This Is How We Own It

Leadership can be funny. No really. Jason Ireland is proof that leading with levity – as well as trusting people do their jobs without looking over shoulders – is an effective formula for positive culture in his distribution business.

The 39-year-old president and CEO of Industrial Supply Co. (ISCO) based in Terre Haute, Indiana, oversees a team of about 45 people spread across four locations: two in Indiana, one in Southeast Illinois, and, surprisingly, one in Connecticut, which originated many years ago when a customer asked ISCO to follow and support them out east. Although there’s a lot on his plate after a major company restructuring in 2024, Ireland sets a light tone at work that puts both employees and customers at ease.

“I always try to lead with humor whenever it’s appropriate. “I love ‘The Office’ and Steve Carell – I try to use humor to help people relax,” he said. “That’s ultimately my goal; making everyone feel comfortable . . . of course, I think I’m hilarious,” said the husband and father of four; “but my wife probably doesn’t,” he added, grinning. “But all kidding aside, she has been my biggest supporter throughout my professional career, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without her.”

Less than a year in his current role, Ireland is nonetheless a company lifer who started in high school sweeping floors and cutting box tops. He studied business administration as an undergraduate and then earned an MBA, and added, “I’ve always had the mindset that I was going to be here at Industrial Supply and running the company. So I’ve tailored my schooling and my learning as a way to try and be the best I can be here.” In and after college, he eventually worked in every department in the business, which he says immersed him in essential lessons even higher education couldn’t deliver.

“I’ve literally held every single role in the company you can imagine, so I’m very aware of how each department is relying on the others,” he said. “As a result, I strongly encourage interdepartmental conversations, I think it’s critical. I’m all about communication and about trust. And of course humor is a big part of it, too.”

TIME FOR A CHANGE

The formerly family-owned, 110-year-old company went through a complete restructuring to become an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) in 2024; as part of the transition, former ISCO President Don Ireland retired in July, Jason Ireland was appointed president and CEO, and Jason’s brother, Tristan, was promoted to vice president.

Without a doubt, the ESOP endeavor was rife with challenges. The legal requirements of the transaction can be complex and stressful under the best of circumstances, but throw in the loss of an accounting manager, followed by a replacement who didn’t stick, and ISCO was mired more than most in the obligatory paperwork bog. The company finally hired a solid professional for their accounting vacancy, and they’ve emerged from the process a stronger, more unified team, Ireland says.

“I have to say, our HR manager, Mary Webster, was a huge help during all the craziness,” he said. “I work with her every day on all aspects of the business, especially the ESOP.”

ISCO’s prior ownership structure had a distinct twist – the company had 52 stockholders and about 35 minority owners, with less that 200 shares in total. Its board of directors (and the majority stockholders) was comprised of Don Ireland, former vice president, Jack Simpson, as well as two of Don’s brothers and one cousin. Over many years, inherited legacy stock dispersed throughout the generations added to the ESOP challenges, making it difficult to get stockholder feedback and the necessary votes and signatures for the sale.

“A lot of them are aging, and it was quite a process,” Ireland recalled. “We had some who had to go to their local library just to be able to access a computer. It was a really difficult time to try and get a hold of people. And some stocks were held in trusts, which complicated things.

“Despite the problems, ultimately the board wanted to preserve the legacy of Industrial Supply and to keep supporting all the people here, including myself, my brother, and all of our management team. They felt the ESOP was the best solution to get a fair market value.”

The effect of employee ownership on the people and culture of ISCO has been clearly visible, with a fresh air of excitement and positive attitudes at every level. The change even brought about unity where there had previously been separation.

“The crew in our Terre Haute warehouse was unionized, so this presented an opportunity for them to be part of the company and the ESOP if they wanted to,” said Ireland. “They had to make a choice: either join the ESOP or remain in the union. And they actually voted unanimously to come over and be part of the ESOP. It’s an exciting thing for us to have everybody on the same Industrial Supply team. There had always been a little bit of a disconnect in terms of them having a different structure for time off and things like that, but now we’re all under the same umbrella, and I feel very motivated by everyone’s excitement about this.”

OWN IT!

To help reinforce the new company vibe, Ireland swiped and harnessed a mantra from AD, the buyer group to which ISCO has belonged for many years – and the distributor’s team has fully accepted it as their new company mindset.

“AD had a theme called “Own It” for one of their national meetings, and I adopted it as my own attitude,” said Ireland. “It’s been a mantra of mine for a long time, and it seemed like a good and timely fit here, now that we’re all owners – it carries that sense of personal responsibility with it. So, we’ve got “Own It” posters up around our offices and even out in the parking lot. We’re keeping the mantra in front of us and it’s great to see everyone embracing it.”

Actually, AD has supplied more than a meaningful theme to ISCO, according to Ireland, whose predecessors have been deeply involved as members and volunteers for decades – and he’s following in their footsteps because he too see the value of the community. In terms of benefits he takes from his AD engagement, Ireland won’t deny the financial aspect associated with the organization, but he chiefly emphasizes the priceless connections that come with membership.

“For most people, the first thing that comes to mind about AD is rebates,” he said. “So I’ll get that right out on the table: Yes, the rebates are great – that’s a great perk part of AD. But honestly, I think the biggest return that we get is with our relationships that we build. You wouldn’t believe the number of people who reached out to me when I was promoted to president/CEO here. I got letters in the mail, I got books sent to me, I got phone calls and messages from all over the country. Having that network and friends in the industry who I can call and rely on, that is just second to none.

“I know so many distributors I can call out of the blue and just say, ‘Hey, what do you think about this?’ And they’ll give me an honest answer and some good advice.”

Recognizing ISCO’s sales growth within the AD supplier network, their dedication and volunteerism, plus supplier endorsement of this “little guy in the big fight,” as Ireland calls his business, AD named ISCO its 2024 Member of the Year for the Tier 2 company size.

ISCO also belongs to the Industrial Supply Association (ISA), and Ireland remarks the industry benchmarking more than justifies the membership dues, helping to guide his company for growth and market projections he uses to plan for future opportunities.

“We also use ISA because they’ve got more of an open supplier network,” he added. “We look at these companies whenever there’s a supplier opportunity outside of AD. We might identify a competitive advantage in the market for a product mix or product group with brands that aren’t necessarily as well known but would be a benefit for Industrial Supply and our customers.”

The ISA Annual Meeting is always on his radar, and he follows his mentor Jack Simpson’s advice to “plan your work and work your plan,” as a strategy to divide and conquer at a tradeshow.

“We always have an agenda for the things that we want to accomplish, and anytime we can meet with top management of our suppliers is a good thing. But it’s a good idea to walk through the aisles and scan for products we weren’t aware of. We try to be the one-stop shop for everyone, so if we see an opportunity to take on a widget that’s outside of our current product catalog, we are interested and willing to set up a new supplier to make that happen.

“Just remember to wear comfortable shoes,” he added, “because you’ll do a couple of miles walking by the time you’re done.”

SUPERPOWERS

While humor may be Ireland’s default for creating bonds with people, he leans into his analytical skills and problem-solving prowess every day, as well as what he calls his middle-child calm to keep things moving forward.

“I love to problem solve,” he said. “That’s probably my favorite thing to do and what I’m best at, no matter the situation or the department or whatever is going on. I like to take in all the different factors and see what I can contribute to create solutions. And whenever there’s a pressure situation, I tend to be pretty calm – when other people might be frazzled, I take in all the information and formulate a plan or a response.”

Reluctant to talk much about himself, Ireland humbly acknowledges, “I feel like everything Industrial Supply is today has always been a group effort. We rely on each other and on good communication. My mentor, Jack, used to call me into his office and say, ‘Look, you’re doing this wrong.’

“To this day, one of my greatest advisors is our Madison branch manager, Curtis Chatham. We actually started off not liking each other, but it was because we didn’t know each other. We had a breakdown in email communication and were making assumptions, which is easy to do behind a keyboard. It was Jack who finally told me, ‘Hey, pick up the phone, give him a call, and talk to him’ – and that’s all it took.”

NEW AND NEXT

On the technology front, ISCO proactively adopts systems that give the company competitive advantage while providing practical, efficient tools for their people. Ireland credits the expertise of Network Administrator Bart Ping and IT Director Brian Williams, who keep the distributor at the forefront as software platforms and market choices continuously evolve.

“Although I’ve been involved in all our technology decisions, it’s Bart and Brian who have all the knowledge of our systems and keeping us on our game,” said Ireland. “Brian is the past president of our ERP’s user group and he’s still very active in it. So, he gathers all the latest intelligence upfront and makes recommendations about what we should bolt onto our ERP that will support our sales reps. And then Bart is the guy who puts it in place. I’m lucky to have these two people who I can rely on to keep us informed and ahead of the curve.

“Besides our internal resources, going to AD and talking to our networks there is something else I lean on.

I’m always writing down things that people are using and having success with. That’s how I find out about opportunities for technology and what’s working well.”

On the daily frontline, the greatest tool ISCO’s sales team employs – in the history of the company – is their CRM, a bolt-on to their ERP that provides real-time data at their fingertips.

“They can run reports, and it will show them, ‘Hey, this item was purchased by this customer four times last year, but they haven’t bought it once this year. Maybe I need to mention it.’ And they can do it all on their cell phones,” Ireland said. “They can send emails and quotes from it – it’s ultimately the best tool we’ve ever used in the sales field. The only down side of this technology is that it’s hard to get away from when you’re on vacation.”

ISCO is also on the cusp of rolling out a new quote management system in the first quarter. The investment will keep open quotes from slipping through the cracks, says Ireland, and giving reps greater success in converting quotes to orders. “I think it will help us make sure our customers have what they need when they need it. It’ll also keep us aware of any opportunity that’s still in the works, even those that aren’t necessarily the customer’s highest priority.”

Building on its strengths and nimble ability to respond to customer needs, ISCO has a bright outlook for the year. Offering a deep product mix as well as MRO and reliable technical services, the company wields its tech tools to expand wallet-share with existing customers while aggressively harnessing its “great hunters” in its salesforce to widen the breadth of its customer base, says Ireland.

“We’re also looking at doing business with the government and using the GSA website,” he added. “Anything with the government is never easy, so getting that figured out has been tough. But we’ve been partnering with Supply Force, which used to be a product of AD – it’s a negotiating group that utilizes independent distribution around the country to support national contracts. So when a national contract goes through Supply Force, Industrial Supply is contacted to serve a local location for that customer. It’s been a good fit for us and we’ll continue to focus on that.”

Ireland expects a 3% to 5% sales increase over 2024, even while facing hurdles such as replacing a lost customer as well as some key staff who will be retiring. Hardly taking a breath after the consuming ESOP project, Ireland also has a 110-anniversary celebration to plan later this year. But the young executive says he’s energized and hungry to grow the business while it’s on his watch. “We’ll be looking for growth opportunities and different ways to approach it,” he said. “Solidifying our management team will be a big thing in the next two years for us – we’ve got a couple of big shoes to fill. Having that in place will help us continue on with our growth strategy. We have amazing loyalty within our team and they want to be part of Industrial Supply. They want to be the little guy in the big fight. They want to win business. And honestly, that attitude is everything.”