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Family businesses thrive in the PHCP-PVF supply chain. This is evident not only within the businesses themselves, but throughout the surrounding aspects of the industry. For the second year in a row, the impending American Supply Association (ASA) President will be a child of a previous ASA President. The 2023 ASA President, First Supply’s Katie Poehling-Seymour is a third-generation Poehling family ASA President. Similarly, Patrick Maloney, will take the reigns as a second-generation ASA leader following his father, Don Maloney’s, footsteps who served as ASA President years ago.

Patrick Maloney, president, and his brother, Michael Maloney, executive vice president, represent the fourth generation at Beaumont, Texas-based Coburn Supply Co., which will be celebrating 90 years in 2024. As kids, both Maloney brothers spent summers and fall and winter breaks in the warehouse helping out with the family business.

After graduating from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Patrick Maloney spent three years outside the PHCP-PVF world working in medical sales for Johnson & Johnson. According to Maloney, three years dealing with physicians and doctors was enough. An HVAC sales position at Coburn Supply was available, so he officially joined the family business in 2003. Since that time, Maloney has seen and experienced multiple sides of the distribution business on his journey to becoming the company’s president in 2021.

“During my time in sales I was out on my own in West Texas,” he says. “I realized I wanted to become more hands-on with the business, so I moved to New Orleans and worked in that location for five years.” In New Orleans, Maloney helped start up a Coburn showroom before relocating again to Beaumont, Texas to be a director of sales.

INVOLVED FROM THE START

Being a Maloney is somewhat synonymous with industry involvement. Don Maloney was a founding member of the Embassy Buying Group (now part of Commonwealth Group), and has served ASA well through his career. In fact, at NETWORK 2023 in Orlando, Don Maloney will be one of the recipients of the Fred V. Keenan Lifetime Achievement Award.

Both Patrick and Michael Maloney have served as Chairmen of ASA’s Emerging Leaders division, and their cousin, Christy Maloney, vice president at Coburn Supply, is a former chairwoman of ASA’s Women in Industry division.

According to Patrick Maloney, the third-generation of Coburn leaders — his father, Don, and his uncle A.J. Maloney — who served on the ASA Executive Board for seven years — set a tremendous example for industry involvement from the start. “Both my dad and uncle A.J. believe in the importance of supporting our industry,” he says. “They saw right away the value of building relationships with people outside of your business to learn from and exchange ideas with.”

When it came time for Patrick and Michael Maloney to step into industry volunteer work themselves, the decision was a no-brainer. “We’ve seen the success our predecessors had being engaged, so we know it’s important,” he says. “We’re a part of this industry and a part of the family business; in order to keep on the good path Don and A.J. set for us, we need to stay involved just as they were.”

Patrick Maloney recalls attending his first ASA meeting in 2004 and thinking, “This is a BIG.”

“It was so well organized and put together,” Maloney adds. Soon after his first run-in with ASA at an early 2000s NETWORK event, Patrick and Michael Maloney attended the 2008 ASA Young Executives (now known as Emerging Leaders) conference in Peabody, Memphis.

“Right away I could tell I would forge strong relationships there. It was a smaller group than NETWORK and I was surrounded by people in similar roles to myself, so I could relate to them,” he says.

After attending that event for a couple of years, Maloney was eager to be more involved, so when approached about becoming a member of the Emerging Leaders’ Board, he said yes. “From there, these relationships became friendships,” he says. “You don’t just get to know these people as colleagues, you get to know their families. From early on I knew this industry is full of incredible people and ASA was an essential vehicle to network with them.”

“We’re providing the opportunities for you to create solutions for yourself,” Maloney says. “We need to continue to express those opportunities and resources to the entire industry.”

Maloney explains that Emerging Leaders was invaluable to him earlier on in his career. “At NETOWRK there were certainly valuable breakout sessions, but I wasn’t with my peers and I was still green to the industry,” he says. “At Emerging Leaders, I was surrounded by peers in similar roles where we could discuss challenges we have in common.”

He adds that the group has continued to evolve and is continuously working to diversify. “I’m proud to see how the group has grown. The roundtables at Emerging Leaders are extremely popular,” he says. “And they are working to diversify and encourage rep agencies vendors to send their younger people as well.”

Maloney adds that both the Emerging Leaders and Women in Industry divisions are doing great things for the PHCP-PVF industry. “The more these groups grow and diversify, the better it is for our entire industry,” he says. “When it comes to promoting diversity throughout the supply chain, we’ve got to think outside the box. In both of these divisions you’ll find people with new ideas and perspectives that will only benefit all of us in the long run.”

LEADERSHIP STYLE AND FAMILY BUSINESS

As Maloney takes on leadership roles both at Coburn and ASA, he has a couple of outstanding role models that he’s learned from.

“My brother and I both learned the importance of listening to all sides of an issue or concern from Don and A.J.,” he says. “They each have different leadership styles and strengths, but they always agree that is something is fair for the customer and fair for our employees, it will be good for the business.”

Maloney adds that he’s learned from his dad and uncle as well as from ASA leadership to gather all of the information you can to make an informed decision. “I’ve learned that you don’t have to do everything yourself; there are qualified people around you and you need to let them do their thing,” he says. “Offer support when it’s needed, and never be afraid to ask questions.”

Coburn Supply has grown from a 1934 entrepreneurial endeavor founded by the late Albert J. Coburn with only $1.65 in capital, to a distribution powerhouse of more than 50 locations and 1,000 employees. Still, it is important to the Maloney’s that the family business remain just that — family-oriented.

“We understand that the decisions we make affect people’s lives and futures,” he says. “This is where the lessons on truly listening to people we learned from Don and A.J. come into play. We don’t operate in a vacuum; we want insight from General Managers and other team members to make sure we’re making the best informed decision possible. It isn’t easy and you can’t please everyone, but we try our best.”

Speaking of family, Maloney has got quite the crew himself. A wife and four children — two boys and two girls at 18, 16, 14 and 12-years old. With his kids at such busy ages, Maloney is set up for a more than full plate as he takes on 2024.

“When it comes to work-life balance, I hands-down have to credit my wife for keeping us all on track,” he says. “Without her supporting me none of this would be possible.”

Maloney says that while he has said, “yes” to a lot of responsibility, he’s learning the importance of saying “no.”

“When we meet with vendors, reps and employees, they want to talk directly to my brother and me, which is great,” he says. “But at the same time, I don’t like missing my daughter’s volleyball games, I want to take my kids to school sometimes, I want to golf with my boys, etc. To do those things it requires occasionally saying no to a dinner or event. I’ll constantly be striving for that balance.”

CREATING OPPORTUNITIES, PROVIDING SOLUTIONS

Maloney is passionate about shouting the opportunities this industry has to offer from the rooftops. “PHCP-PVF distributors are vital to the infrastructure of our country,” he says. “But I want people to understand it’s more than delivering pipe and toilets. Whether someone is into logistics, accounting, design or operations, our industry can provide amazing opportunities for them to grow.”

He adds that the opportunities in PHCP-PVF distribution are endless, and it’s our job as an industry to be marketing ourselves better. “At Coburn we’ve been focusing heavily on marketing our business and its opportunities,” he says. “It is core to the success of our business to realize that someone provided an opportunity for A.J. and Don, and they provided an opportunity for the next generation, and so on. It’s our duty to create opportunities for people.”

Maloney says he’s long been impressed with all of ASA’s strategic initiatives — Advocacy, Education, Innovation and Industry Intelligence, and his goal for 2024 is to keep the train on track and amplify the associations reach.

“From our Winter Strategic Planning meeting earlier this year, we’ve got a good plan,” he says. “ASA recognizes that it can’t be everything for everybody, but what it can do is provide education and resources to point anyone who seeks help in the right direction.”

Maloney says he wants to keep amplifying the resources ASA has to offer to the entire industry. “We’re providing the opportunities for you to create solutions for yourself,” he says. “We need to continue to express those opportunities and resources to the entire industry.”

He adds that the entire team as ASA is working to help this industry flourish. “The work they’re doing to recruit new members, rep agencies and vendors to be a part of ASA only makes us more viable,” he says. “While we can’t predict exactly how the next year or two will go, we’re all aware economically things are slowing down. ASA has the tools to provide commodity reports, market insights and research that helps its members make better business decisions, and I’m excited to do my part to get that message out.”