Third-generation success

By Staff -- Industrial Distribution, 1/1/2001

It's common knowledge that the success rate of family-owned businesses typically goes down as each new generation takes the reins. Not at Penfield, Pa.-based Georgino Industrial Supply, Inc. This distributor of abrasives, cutting tools, fluid power products and power transmission equipment is going strong as a third-generation, family-owned business.

According to the company's general manager, Ron Hetrick, it's all about adapting to new economic climates and business trends. In the 1930s, for example, the first generation ran a grocery store that also carried mining supplies and dynamite for the local mining industry. In the 1950s, the second generation expanded into mill supplies. By the mid-1980s mining began to subside, so the company's focus shifted to general line industrial supplies. In 1997, the company was restructured when the third generation took over and brought it to where it is today.

Since then, Georgino Industrial Supply has experienced 15 percent average annual growth, attributable to specialization, service and a team of 18 employees who keep the customers coming back for more, says Hetrick. For those employees, the distributor offers competitive wages, a 401(k) plan, full health coverage, tuition reimbursement and training.

"We invest heavily in continuous product training for our inside and outside sales staff and training for our office personnel," he says. "That's a requirement for all company employees at Georgino Industrial."

One customer who has witnessed the handing of the Georgino Industrial baton to each new generation is Gasbarre Products, Inc. of DuBois, Pa. This manufacturer of powdered compaction presses and accessories has been doing business with the distributor for 27 years-a relationship that started with a handshake between the founders of both companies.

"Georgino Industrial has gone above and beyond just being a business partner," says Sam Moore, plant manager. "They do everything from extending warranties to delivering after hours to backing up everything they do with a high level of expertise and knowledge."

But again, it's all about adaptation and the year 2000 brought several changes for Georgino Industrial, including an agreement with Prophet 21 to overhaul the distributor's Web site in anticipation of the Internet's larger role in its business. In the near future, says Hetrick, customers will be ordering online, accessing pertinent information and utilizing customized catalogs. That customer base includes press builders, machine shops, sintered steel parts producers, paper mills, coal mines and the glass industry in north central Pennsylvania.

Georgino Industrial also made two strategic acquisitions in 2000 (Harris Pump & Supply of Pittsburgh and T & L Supply of Wheeling, W.Va.) and added a branch in Sharon, Pa. As a result, this distributorship expects continued growth for 2001.

Fresh out of the acquisition process and ready to tackle a new market with its branch location, Hetrick calls Georgino Industrial's future "very bright" and exciting. "We're moving into the new market areas of western Pennsylvania and West Virginia," says Hetrick. "It will take a lot of work, but we welcome the challenge."