Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
CEOs you should know here from local leaders in the community.
Made possible by Witcomb and Hesse CPAs and financial advisors.
Our guests this morning in studio, we are excited to
learn about MHS Industrial Supply in Mansfield. We have their
president with us, that is Jeff Downs. Jeff, good morning,
(00:21):
thanks for coming in today.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Good morning, Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
All right, terrific, You're very welcome. Now, I know I've
talked with your mom in the past, so we're gonna
talk about your company. So let's kind of I always
kind of start this program the same way if somebody's
not from the area, they just move to town and
they don't know about MHS Industrial Supply in Mansfield. Kind
of tell us what you guys do.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Yep. So we're a family owned and operated distributor of
industrial supplies. For those that aren't familiar with what that means,
that means we basically provide all of the products and
services that help manufacturers keep going, keep moving forward in
the north central Ohio area. So that could be anything
from which means maintenance, repair and operations, so sandpaper, nuts
(01:05):
and bolts, paint, cutting tools. We sell pallets of salt
and ice, melter in the winter. We sell pallets of
water in the summer, but really anything that these manufacturers
need to keep things online, to keep operating and to
keep moving forward, we're there for. We also get into
safety supplies, so anything from hard to hats, safety glasses.
(01:28):
We sell steel toe boots. We have a whole line
of boots, and we have a boot truck that we
bring right out to your facility to let your people
trial in the boots, get fitted, find something comfortable so
that they don't have to spend their time on evenings
and weekends going out and buying new boots. And then
we get into fall protection with harnesses and training on
how to use them, how to make sure they're fitted properly,
(01:50):
what to do if you actually fall, to make sure
that you can safely get back to the ground. And
then finally we do a lot in janitorial supplies, and
that's really starting to pick up for us. A lot
of dispensers, restocking agreements with customers to restock those dispensers
with toilet paper, paper towels, so pan cleaner, et cetera.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
All Right, so you guys provide a lot of love
the boot thing, you know, that's a huge thing. Chatting
this morning and learning all about MHS Industrial Supply in Mansfield.
Their president kind of enough to be in studio with
us this morning. Jeff Downs, Now, I say you're located
in Mansfield. Where exactly are you guys at in town?
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Yeah, we're out by the airport in the industrial park
at seventy Sawyer Parkway.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
All right, terrific. Now, while we're learning about your company,
I know it's been around for quite a while. Could
you tell us how far back when did you guys
get started? A little bit of history.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Yeah, so the company started in nineteen forty. Mister Underhill
was the founder of the company. My grandfather went to
work there as a sales rep when he returned from
World War Two. He worked there until the eighties. My
parents joined, both Mom and Dad at some point in
the seventies, and they took over leadership and ownership of
(03:05):
the company and have carried it through until a couple
of months ago when my mom retired. My brother Brad
joined in the early twenty tens and he's been with
the company. He has a lot of experience in the
industrial supply space. A lot of people locally probably remember
the company being called Mansfield Hardware and Supply Company. About
(03:26):
fifteen years ago, we changed the name to MHS Industrial
Supply to really highlight better what we do. Know we're
not a hardware store like you would go to a
Lows or a home depot. We really specialize and focus
in the industrial area, so we changed that name to
align better with what we do. But we're really proud
(03:47):
of how far we've come. We're celebrating our eighty five
year anniversary this year. We're also celebrating the transition, the
full transition to the third generation of family ownership with
my brother Brad, myself and my wife Ashley. Really excited
about that.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
All right, and we'll learn more about your family now. Now,
how long have you been in your current role as president?
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Two months in eleven days, all right.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
So for you, I'm sure you know you mentioned your mom,
I had been in your dad as well grandfather in
the business, so you've known about it. But could we
get a little background for you and in terms of
where you've worked prior to coming on board?
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Yeah, absolutely, since graduating college. I spent my career up
until this point in software, so I spent first ten
years out of college doing software testing for a company
called Lexus Nexus. After that, I went and I've been
with a software startup and helping grow that organization for
the last twelve years. And I've been on the sales
(04:48):
side of that company. So we grew from really small
software technology company through multiple acquisitions, and so I've never
really considered joining the family business. It's always been my
brother Brad's thing that he's been pursuing. But a lot
of things kind of came together over the last year,
(05:08):
with me getting to a point in my career where
I was ready to step back and kind of reevaluate
what I wanted to do, to my brother Brad, who
had been starting to step into the role of running
the business, and really you know, doing some reflection and
realizing that what he loves to do is to be
out on the road interacting with customers, kind of being
(05:30):
the face of the company that way, and then Mom
finally being ready to retire. So I think the combination
of all of those things coming together at once is
what led myself and my wife Ashley to this point.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
All right, So for you, I'm sure excited, but learning
on the fly, as they would say.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Right, absolutely, learning on the fly.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
I got my first pair of steel toe boots about
two months ago, so you know, I've been doing a
lot of customer visits and really just trying to understand
and you know, I'm going from this world of digital
things where they're difficult to touch and feel with software,
and now we're into the world of physical things where
we're manufacturing steel and taking that steel and turning it
(06:13):
into products that we all use day in and day out.
And it's been very interesting for me to just kind
of see how all of these companies fit together and
you see the supply chain first hand.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Yeah, terrific conversation this morning we are learning on CEOs.
You should know about a great local company in Mansfield,
m HS Industrial Supply. We have their president with us
in studio, Jeff Downs. All right, so we've talked about
products and what you guys do. I call it the reach.
You know, how far do you guys send stuff for
(06:45):
your based in Mansfield? Give us a little little radius
for you guys.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Yeah, we go about forty miles from Mansfield, so Norwalk
to Ashland, Mount Vernon to Marion. If you kind of
drew that circle is basically where we end up on
any given week, we've got a sales rep in one
of those towns one day, We've got a delivery driver
in one of those towns another day, and so we're
really making sure that we're out there and interacting with
(07:12):
our customers on a personal level.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
All right, awesome, Now, roughly how many staff members do
you guys have at the company right now?
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Yeah, we've got eleven right now.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
You guys are always looking for the right people to
join the company. So if somebody was interested that they
could reach out.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Yeah, absolutely, you can get our contact information on the website.
We'll share that here at the end of the show.
But you know, like a lot of companies, we're always
looking for good people, especially for us inside sales, customer service,
inventory management, those types of skill sets we're very interested in.
But we also hire summer help in the warehouse when
(07:47):
we need it. We've done a lot of promoting from
within over the last couple of years and moving people
from the warehouse into the sales office or from the
warehouse into the purchasing office. And so you know, getting
in the ware house is a good opportunity to get
your foot in the door and then be able to
evolve into other jobs. But at the end of the day,
we're a small business. We've got eleven people, and so
(08:09):
everyone in the company wears a lot of hats day
in and day out.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
Great to hear about your company. Jeff Down's with us,
president of MHS Industrial Supply in Mansfield are featured CEO
you should know this week. All right, So let's step
away from your company and let's find out a bit
more about you. If you would, we'd love to know
where were you born.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Let's start there, born and raised in Shelby, Ohio.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
Okay, terrific?
Speaker 2 (08:34):
All right.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Next, I'm assuming a whippet. It's all spot high school.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Yep. We went to Shelby, graduated in ninety nine and
then went to Miami University from there.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Okay, all right, Now, when you went to college, did
you know what you wanted to get in? I know
you mentioned, you know, computers and different things like that software.
Did you know going to college that's what you wanted
to do? I know you eventually are here in a
different line of work, but did you know tell us
about after high school heading off to college. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
I've always been interested in where business and technology come together,
and so when I went to Miami, majored in business,
had a minor in computer science, and so where that
comes together has always been something I've been very interested.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
Well, we learned about how you are now part of
the family business, but I want to learn a little
bit more about you personally. And I heard you say, wife,
don't know any kids or anything, but tell us about
Jeff and the family a little bit.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
Yep, my wife, Ashley and I were celebrating our twenty
year anniversary this summer, so that's pretty exciting. We've got
two boys, and eighth grader and a fifth grader. They
keep us very busy with coaching sports teams and going
to all of their activities, and then personally for all
of us, we've got an RV and we love taking
(09:51):
big trips in the RV and seeing a lot of
the country see international parks. So we've done a multi
week trip each of the last three and that's been
a good time.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Oh awesome, terrific to learn about Jeff Downs. We'll keep
him for just a few more minutes in our featured
CEO you should know this week. He's the president of
MHS Industrial Supply. They are located in Mansfield and Jeff.
As we talk about you guys, this is kind of
where I always love to have people in studio and
I always say, you know, brag about yourselves a little bit.
(10:23):
Tell us about what makes your organization special. I know
you guys are really good at what you do, so
I guess brag about yourself.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Well, yeah, I think there's a couple of themes that
have carried through since nineteen forty when we were founded. One,
the level of service that we provide that we pride
ourselves on. You pick up the phone and you call us,
there's going to be a person that answers the phone.
We have sales reps that are out in the field,
Like I said, they're meeting face to face with customers.
(10:53):
We've got a delivery driver that's out, you know, building
personal relationships with the people that we serve. We have
a lot of knowledge on the staff as well, So
if you have trouble figuring out what this part is
that you need to replace, you can give us a call,
you can stop in and we can help you figure
(11:13):
that out. So we do a lot to really partner
with our customers and their success is our success, and
that means a lot to us. But the other thing
is our involvement in the community. Going all the way
back to mister Underhill founding the company in nineteen forty,
he was involved in the community. My mom is very
involved in the community with organizations like the Shelby Foundation,
(11:36):
Buckeye Imagination Museum. She's a executive director of the Regional
Manufacturing Coalition. My brother Brad's been on the United Wayboard.
He's part of the Richland County Development Group for Young
business Leaders. There's just a lot of involvement in the community.
So not only do we really care about the success
of our customers and their businesses, but we want to
(11:58):
see our communities thrive.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Awesome to hear about your company, now, Jeff, Before I
let you go, we mentioned products services. If somebody was
wanting to join the team, you guys are always looking
for for the right fit, the great person. How did
they get in contact with you? Guys? How can they
reach out to MHS Industrial Supply phone number, website? Could
you share some contact info?
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Yeah, our website is mhsindustrial dot com. You can give
us a call at four one nine five two two
two nine one one.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
All right, Now, did I miss anything in the conversation
this morning that we want to share. Do we miss
anything about the company?
Speaker 2 (12:34):
I think you covered it all, he said. If I
come back in a couple of years with a little
more experience, then we'll have more to talk about. But
this is a good conversation.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Thanks for having me, absolutely, And as I mentioned, I
know you're excited to get going here. So for you
the next weeks of months ahead or you know, I'm
sure you're looking forward to it.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Right, Yeah, absolutely, continuing to meet customers, get out and
just understand what they do a little better. We'll help
make sure that we're guiding the company and the direction
moving forward.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
All right, terrific our CEO you should know. Today we
are featuring Jeff Down's, president of MHS Industrial Supply in
Man's Footer. Was great to meet you and chat with you.
We wish you'd continued success. Thanks for being with us,
Thanks for having me. The CEO you should know shares
the background and vision of area leaders. Hi, I'm Aaron Bates,
(13:21):
CEO of wickhaman Hess CPAs and Financial Advisors, helping you plan,
grow and thrive in your business and in life. We
are excited to highlight dynamic CEOs from midd Ohio. Visit
us at whitcomb dot com.