Gilbert Richards, Founder  |
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Mr. Richards - "Gil" to friends - has derived a huge amount of pleasure from his years in the valve business. Not that you'd ever have to ask. His enjoyment is immediately evident from the relaxed and open way he discusses the valve market, its technologies, and, most importantly, the people who work in it. In fact, given the amount of satisfaction he has derived from his career, it is a surprise to discover he entered the valve business quite by chance. In 1954, Mr. Richards started as a salesman for OPW Corporation who, a year later, bought a small valve company called Jordan Valve. Mr. Richards was appointed General Manager. |
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| Starting out with just six employees, Mr. Richards successfully improved Jordan's product quality and built up a distribution organization, so that by 1958 Jordan was turning a profit. In 1961, Mr. Richards was given the opportunity to acquire Jordan in a management buy-out which he took, and changed the name to Richards Industries. The following years brought plenty of further highlights. While Jordan Valve remains the principal line, other products such as Marwin Valve, Bestobell Steam Traps and Hex Valve have been introduced. In September of 2007, Gilbert Richards sold Richards Industries in a management buy-out to Bruce Broxterman, president, Jason Cooper, CFO, and Charles Page, V.P. Customer Service. |
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