For Maryland-based distributor TIPCO Technologies, 2024 was a year of positive change.
Following a landmark merger to close out the prior year, TIPCO spent ‘24 adding businesses to its already robust footprint.
But what’s more, TIPCO worked to create a culture to coalesce around a strong national brand that supports its network of trusted, local distribution businesses.
TIPCO’s roots go as far back as 1888, but the firm has been owned by the Lyons family since 1983. In late 2023, Platte River Equity got involved in helping facilitate a deal that would bring TIPCO the opportunity to take targeted growth to the next level — and the brand was ready to leverage its talented people and cutting-edge technology across a national footprint.
Merging Leadership
The two leaders initially met as board members of the independent distributor coop IDCO. At the time, HydraTech operated a business – built on eight acquisitions – on a decentralized model. TIPCO did just the opposite, with remote locations all structured under the same sales and commercial messaging.
Marshall and Lyons began to discuss the potential of what they could achieve if they paired HydraTech’s locations in the West with TIPCO’s centralized operating model. According to Marshall, these initial conversations represented the birth of what was to ultimately become the “One TIPCO” mantle that the firm has undertaken to boost the results of the merger — and, so far, the effort has produced some notable rewards.
Growth Areas
Marshall says TIPCO’s co-CEO model “enables us to achieve more,” and the duo has some very targeted goals.
TIPCO is in the process of integrating Profit 21 ERP across North America — “not just every one of our branches on Profit 21, but being completely integrated with one another, which is a heavy lift,” explained Lyons. Following this effort will be a Salesforce.com integration, which touches each part of the company’s commercial business, including data collection, marketing and lead management. This embodies TIPCO “really working vigorously to create ‘what great looks like’ with our sales team,” Lyons said. “I often preach that Salesforce is their full-time assistant.”
Lastly is the e-store, and enhancing “the transactional excellence we strive for,” said Lyons.
“Business is changing by the minute. We have to train our teams on how to play above the rim, and use technology to the best of our abilities in order to achieve transactional excellence with the customers of today.”
Moving forward, AI will also play a role in this. Marshall says its strategic vision is to transform traditional distribution into digital distribution with a focus on the customer. One of the company’s first AI initiatives will revolve around inventory rationalization and forecasting.
And while growth by way of acquisition isn’t called out specifically in the aforementioned three growth tenets – Marshall calls TIPCO’s programmatic M&A strategy “a complement” to its organic growth objectives – there’s proof of its continued standing as a priority: in 2024, TIPCO acquired four companies outright, including Hose of South Texas, Charter Industrial Supply, Hoses2U and Alliance Hose and Fittings — all of which added geographic reach in a comfortable niche for TIPCO in terms of product capabilities.
Culture & Talent Development
After spending many years building TIPCO, Lyons’ decision to share responsibilities was certainly unorthodox — an option that many an executive would dismiss due to protectiveness, or even ego.
That’s not Lyons’ style; in fact, he acknowledges that big decisions are often made on “gut and grit” — pairing the business case with an instinct that only comes with a keen understanding of the current operating environment. Backing that up is the humility required to balance business initiatives with the needs of a valued workforce. Perhaps that’s what makes Lyons so good at tending to TIPCO’s culture.
“We’re very purposeful in how we approach our most important asset — our people,” Lyons said.
He went on to describe how the company looks to create buy-in before making a major move, adding that culture is “something we hold in high regard across the platform.”
And as an active acquirer, it goes both ways.
“Of the many acquisitions we’ve been fortunate enough to bring on, we’ve certainly changed our business because of them, in many cases,” said Lyons. “That’s an asset in its own right.”
According to Marshall, it’s paramount that the company’s 450-plus employees feel part of “the greater whole” — no matter where they are. Doing so engenders the kind of loyalty and satisfaction that allows management to nurture talent from within through personal and professional development tracks for each associate.
“It ends up being a place you can build a career,” explained Marshall, and “a workplace that attracts young talent.”
What Great Looks Like
“When we created the merger, legacy TIPCO wasn’t for sale,” said Lyons. “Brad created that vision and I’m grateful for it, because we’re having a lot of fun creating ‘what great looks like’ across our platform and seeing the ability to embrace change in one another as we build a brand.
“We’re all impacting one another every day, and that’s what ‘One TIPCO’ looks like. It’s been a fun year in ‘24 and I can’t wait to get started in ‘25. And we couldn’t fathom doing it without the team we have around us.”
