Sam Petillo, president of Singer Equities Inc., was recently elected to serve as president of NAHAD, the Association for Hose and Hose Accessories Distribution.
NAHAD is the only trade association dedicated to the hose industry, whose mission is to promote quality, safety, and profitability amongst leading manufacturers and distributors. Petillo assumes the presidency after serving multiple leadership roles with the association, including on the executive committee, the board of directors, and numerous committees.
“I am honored to be a part of NAHAD and to serve as president this year,” said Petillo. “I served on the NAHAD board both as a manufacturer and a distributor, and I feel I bring a unique perspective on the value NAHAD provides related to networking, education, and most importantly, our commitment to hose safety and the Hose Safety Institute.”
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Houston, TX – February 1, 2019 — Bishop Lifting Products completed the acquisition of Woods Logging and Industrial Supply based out of Longview, Washington. Since 1978, Woods Logging has specialized in servicing the logging, marine and construction industries with spooling services, rigging products, wire rope and hydraulic solutions.
“Today’s announcement is continued support of our company-wide goal of geographic and end market diversification,” said Harold King, President of Bishop Lifting. He continued, “Woods Logging has a long history of professional sales and service within the area, making them a great addition to our team.”
Mick White, President of Woods Logging, states, “We’re excited to join the Bishop Lifting and SBP Holdings family of companies and its large national footprint of companies focused on rigging, rubber and fluid power products.”
This growth will allow Bishop Lifting to continue to expand its national footprint to the Pacific Northwest. From on-site inspections to rigging services and wire rope delivery to marine terminals, Woods Logging provides high performance wire rope for cranes, as well as, wire rope and chain slings for the Logging, Maritime and Construction industries.
Bishop Lifting Products, along with Singer Equities and Dakota Fluid Power, are wholly owned subsidiaries of SBP Holdings, headquartered in Houston, TX and through its 86 locations provides industrial rubber, wire rope, rigging, fluid power products and services to a broad range of industrial markets throughout North America. More information can be obtained at www.staging-sbpholdingsmultisite.kinsta.cloud, www.lifting.com, www.singerequities.com, and www.dakotafluidpower.com
Singer Equities, Inc. has acquired Quality Conveyor Solutions, LLC (QCS) headquartered in Roanoke, VA. QCS provides conveyor belt, accessories and field services including installation and mobile maintenance out of their locations in Roanoke, Covington & Richmond, VA, Baltimore, MD, Rocky Mount, NC, and Kingsport, TN. QCS serves multiple markets including aggregate, pulp and paper, power generation and cement.
The business, founded in 2016, will continue operating under the QCS name. Owners Aaron Atwell, Bill Bettridge, Junior Purdue, Doug Stanley and Geoff Emery will continue in their key management roles. Aaron Atwell will be Vice President and General Manager of QCS and merge operations with Virginia Carolina Belting, a division of Singer Equities based in Salem, VA.
Sam Petillo, President of Singer Equities, said “Aaron, Bill and their 37 employees have significantly grown the business in a short period of time. We are excited to add their knowledge base and conveyor service experience to the Singer family.” Aaron Atwell said “Unifying QCS and VCB, combined with Singer’s conveyor services out of RW Connection in Lancaster, PA will make us the strongest belt service company in the mid-Atlantic Region.” Bill Bettridge, VP Mid-Atlantic Region added, “Singer provides us the right cultural fit and support to fuel our expansion in the region and beyond”.
Singer Equities, along with Bishop Lifting Products and Dakota Fluid Power, are wholly owned subsidiaries of SBP Holdings, headquartered in Houston, TX and through its 86 locations provides industrial rubber, wire rope, rigging, fluid power products and services to a broad range of industrial markets throughout North America. More information can be obtained at www.staging-sbpholdingsmultisite.kinsta.cloud and www.singerequities.com.
HOUSTON – (April 2, 2018) — Bishop Lifting has acquired Safeway Sling USA, a sling fabrication company headquartered in Greendale, Wisconsin. Safeway Sling USA is a manufacturer of 100% USA made nylon and polyester lifting slings as well as wire rope slings, chain slings, and tie-down assemblies that meet all WSTDA standards.
Safeway Sling USA, Inc. has a proven record of excellence in designing and fabricating 100% USA made lifting slings for 40 years and has gained recognition as the “Gold Standard” for overhead lifting slings.Harold King, President of Bishop Lifting Products, stated that “we are excited with the addition of Safeway Sling to our family of companies. Safeway Sling has a proven track record in our industry of supplying the highest quality synthetic slings with the highest level of service. They will make a great addition to our team.”
Sue Szymczak, President of Safeway Sling USA, added that “We feel that BLP is the ideal fit to carry on our legacy of excellence.”Along with manufacturing synthetic and metal lifting slings, Safeway provides certifying/recertifying services of overhead lifting assemblies with in-house ASTM E-4 calibrated testing capabilities. Bishop Lifting operates 70 test beds throughout their 21 locations with pull test capacities ranging from 100K-1500K metric tons.Bishop Lifting Products, along with Singer Equities, are wholly owned subsidiaries of SBP Holdings. Bishop Lifting is engaged in the fabrication, distribution and rental of wire rope, sling and rigging products and services. Singer Equities specializes in industrial hose, hydraulic hose, conveyor belt and gasket material fabrication and services.
The combined entity has 61 locations throughout North America with over 1080 employees.More information can be found at www.staging-sbpholdingsmultisite.kinsta.cloud, www.safewaysling.com, and www.lifting.com.
We are pleased to announce the formal creation of our SBP OnGuard™ Foundation which would provide funding to designated associates in the event of a declared natural disaster with contributions and distributions compliant under 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The process would allow all contributions to go to individuals affected without income tax consequences and allow donors to deduct contributions for tax purposes.
In an effort to keep administration expenses to a minimum and meeting all non-profit, non-stock corporation mandates, our company will accrue for funding into the account and in the event of such a declared natural disaster, fund the account and open the Foundation for outside contributions to be made and promptly distributed to those in need.
The outpouring of support for our associates adversely affected by Hurricane Harvey in Houston provided the impetus for this SBP OnGuard™ Foundation.
Thank you very much for the support of those in need.
February 1, 2018 — Singer Equities, Inc. has acquired Smith Industrial Rubber & Plastics Inc. headquartered in Rockford, Illinois. Smith Industrial is a distributor and fabricator of hydraulic hose and fittings, conveyor belting, industrial hose, sheet rubber and die cut parts from plastic and rubber. The business was founded in the 1940s as a division of Smith Oil Corp. who was a dominant distributor of petroleum, rubber products and select automotive parts through most of the 20th century in the Rock River valley. Current owners Scott Greenfield and Tom Rudnicki were originally salesmen for Smith Industrial Rubber. Tom Rudnicki will remain as General Manager and will continue operating under the Smith Industrial Rubber and Plastics name.
“Scott Greenfield, Tom Rudnicki and their team have built a reputable rubber distribution business over the past 30 years and have earned that through their value-add product offerings and dedication to customer service”, stated Sam Petillo, President of Singer Equities. Adding, “We are very excited and proud to have Smith Industrial Rubber & Plastics join the Singer Equities team and expand our geographic footprint into Illinois. The addition of Smith Industrial further diversifies our customer base.” Rudnicki said, “Through this partnership with Singer we maintain our name, identity and business model that enabled Smith’s growth over the past 75 years. We plan to leverage Singer’s strength in the rubber industry to hasten the pace of our growth in the Midwest.”
Singer Equities, along with Bishop Lifting Products, are wholly owned subsidiaries of SBP Holdings. Singer Equities specializes in industrial hose, hydraulic hose, conveyor belt and gasket material fabrication and services. Bishop Lifting is engaged in the fabrication, distribution and rental of wire rope and rigging products and services. The combined entity has 58 locations throughout North America with over 1050 employees. More information can be obtained at www.staging-sbpholdingsmultisite.kinsta.cloud and www.singerequities.com.
Portland, ME: PRC Industrial Supply, headquartered in Portland ME, today announced a deal with ACE Conveyor Services of Belgrade, ME to acquire all of its assets and hire its entire staff effective immediately. The move comes after negotiations between the two companies over the past few months. Vice President and GM of PRC, Kevin Easler, says it was mutual respect that made this deal possible. “As customers across New England are increasingly coming to PRC for their conveyor belt requirements, we realized we needed more help,” he said. “Tom and his crew are hard working and well respected throughout New England. Tom and I both realized by joining forces we could achieve our shared mission for continued long term growth as well as provide long term growth opportunities for our co-workers. ”
Hudson, President and founder of ACE Conveyor Services, was equally pleased with the outcome of the negotiations. “I built my company over the past 20 years from the ground up, and trained many vulcanizing technicians over the years,” he said. “We’ve stayed small, and that has made us nimble and very efficient at what we do, but it has come at the cost of growing to a sustainable level.” As part of the deal, Hudson, who has over 35 years in the industrial rubber business, will help facilitate PRC’s long term growth strategy as well as become a sales and service rep. for PRC. Tom will be reaching out to all of his customers in the coming days to answer any questions they may have.
PRC Industrial Supply, established in 1895 formerly known as Portland Rubber Company, is a sales and service company, specializing in conveyor belt, industrial hose and fluid power components. With 3 locations and 28 employees, the company offers a full range of services including on-site conveyor belt installations, Industrial Hose as well as in-house repairs of hydraulic pumps, motors, valves, and cylinders. PRC Industrial Supply has locations in Portland and Bangor, ME., and Burlington, MA. (dba Stewart Hunt).
PRC Industrial Supply is a wholly owned subsidiary of Singer Equities and SBP Holdings, headquartered in Houston, TX and through its 58 locations provides industrial rubber and wire rope and rigging products and services to a broad range of industrial end markets throughout the United States and Canada.
To: Our Friends, Colleagues, Supplier Partners and Supporters
Of the 225 SBP Holdings employees in the Houston area, 42 were directly impacted; 12 of whom experienced significant damage to their property. Many of these employees and their families were displaced from their homes for several days and personal property / vehicles were destroyed.
The “Go Fund Me” account created for donations to support the SBP Employees Hurricane Harvey relief effort generated a greatly appreciated outpouring of support. The compassion and generosity of our co-workers, supplier partners, industry colleagues, Board members and our AEA Investors equity partners has been tremendous. We are pleased to announce that over $104k was collected. These generous donations made it possible for us to provide assistance to all 42 employees impacted at Bishop Lifting Products, Delta Rigging & Tools and National Hose.
We are creating the SBP Holdings Foundation to continue our path of protecting our teammates in the event of future disasters and extend our outreach to protect our most valued assets.
On behalf of all the employees at SBP Holdings and especially the 42 families that received your donations, we would like to express our heartfelt thank you for your generosity. We continue to appreciate and value your partnership and support!
To: Our Friends, Colleagues, Suppliers and Supporters
Over 6 million people occupy roughly 2200 square miles of Houston and in the recent days we all have felt the wrath of Hurricane Harvey. With over 50” of rainfall in a matter of days the area has seen unprecedented flood levels and a potential overall cost estimated at $160B!
We continue to send our thoughts and prayers to everyone that has been affected by this tragic event. SBP Holdings, parent company of Bishop Lifting Products, Delta Rigging & Tools, National Hose & Accessory, and Morgan City Rentals has several locations within the affected area – the following is an update for our group:
National Hose & Accessory Prior to the storm making land a NHA text group was created to track all employees and their status. Several employees have been displaced and many have realized damage to their homes and vehicles. That said, by utilizing the text group, we were able to confirm that all team members were safe.
– NHA reopened for business on Wednesday, August 30th. In addition to reopening to customers in need, NHA is now working with local officials to utilize our location as a donation drop-off for supplies. We are currently in need of diapers, toys and non-perishable food.
– “I can’t express the pride I have in our team at National Hose! We were fortunate to only have minor damage to our Pasadena location. We are up and operational with employees that have already secured their family, friends, and homes. We stand ready to assist those in need and are very proud of all of our neighbors here on the gulf coast!” – Mike Johnson – NHA GM
– Bishop Lifting Products Prior to the storm BLP management implemented a thorough communication plan including a phone number to call for updates as well as constant updates to the company Facebook page. During the storm, a daily internal email was sent to update employees. We have confirmed that our employees are safe, however, many have water damage to their homes and cars and a few have lost everything.
– The Houston BLP office reopened for business on Thursday, August 31. We are moving production to other locations and BLP locations are working together and utilizing inventory within our groups to minimize impact to our customers. Our goal is to do everything possible to help our customers meet project deadlines.
– “Thank you for your patience as our company returns to normal business. Our thoughts and prayers are with those that have been adversely affected. Our group will be organizing a way to contribute / assist those in need in the near future” – Harold King – President BLP
SBP Holdings has established a dedicated relief fund to support the needs of its employees who have been adversely impacted by Hurricane Harvey and will match all donations made by SBP employees through September 22, 2017.
To make a confidential donation please visit https://www.gofundme.com/sbpblp-employees-flood-relief
Donations made to this initiative will go directly to SBP Holdings personnel affected by the storm. Your donations will help support these employees and their families through the challenges of recovering and rebuilding.
Our team at SBP Holdings appreciates your partnership and support. We will continue to monitor the situation at all our locations and will send out further updates as needed.
Sincerely,
SAN ANTONIO—For SBP Holdings, parent of rubber goods distributor Singer Equities Inc., it was a big deal when it boosted the size of its corporate staff by 33 percent.
That’s right, it went from three employees to four at the start of the year when it appointed Pete Haberbosch to the newly created post of vice president of business development. He will help find potential acquisition targets for Singer and also for Bishop Lifting, SBP Holdings’ other vertical business that focuses on goods and services for rigging and crane applications.
Haberbosch joined the CEO, chief financial officer and a controller as the only corporate employees for SBP—and they all work out of different locations.
But that’s not surprising because SBP and its verticals have stuck to a decentralized business approach as it has grown significantly, aided by 19 acquisitions made since 1999.
For example, the Singer Equities vertical has about 500 employees—roughly the same as Bishop Lifting—and operates from 38 locations that do business under 10 platform companies that have come to Singer through its string of purchases. Its operations boast more than 100 hydraulic crimpers, 642,000 square feet of facility space and hold $39 million worth of inventory, according to the firm’s website.
The Singer businesses serve a wide variety of markets, focusing on goods and services related to hydraulic, industrial, composite and metal hose; heavy and light weight conveyor belting; and rubber and metallic gaskets.
The organizational changes were prompted by the retirement late last year of Otis Dufrene from day-to-day operations, though he will remain active as chairman and a board member. That meant that Don Fritzinger moved up to Dufrene’s role as president and CEO of SBP Holdings, with Sam Petillo taking over Fritzinger’s prior role as Singer Equities president, and Haberbosch moving to his new position.
“We run very decentralized, but we’re in a position where we have this talent we’ve moved in over the years who have been a very quick learn and moved them into areas they can make decisions,” Fritzinger said.
One of Singer Equties’ main areas of business is supplying products and services related to conveyor belting.
Fritzinger, Petillo and Haberbosch spoke about the company, its reorganization and future plans during the recent NAHAD annual convention in San Antonio.
Drawing from manufacturing
Both Petillo and Haberbosch joined Singer Equities after careers on the manufacturing side of business, as have some other Singer Equities recruits in recent years.
Petillo joined in late 2013 after 16 years in manufacturing, first with Saint-Gobain focusing on plastics and silicone, and then 8½ years at Goodyear Engineered Products/Veyance Technologies dealing with industrial and hydraulic hose. Haberbosch was hired about six months later, following 10 years with Gates Corp. and six with Fenner.
Both ran a number of platform businesses within the group before taking on their current positions.
“They were individuals we knew and we felt very comfortable with,” Fritzinger said. “They just happened to be working for manufacturers. It wasn’t that we made a decision to raid the manufacturing ranks. We just wanted the right people.”
Petillo was brought in as a regional manager, but Fritzinger said they knew he wouldn’t be in that slot for long. “We did know that with Sam overseeing three operations and Pete overseeing two, they essentially got to learn the operations and the fiscal management of the business,” Fritzinger said. “That’s the fundamental blocking and tackling that’s necessary.”
Petillo said coming from a manufacturing atmosphere he could see things from a larger view. As the Singer Equities portfolio grew, he said Fritzinger needed somebody to come in from an operations standpoint and make things more efficient.
“We were operating in silos,” Petillo said. “We started benchmarking. We also started sharing some products, technologies and the talent within the organization. That’s why Don brought me in, so I could take that different viewpoint from the manufacturing sector, and bring that to the Singer Group.”
Haberbosch started his career as an engineer in the auto industry, but didn’t enjoy it. So he moved into sales and marketing from there. He noticed that when working for a large manufacturer you often have a team of people you manage on projects. “In distribution, I’ve gotten involved in so many different things—deeper into human resources, and payroll,” he said. “There aren’t a fleet of people to do things for you. So we as general managers at this level, it’s amazing what we get into, and that’s the big difference.”
Petillo added that distribution is far more complex than he expected. It’s not just managing the wide variety of products distributors have to sell, but also the supply chain aspect and relationships with vendors. “With an organization like Singer, it got more complex the more acquisitions we made,” he said. “We added new vendors, we added new sales talent and more inventory to manage in the different supply chains.”
For example, two of its more recent acquisitions—Unisource Manufacturing out of Portland, Ore., and Future Hydraulik Inc. headquartered in Laval, Quebec—both have their own private brand products. “That brought on two different private brands, new supply chain channels and a new channel to market,” Petillo said.
OnGuard™ service
One of Singer’s newer services is the OnGuard™ program, first developed about 1½ years ago for hose management, and launched earlier this year for conveyor belting.
OnGuard™ is about tagging, tracking and testing of hose and conveyor belting, Petillo said. “It’s a cradle-to-grave asset management system,” he said.
The service tracks how long a product has been in the field, but also has automatic alerts set up based on discussions with the end user on how long they want the hose or belt to be in use before it gets tested, re-certified or inspected. That is followed up with an inspection or on-site testing.
Singer provides products and services to the hydraulic and industrial hose industry.
Petillo said on the hose side more than 100 customers are using OnGuard™, with more than 15,000 hoses being tracked. The customers mostly are focused on chemical, oil and gas, and food and beverage applications.
For belting, Singer already is tracking products for at least seven customers since the launch.
Sticking to business model
One thing Haberbosch will concentrate on in his new role is to search for a third vertical business to go along with Singer Equities and Bishop Lifting. One possibility, he said, is hydraulic repair.
In looking for potential acquisition targets, he said they asked the prior owners why they decided to sell to the SBP Holdings vertical. The results were what they hoped to hear: the owners didn’t want to see their brand go away and they wanted to make sure their employees were taken care of. “Several of them wanted to either invest in our team and continue to work, so we gave them that option as well,” Haberbosch said. “Flexibility is what we hear over and over, and most of them still work with us.”
Fritzinger said there are no plans to go away from the decentralized business model. He knows there are arguments to centralize a lot of business aspects, but he said Singer has been able to do some things in terms of purchasing power while still giving the field staff autonomy. In addition, they are using cloud-based, third-party software that gets financial reporting from all the 10 business platforms on the rubber side of the business within four days of the end of the month.
“We’ve built other pieces in place where we have total visibility into each other’s inventory,” Fritzinger said. “So we’ve overcome that where it’s no longer a potential weakness, but we view it as a strength.”
Petillo said while some larger firms spend on a headquarters and high-level management teams, SBP puts the funds into inventory to better service customers. In addition, some of the companies they have acquired come with a legacy of buying from certain vendors. And although they have the option to buy from any vendors within the Singer organization, the platform general managers aren’t forced to use specific suppliers.
And in meetings with suppliers during NAHAD, he said it was clear the suppliers were supportive of Singer, saying “Where you go, we go,” according to Petillo. “That’s not just a geography statement. It shows they’re aligned with our business strategy and they’ll support us through our acquisitions and growth.”
Looking forward, Fritzinger said certain portions of the business have been affected by the downturn in oil and gas, but the firm has diversified its end markets to the point where that sector now accounts for less than 10 percent of business.
He also looks for the mergers and acquisitions market to heat back up, both on the supplier/vendor and distribution sides of the business. Some potential acquisition targets delay selling when business tails off, waiting for valuations to recover.
“We’re in a position where we’re very patient,” Fritzinger said. “It’s something that’s a very emotional decision for someone. When they go to exit their business, we’re very sympathetic to that, and we can’t push that process.”
SAN ANTONIO—For SBP Holdings, parent of rubber goods distributor Singer Equities Inc., it was a big deal when it boosted the size of its corporate staff by 33 percent.
