Ashley Martin and Katie Poehling first crossed paths at a University of Notre Dame college football game in 2004. Martin was there with her father, Rex Martin, the owner of Elkhart, Ind.-based valves, fittings, PEX and industrial plastics manufacturer NIBCO.

The Meridian, Miss.-based company was founded by A.B. “Ben” Weddington as the area’s distributor of saw mills on wheels. He employed 35 machinists at the height of the business.

Mid-City Supply’s annual Holiday Hog Roast at each of its branches collected toys for the Toys for Tots organization and personal-care items (shampoo, toothpaste, toilet paper, etc.) for the Salvation Army. Customers and vendors also were treated to lunch.

In my report on the recent winter PVF Roundtable meeting in Houston, Supply House Times columnist and ASA Industry Analyst Morrie Beschloss used the signature sign-on line from World War II-era radio commentator Gabriel Heatter to describe the outlook for the industrial PVF industry.

WinWholesale recently opened Tulsa (Okla.) Winair to provide heating, ventilation and air-conditioning equipment and supplies to contractors in a 50-mile radius of the Tulsa metropolitan area.

Acquisition expands MSC Holdings’ footprint into Colorado.

Value is a much revered concept that is touted by executives but seldom measured. 

In this high-tech, hustle-and-bustle day and age, a phone call to businesses in many walks of life likely will include dealing with some form of nonhuman interaction.

There appears to be a prevailing preference among wholesale supply houses to favor the generating of additional sales, yet unnecessarily sacrifice a conservative approach to credit and the education of the credit and sales staff. An effort to implement conservative credit measures and educate the staff will be worthwhile in reducing uncollectible receivables.

One of my three beagle dogs recently lost a portion of her ear after an attack by a neighborhood dog. Fenway (my wife’s a huge Red Sox fan; we had another beagle named Boston) had to undergo emergency surgery to save/reconstruct the ear.