Sharing the wealth and the work

PRC Industrial Supply, Inc. features monthly bonuses and hands-on managers

By -- Industrial Distribution, 8/1/2000

For the 28 employees at PRC Industrial Supply, Inc., substantial bonuses are tangible rewards for participating in the company's success. Yet unlike the typical firm that holds the cash until year's end, the Portland, Maine-based distributor of hose and conveyor belting shares the wealth once a month.

Dick Hall, the president of the 106-year-old company, says he started the program 13 years ago for employees with at least six months of service because "it was the right thing to do." All employees get the same amount, from vice president to warehouse worker.

Warehouse manager Eric Tebbenhoff agrees that PRC takes good care of its employees. That includes an informal no-layoff policy and promoting 100 percent of the management team from within. Tebbenhoff was hired seven years ago as a temporary employee and his responsibilities have expanded with the company's success.

PRC Industrial's 1999 revenues were about $6.7 million. The average annual salary-not including compensation of the company owners-is $43,000. Other benefits include a 401K plan, profit sharing, maternity and paternity leave, flexible hours, tuition reimbursement, short and long term disability and a subsidized cafeteria.

Julie Hobbs, a 15-year veteran, is the systems administrator and accounts receivables administrator, and she has held several positions at PRC. Hobbs says PRC's top management gets to know employees and accommodates their family responsibilities.

"That's a big thing, that they care about their employees and have a relationship with their employees," Hobbs says.

Todd Sherwood, a belt technician with two years' tenure, says PRC also helps employees kick back once in a while. When vice president Kevin Easler paid the lion's share of a Portland-to-Boston limousine ride for a warehouse staff outing to a Red Sox game this summer, Sherwood was impressed.

"I've worked at a lot of places where they wouldn't even think of doing something like that," Sherwood says.

John Ayer, an inside sales rep in the Bangor branch with five years at PRC, also cites Hall's and Easler's positive, down-to-earth approach. Before the Bangor office opened, Ayer briefly worked on the belt crew. Ayer recalls Easler helping out on a job in the boiler room of a trash plant in Connecticut.

"It was about 110 degrees inside where we were working and Easler was one of the guys in the hopper with me doing belt," Ayer says. "Every other company I've ever worked for, the VP or president is in his office with his feet up on his desk, sipping coffee and wearing a suit and tie."

Outside sales rep Tim Yorks, who has also been with PRC for five years, appreciates the same qualities in Hall and Easler. Yorks remembers calling Hall at 11 p.m. one night to help fix a problem at a paper mill.

"One of the best things we have here is that the owners are willing to dive right in and work with you," York says.