It’s rare to come across a company that has evolved as profitably or organically as Threaded Fasteners, Inc. While it’s tempting to award all the credit to Billy Duren, president and CEO of the Alabama-based manufacturer and distributor, he’d be the first to tell you that the company’s success is wholly due to the creativity of its employee-owners. Jason caught up with Billy to learn more about the organization’s dynamic growth and its legacy of innovation, both of which were made possible by a succession plan that centered around an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).
“Everybody grows up wanting to be in the fastener distribution world,” Billy laughs. “When you’re in the first grade, it’s right up there with astronaut and fireman.” All joking aside, the industry has been very good to Billy, who’s come a long way since he began pushing a broom and sorting nuts and bolts for Threaded in 1980. “Here I am 45 years later, and it’s been an incredible journey.”
Billy’s journey included stints in Threaded’s warehouse, inside sales department, and business development projects before taking over as president in 2007. That was the same year Threaded began its transition from sole proprietorship to ESOP. The company’s founders considered more traditional options, such as an outright sale. But when the team weighed past successes against prospective growth, they determined that an ESOP made the most economic sense. It also ensured that their legacy of creating value for customers and employees alike would remain intact. “They raised us from teenagers,” Billy says. “I worked with them for 25 years, so I know they were proud of us and our success. We owe a lot to them because of the foundation they laid for us to do what we’ve done.”
What Threaded has done is expand thoughtfully and consistently to 19 locations, mainly in the Southeast. The employee-owned company has also reinforced its culture and value proposition. “We wanna be really good at this niche market,” says Billy. “We are not gonna be your cheapest guy. That’s just not who we are. It’s not who we ever wanna be. We wanna be the company that never gets out-hustled.”
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QUOTES
“We often fall into the trap of we wanna be everything to everybody, but that is just the road to nowhere.”
“Even our mission statement is built around the idea that there’s a value proposition out there, and that’s what we wanna meet. We wanna meet the client’s value where they need us, not to be everything to everybody.”
“I love to watch the journey into leadership especially those who come outta sales. It’s one of my favorite things is to watch that development of leaders.”
“For those owners that are thinking about selling their business, you need to think about a strategy and a plan more than an event because it is a planned event for your benefit and also for the benefit of the employees.“
“I will say this for a plug for employee ownership: it is a great model for business owners who are thinking about selling their business.”
“Employee ownership is an incredible dynamic for exit strategy for anyone, particularly for those that are building a great team behind them.”
“My job is not to come up with all the answers. A leadership job is to create an atmosphere, create a culture where those answers can come forward, and that’s the cool part about, I believe, about employee ownership. I believe that we had a great culture before employee ownership.”
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Distribution Talk is produced by The Distribution Team, a consulting services firm dedicated to helping wholesale distribution clients remove barriers to profitability, generate wealth, and achieve personal goals.
This episode was edited by The Creative Impostor Studios
Special thanks to our sponsors for this episode: Profit2, helping distributors charge the right price; and INxSQL Distribution Software, an integrated distribution ERP software designed for the wholesale and distribution industry.
