tom Huntington, whose career started in the wholesale distribution business.
The Unitary Products Group has demonstrated an unprecedented commitment to sound, effective and profitable distribution by having its branches become the first Integrated Wholesaler members of the industry’s only wholesale distribution trade association.
York, with long-standing partnerships with several of HARDI’s most staunch supporters such as CFM Distributors Inc. in Kansas City, Mo., Johnson Supply in Houston, and Empire Gas & Electric Equipment Co. in Denver, has worked closely with strong independent distributors to make this new relationship with HARDI possible. York recently hosted HARDI vice president Talbot Gee at their annual distributor meeting of authorized York distributors and factory branches in Phoenix, where he presented the meeting’s distributor best practices session.
The increased contributions to HARDI’s already-extensive trends and benchmarking data from the new Integrated Wholesalers will now take into account a segment of the wholesale industry that has existed for some time but has never been formally included in any of the industry’s wholesale association reporting.
HARDI’s inaugural Integrated Wholesaler members include the York factory branches in Arizona, California, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Missouri and Canada.
New Larson Co. location to serve as regional sales office
On May 7, the Gustave A. Larson Company opened its newest store location at 6736 W. Washington Street in West Allis, Wis. This new facility replaces the New Berlin store and will serve as the Great Lakes Regional Sales Office. In addition to a 5,800-square-foot self-service showroom with working product displays, customers will have access to design engineers, hydronics support, service advisors, account representatives, sales consultants and sales management.
Continuing its commitment to education, the West Allis location will be home to the Milwaukee area’s second Larson Learning Center, a state-of-the-art training facility. Increased stocking levels of parts and equipment as well as “Will Call Express” for fast in and out service will make this the flagship store for the Larson Company.
To serve customers in the western suburbs, an additional Will Call Express location opened on May 7 at the Larson Company’s corporate distribution center at W233 N2869 Roundy Circle West in Pewaukee. Both West Allis and Pewaukee can be reached by dialing 414/615-2640 or 800/829-1332. Orders can also be faxed to 414/771-6589 or placed on-line at www.galarson.com.
Including its downtown store at 1215 West St. Paul Avenue (414/273-1838), the Larson Company now has three locations in the greater Milwaukee metropolitan area for the ultimate in customer service with convenient pick-up sites, a delivery fleet and crane service.
An industry leader in wholesale distribution of refrigeration, heating and air conditioning equipment and supplies, the Gustave A. Larson Company was founded in 1936. It now has 43 locations serving 14 states. State-of-the-art information systems and company-owned distribution link all locations with the corporate office in Pewaukee, Wis.
Little Giant Pump Company, a leading provider of commercial and consumer water transfer solutions, has been renamed Franklin Electric-Water Transfer Systems. The name change occurs in connection with the Little Giant Pump Company’s acquisition by Franklin Electric Co. Inc. in April 2006. Due to its well-established brand equity, the Little Giant® brand name will continue to be the lead brand for all Water Transfer Systems product lines.
R. Scott Trumbull, chairman and CEO of Franklin Electric, made this business identity announcement. Franklin Electric, headquartered in Bluffton, Ind., is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of submersible electric motors and a global supplier of water pumping systems and fuel pumping systems. The Franklin Electric-Water Transfer Systems business unit will be based out of the former company headquarters in Oklahoma City.
“The acquisition of Little Giant Pump Company in 2006 solidified Franklin Electric’s position as a leading global supplier of water pumping systems for residential and commercial markets,” said Trumbull. “Little Giant’s product lines -- sump, sewage, effluent, condensate, and industrial submersible pumps -- complement and broaden Franklin Electric’s overall water systems offering and allows us to greatly extend our customer base.”
For information, call 800/701-7894 or visit www.LittleGiantPump.com.
NTI announces urgent, mandatory recall on select Trinity boilers
NY Thermal Inc. (NTI) is recalling select models of its Trinity Gas-Fired Hot Water Boilers due to potential risk that a condensate fitting in the boiler may prematurely deteriorate, causing a leak and presenting a risk of carbon monoxide exposure to consumers.
This urgent and mandatory safety recall affects only Trinity “Ti” models manufactured between November 28, 2005, and January 8, 2007, or those models with a serial number greater than 16,000. The manufactured date is located on the white quality control sticker on the back of the cover.
“Although not all models manufactured within these dates will develop the fitting failure, we cannot accurately predict the occurrence of the anomaly. As a result, the condensate fitting must be replaced immediately on all models that may potentially be affected,” said Kevin Dennison, president of NTI. “Our first and most important principle is total homeowner safety, and we are working hard with our distributors and installers to quickly complete this important safety recall.”
NTI will provide free upgrade kits for all affected units as well as reimbursement for the upgrade work. Upgrade kits are available at the company from which the boiler unit was purchased, or by calling NTI at 800/688-2575.
Individuals who are unsure if a unit falls between the specified dates are asked to contact NTI and provide the serial number displayed on the silver decal on the outer casing of the boiler (Example: 06T-16001).
Typically all serial numbers greater than 16,000 are included in the recall.
For additional information about the recall, call NTI at 800/688-2575 or visit www.nythermal.com/safety.htm.
Prier Products acquires Mansfield Brass Division
Prier Products Inc. closed on its purchase of Mansfield’s Brass Division on March 27. This is an excellent opportunity for Prier Products, as well as for Prier’s customers.
For Prier, the purchase fits nicely, since a significant portion of Prier’s existing business is the wall hydrant category. Prier is adding Mansfield’s Frostproof hydrants, plumbing brass, brass ballcocks and valve business to their already extensive offering of wall hydrants, angle sill faucets, drainage products and gas log lighter equipment.
The additional product lines are now available through Prier to previous Mansfield customers, as well as to existing Prier customers.
Theis Co. acquired by First Supply
First Supply LLC has acquired the assets of H.W. Theis Co. Inc. With the addition of Theis’ three locations in Brookfield, Burlington and Oshkosh, Wis., the First Supply family of locations grows to 23.
H.W. Theis Co. Inc., also a Wisconsin-based family owned plumbing distribution company, has been in business for more than 80 years. Joining with First Supply, celebrating its 110th anniversary this year, ensures its Greater Milwaukee and Fox Valley customers continued years of outstanding service.
Joe Poehling, CEO, and Dick Adix, president, of First Supply, recently met with Theis employees and welcomed them to the First Supply family. Poehling told them, “I am very excited about our future as one company and I am personally looking forward to working with each of you.”
First Supply now offers the Greater Milwaukee area seven convenient locations to better serve its customers. The nearly 3,000-square-foot showroom in Brookfield gives First Supply a Registered Kohler Showroom to serve its Greater Milwaukee-area customers. The Brookfield and Burlington facilities will be under the direction of Kevin Miller, general manager of the Greater Milwaukee-area locations.
The Oshkosh facility will make three locations that will help better serve the Fox Valley and will be under the direction of Ron Cherney, general manager of the Fox Valley locations.
First Supply LLC is a regional wholesale distributor with 23 locations in the Upper Midwest. Founded in 1897, First Supply, employing over 500 people, is a family-owned, single source provider of plumbing, heating, cooling, municipal, waterworks, fluid handling, builder and industrial supplies.
Triangle Tube opens new training center
Triangle Tube, a manufacturer of high-efficiency, stainless steel heating products, is proud to announce the opening of its all-new training facility in Blackwood, N.J.
Equipped with six operational condensing Prestige boilers, the course offers “hands on” training on proper installation practices, system and pump sizing and troubleshooting. After successfully completing the two-day course, all participants receive a two-year parts and labor warranty on all Prestige boilers they install.
For more information, contact Triangle Tube at 856/228-8881 or sales@triangletube.com.