In 1973, Steve Philpott was filling orders in the warehouse of Bearing Belt Chain, the distributorship his father had co-founded many years before. A career in distribution was the furthest thing from his mind: instead, he was looking forward to taking college courses in biotechnology or computers. But those plans came to a screeching halt when his father, Steve Philpott Sr., died of cancer.

The world turned upside down for Steve and his mother, Bernice. "There was little doubt about what I was going to do," Philpott reflects as he sits in his office at the company headquarters located just off the famed Las Vegas Strip. "I felt an obligation to my family and to our employees. So I went from a warehouse counterman to a company president in less than two months. I was only 20 years old."

He made a lot of sacrifices, often sleeping in a recliner in the company offices, doing paperwork late at night, shipping packages and making deliveries. He rarely took a day off. In fact, it wasn't until 24 years later that he took a full week of vacation. "It was important to me that I set a mark on this company that my father founded. It was a goal I set for myself. Everyone, especially my mother and our employees, was counting on me."

His hard work paid off. Today, Bearing Belt Chain Co. has more than $12 million in sales and 40 employees at its six locations. Despite its relatively small size, this company is one of the most technologically advanced firms in the distribution business today.

After his father's death, Philpott was fortunate to have a mentor, Willis Chase, his father's partner and co-founder of the company, who helped him learn the ropes. "Mr. Chase has been like a second father to me," says Philpott. "He flew down here every week, explaining to me how to operate a business and telling me about accounts receivables, billing and everything else about running a company. I couldn't have done it without him."

Today, Chase is active in the daily functions of the company. Along with his daughter, Stephanie, he runs the northern part of Bearing Belt Chain, with three branches in California. The branches are located in and around Marysville, Calif., a strong farming area where Chase and Philpott first set up their business. Philpott runs the other three branches in Nevada, Arizona and Utah, serving the construction and manufacturing industries.

"It helps that we're diversified," Philpott says.

Philpott Sr. had been a salesman in the heavy truck and supply services area and had "dabbled" in power transmission components. He decided to open Bearing Belt Chain after seeing the opportunities in distribution. His business grew and he decided to branch out into the Nevada area, moving his family to Las Vegas.

In Las Vegas, young Steve Philpott began showing his technical expertise and at the tender age of 13, he was building his own racecars, something he's still involved with today. But he soon found a new hobby that would provide him a competitive edge later in life: computers.

Computer technology was actually more than a hobby; it was almost an obsession. Take, for example, Philpott's experience with bulletin boards, the forerunner of today's Internet chat rooms. Users from all over were dialing in to bulletin boards set up by Steve Philpott Jr. At one point, he had 12 different telephone lines coming into his parents' home (Today he has high-speed Internet access in his home.)

"I think the telephone company thought I was a bookie," he says with a laugh.

The telephone company, later knowing he wasn't a bookie, started calling the teenager to ask about technology and data lines. He was already serving as a consultant. (In fact, the phone company still calls Philpott for answers to some technical questions.)

But beneath all these technological changes, Philpott started to realize the power of sharing information. It is something that he is putting to use at his company today.

Philpott set up a video cam at the front counter of his Las Vegas store — not to spy on employees, but to help customers. "We were receiving many telephone calls from customers describing parts they wanted, but [they] didn't know the part number. Now all we do is tell them to log on to our Web site and we hold the product up to the video cam. Customers can tell right away if it is the new part that they need. It makes it a lot easier for the customer." The Web cams are now located in three of the company's six locations. "It's a tool, a business tool," he says.

Philpott is also making it easier for customers to order. They can now order online from the company's new catalog, which contains pricing and product information. He has a sharp, well-organized home page designed by his wife, Susan, that contains valuable information for customers. Philpott also has standardized part numbers for customers and suppliers, making it easier for them to do business and, at the same time, ensuring the right products are delivered at the right time.

His salespeople have personal digital assistants so they can upload and download orders that can be synchronized with the company's computer system. Eventually, Philpott plans on having streaming video so customers can talk over the Internet with front counter salespeople. Chat rooms can be established. And, he points out, it will be possible to have training classes for employees as well as for customers. His hope is to eventually have two-way communications across the Internet. Technology is already paying off and in the past two years, Bearing Belt Chain has sold products to eight or nine countries, largely because of the Internet.

These aren't pipe dreams for Philpott, who says his industry must change to keep up with a more technologically advanced employee population.

"A lot of younger people today have grown up with computers," he says. "We're not going to get good people if we don't do things on the Web. We, as an industry, often stick our heads in the sand and don't attract good, quality people. I devote much time to technology issues because it makes good business sense."

Charlie Monahan, the national sales manager for Gates Rubber Co., says there's little doubt that Philpott has good business sense.

"He's unbelievable," Monahan says of Philpott, noting that Gates and Bearing Belt Chain have been doing business for more than 40 years. "[Steve] isn't just known as the owner of a bearing distributorship. He's become well known as a systems guru. He learned early on what a computer system can do for a company and in turn what it could do for the profitability of the business. He's a great businessman and he's the most technically astute person that I know."

Philpott is so knowledgeable, Monahan says, that he's served two terms on Gates' distributor advisory council. Most recently he has helped Gates roll out its e-commerce platform. "Steve is one of the people who is testing it, debugging it and working with it. We've relied on him for years and he's always come through."

Monahan also points out that Philpott is only too willing to help other distributors with technical problems. "What Steve wants is to make our industry better and he knows he can do that through the use of technology. He can quantify exactly what savings can be achieved through the use of such technology and how it can make a company more productive and operate more efficiently. He's worked with many other distributors, helping them to understand technology. Some of them have even taken the time to visit Steve in Las Vegas."

Helping others is part of Philpott's makeup — it's something he learned from his father. For example, he's involved in a community program in Las Vegas called "Paybac" in which business professionals speak to students in the middle schools, emphasizing the importance of staying in school and getting a good education.

Philpott points out that his success is derived from his employees. "They're the ones that make things happen," he says. Many of his employees have worked at Bearing Belt Chain for more than a decade. His former general manager, Dale Augustin, recently retired after 29 years of service. Ray Gabaldon, a nine-year veteran, succeeded him. Employees are encouraged — and it's tied to their compensation packages — to take factory training courses to keep up with the latest developments in new products. Many of them have attended programs such as the Dodge School of Transmissioneering or the CR Seals and Bearings School. Philpott himself was one of the youngest people ever to attend Dodge Transmission School and has taken product training courses with companies like Fafnir, SKF, CR Seals and IBM Programming.

"Training is critical, absolutely critical, to our growth," he says.

Customers praise his staff's technical abilities.

"We had a major problem some years ago when a new conveyor system wasn't working properly," says a buyer for a major chemical company. "One of Bearing Belt Chain's outside salespeople was literally here 16 hours a day for three straight days making sure the problem was corrected and the system was running properly. But that's the kind of service you expect from this company."

The buyer, who asked that his company not be identified, says that while other suppliers he's worked with over the years haven't lived up to their promises, Bearing Belt Chain certainly has.

"Our maintenance people have told me that whenever there's a technical problem, Bearing Belt Chain responds immediately. And if they can't solve the problem right away, they make sure the manufacturer is there to help. One of the real nice things about this supplier is that they really care about the customer. They're not interested in just selling a bearing or a V-belt. They're interested in solving our problems. I can't say enough good things about them."

He says the standardization of parts numbers has made it easy for him to do business with Bearing Belt Chain, as well. "If I need a part, they can tell me the part number faster than I can get it from my own computer system," he says. "And they can tell me the last time I ordered it. They're very, very customer focused."

That's what has helped Philpott grow his company over the years.

"We've come a long way," he says, "but the best is yet to come."