Monthly Archives: April 2017

Consolidation in the Coatings Industry: Where Does This Leave Induron? (Part 2)

By: David Hood, Induron CEO

Consolidation in the Coatings Industry

I am an outdoorsman. I fish, hunt, hike and love the land. When the Cuyahoga river caught fire in Cleveland and the air in Birmingham was yellow, something had to be done. The EPA was established and Congress, abdicating its responsibilities, gave it the authority to make law. The new laws were called regulations. Without comment on the value of these regulations, when a company is required to reformulate a product with sales in the thousands of gallons, it costs more that the same effort spread over tens of thousands of gallons. Larger companies clearly had an advantage with these regulations. The first 90% of “clean up” of the water and air was relatively easy to do. The EPA is still writing regulations trying to eliminate the next 10% of “pollution” without any regard for a cost/benefit analysis. A further advantage to larger companies. Continue reading Consolidation in the Coatings Industry: Where Does This Leave Induron? (Part 2)

Consolidation in the Coatings Industry: Where Did All My Peers Go? (Part 1)

By: David Hood, Induron CEO

where did all my peers go?Where did all my peers go? When I joined the coatings industry in 1969, there were more than 1,100 U.S. paint manufacturers. Industry meetings were big, and I met and got to know a lot of guys and a few women who owned and operated paint companies not too different from Induron. They were all over the U.S. and Canada. Over time, most of their companies were sold to larger companies (the lucky or smart ones), went bankrupt or just dissolved. My guess is that there are no more than 100 coatings manufacturers left in North America large enough to be a factor in any market. Continue reading Consolidation in the Coatings Industry: Where Did All My Peers Go? (Part 1)

Induron Sales Strategy Meeting: Good People with Great Ideas

By: Davies Hood, Induron President

Last week I had the opportunity to host a small group of Induron’s Sales Team at our corporate Headquarters here in Birmingham, AL. What started out as an opportunity for a couple of our sales team members to attend the Sales Bootcamp at Samford University’s Brock School of Business evolved into a two-day meeting complete with product application demonstrations, new Market Presentations (including one by a key customer!), good southern BBQ, a Sales Team Strategy meeting that included a SWOT analysis and a homemade dinner on the back porch of our EVP’s house. I considered the entire meeting a 10 out of 10 in terms of quality of time spent between sales training, hands-on product demonstration, long-term strategy and good ol’ fashioned fun (team building). I wasn’t the only one who thought the meeting was a success and time well spent. Our key customer who presented to the team even asked for some of the Saw’s BBQ Sauce to be included with his next paint shipment! See a few other comments below from some of the attendees:
Continue reading Induron Sales Strategy Meeting: Good People with Great Ideas

Building Business Opportunities Just Like We Did in the Good Old Days

By George Shannon, Induron Sales Representative

I have three sons chasing their dreams in three distinctly different careers. When they were younger, we discussed how they should never give up, never quit and always be ready to adapt to any changes that came their way. Continue reading Building Business Opportunities Just Like We Did in the Good Old Days