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Profile By Greg Trauthwein When David Turner, 42, started his career in the marine industry 15 years ago with W&O Supply, he was not your typical "marine guy" by any stretch of the imagination. Asked to lunch by com- pany founder Herb Goelz, whom Turner had formed a relationship with in his position as a commercial bank manager, he was at an early career crossroads and was unsure of his future course. "Banks are big, and it's hard to have a tangible impact every day," Turner said. "Herb asked me if I wanted to move to Mobile and run a branch, and I asked two ques- tions: 'What does a branch manager do?,' and 'Where is Mobile?'" Upon driving to Mobile to check it out, Turner found a 2,000 sq. ft. ware- house with three employees, and a branch that generated $80,000 a month and was losing money. He accepted the job - the first outside manager ever hired by the company - mainly on faith in Goelz, and he moved to Mobile. Within a year the branch was generating $250,000 a month and was making money. "I trusted Herb," Turner said. While Turner's engineering expertise was scant, his salesmanship, energy and drive compensated as he learned the business. Hailing from Pittsburgh and four generations of steelworkers, he seemingly has melded the blue-collar roots with business savvy to good result. At the time he took over in Mobile, W&O's reputation was less than stellar, and the move initiated a process that changed the way in which the company looked at business. In essence, they found, you need a "CEO of each branch;" one person with total responsi- bility, from top down. Today the company has 13 branches across the country, with Turner serving as CEO since 2003. The company has grown from a turnover from $20 million to $76 million, and W&O Supply is coming off of 2005 as its best year in the history of the company, with the highest sales volume ever, according to Turner. Growth With 13 branches and a wide range of engineered products and systems, W&O Supply has found success in the often- turbulent marine business. The secret is actually not a secret at all, as the compa- ny is like a well managed stock portfo- lio: diverse enough to smooth wild mar- ket segment swings while reactive enough — and well financed by Dutch- based parent Pon Holdings — to jump on opportunities when they present themselves. A significant step in the ascension of W&O Supply was breaking the mold of simply being — and just as importantly, being perceived as — a supplier of product. The company offers an array of engi- neered products, delivered assembled, tested and ready to install to shipyards that are increasingly pressed to move materials from storage to vessel as quickly as possible. A banner in this transition was the company's acquisition of the automated valve line from Valve Automated Controls (VAC), which has led to sever- al breakthrough contracts. Most recent- ly, W&O and VAC were tapped to sup- ply the automated valves for the eight new National Security Cutters (NSCs) and also seven Offshore Patrol Cutters (OPCs), part of the U.S. Coast Guard's Deepwater recapitalization program. The contract calls for W&O to supply more than 150 automated valves for each of the 15 vessels over several years. Upon touring the Jacksonville ware- house, there is indeed a lot of pipe and valves, but W&O Supply also offers a wide range of engineered products, such as RISE, Sea press and the Asco line of solenoid valve. The Asco line, acquired two years ago nationwide, has been par- ticularly successful, and W&O's sale of the line tripled last year, Turner said. ASCO is a leader in the design and man- ufacturing of solenoid valves. In 1910, ASCO became the first company to develop and manufacture an electrically operated control device known as the solenoid valve. ASCO has served the Navy for over 65 years. ASCO contin- ued its development activity in these product areas and today manufactures products designed to control and moni- tor the flow of air, gas, water, oil and steam. "They owned the market 30 years ago, but as they grew, they focused on other growth areas (other than the marine business)," Turner said. While the company is continually on the prowl for new systems, it relies on products such as the SPACE cast steel valve line as a steady performer. W&O Supply: Stepping Up After Disaster Strikes W&O Supply CEO David Turner was standing in his local deli waiting for a sandwich when he saw television news footage of one of the New Orleans levee breaks the day after Hurricane Katrina, and thoughts immediately turned to the 11 employees of the W&O Supply New Orleans branch. "We have 11 people in New Orleans, and it took us 10 days to find all of them to ensure they were safe," Turner said. "Through all this personal suffering, our employees have somehow managed to stay focused on what customers we did have operational. Within two days of the storm, we had sales people operating remotely with laptops from their locations and shipping products to customers from other W&O locations around the U.S." But this is not a story solely about the seamless continuation of business and the saving of dollars in the face of disaster, rather a glimpse of a company that cares for the human needs of its employees first. The day after the storm, the chairman of Pon (W&O Supply's Dutch owner, a $5 billion privately held com- pany) was on the phone, not asking about our business plan, but to ask about the status of our 11 people, Turner remembered. "He wanted daily updates on the sta- tus our people, not sales figures." While the level of devastation to the entire region grew exponentially, Turner and staff focused on the needs and livelihoods of its 11. Employees across the country donated generously via an employee fund, and corporate matched dollar for dollar contributions made by employees. We knew we had to do something, and we knew we couldn't help everyone (in the region) … so we focused on helping our 11 the best we could, Turner said. Propelling W&O Supply to New Heights 24 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News W&O Supply has had great success with the ASCO line, a designer and manu- facturer of solenoid valves. David Turner MR FEBRUARY2006 #3 (17-24).qxd 2/1/2006 7:35 PM Page 24
