Next generation ready to lead Thombert

NEWTON, Iowa—Thombert Inc. is entering a new era as two members of the third generation of the Smith family have moved into top executive posts at the company.

Walt Smith, the son of Thombert co-founder Robert Smith and the majority shareholder of the business, has retired as chairman and CEO, handing the leadership of the company to two of his four children and the firm's long-time president, Dick Davidson.

His daughter, Lara Nicholson, has taken over as chairman of the company, and his son, William, has been named executive vice president. A decision on who will be the next CEO will be made in the future, Smith said.

Davidson, who has served as president of Thombert since 1994 "and has largely been running the company," will continue in that post, according to Smith. "I hired him when he graduated from college in 1977 and he's been with us since then. He's done an exceptional job."

Smith also has placed his majority holdings in Thombert in a trust fund that benefits his four children and continues on to succeeding generations of his family. That gives them a controlling voting interest in the business.

Diverse background

Nicholson, 50 and the mother of three grown children, has held a number of key posts for companies in both the U.S. and England. For the last 17 years she's served as president of EveryWarehouse/eWWS, which focuses on delivering solutions to the telecom, high voltage products and hazmat industries for final consolidation, storage and delivery.

"Our flexible and configurable web-based warehouse management software allows for integrations along the supply chain from ERP systems to the warehouse scanners for a real time closed loop management across distributed warehouses," she said. She joined the logistics business in 2003 when it was transitioning to expand its logistics customers and proprietary web-based warehouse management systems, she said.

And while Nicholson has held a number of top positions with companies—including Utopia, Covansys and Sirva—she still recalls vividly her entry into the business world as a little girl. "My first job was self-given, when my father would tote us along to the office on Saturdays," she said. "I would sharpen all the pencils I could find with the electric sharpener that I was fascinated with while he worked.

"And it ended up being something I carry a reminder of every day because one day when I ran into my father's arms to hug him in Thombert's parking lot, he had one of those super sharp pencils is his hand. I have had a tiny lead 'tattoo' on my knee ever since then. It's a daily reminder of my first job and my over-zealous work ethic."

Nicholson, who attended the University of Wisconsin and graduated with a degree in business and marketing from Drake University, said that as she grew up she, like her siblings, had other early jobs at the company.

"I think we all painted, inside and out, every wall of Thombert for several summers, along with some lawn mowing," she said. "Eventually, I worked on lines producing wheels, tires and, back then, a few bowling balls for Brunswick (on a line her father designed).

"And I have to thank my father for taking a gamble. He encouraged us to strike out on our own to pursue careers outside of Thombert. The risk, of course, was that we would succeed far away from our home and not return. Of course, he was able to do this since he was also an exceptional leader with exceptional talent already working for him."

Strong financial base

William Smith, 44, also has fond memories of working at Thombert while growing up. "As a first grader I was intimidated by the machinery and as a kid I remember painting the plant. In high school I worked on the production line. We worked there but we enjoyed it."

He also was encouraged by his father to branch out on his own. So after graduating from the University of Iowa, he took a position at PriceWaterhouseCoopers. He primarily worked with a management consulting group within the company. But he returned to Iowa sooner than his sister.

He came back to join his father at ITWC Inc., which Walt Smith founded in 1988. "My initial responsibilities were to work with anything that had a button," he said with a smile. "For instance, I started out with urethane dispensing machines and then moved on to accounting and finance. Ultimately, I became chief financial officer and held that position when the business was sold to BASF in 2013."

He said he stuck around with BASF to help with the transition. Then he joined Brownells, an online wholesaler of firearms, leaving the company as the vice president of finance when his father offered him the executive vice president position at Thombert.

Actually, William had been serving on the Thombert board for 10 years prior to his return to the full-time executive post. So he is well versed on the company.

Both he and Nicholson said they are fully committed to helping Thombert remain successful, as is Davidson, who said that while he will continue to serve as president, adding that "we have a transition plan in place that we are all excited about."

Nicholson said she and her brother bring back invaluable experience. "We wouldn't be doing this if we didn't think we could bring tremendous value."

Looking forward, she said she and her brother are "formulating new strategies and we're ready to take on the job at hand. We want to maximize our experience. Our father taught us to do the right thing—especially when it concerns customers and employees—and that'll be the right thing for shareholders. And we plan to do that."

"This is not just a job, it's personal," William Smith said. "We will be walking in the shoes of our father and grandfather. I'm thrilled to be here. This decision made a lot of sense. It really feels good."

He added that a high bar has been set at Thombert by those who led the company before them and he and his sister view it as a tremendous opportunity.

In terms of his responsibilities at the firm, Smith said first and foremost is "don't screw it up. I'll take time to survey the landscape and see what's turning the gears so successfully. Thombert has performed very well in the industry and we won't lose sight of that."

Bright future

"Everyone here is pleased Thombert is now in the third generation of family ownership," according to Davidson, who started working for the company as a regional sales representative in May 1977 right out of college.

He said at first his parents were skeptical about the choice he had made "when I accepted a job with a small, unheard of manufacturing company in Newton.

"Top jobs for marketing grads were with a handful of large computer/office equipment companies, which are now either gone or significantly diminished from what they were in those days. My parents did live long enough to see that my decision turned out to be an exceptionally good, or lucky, one."

Prior to becoming president, his entire career with the company was in sales and sales marketing management. "It is a pretty simple story," Davidson said. "I always believed if I put the company's needs ahead of my personal needs and worked hard everything would be OK."

Davidson—like Nicholson, Walt and William Smith—is bullish and excited about the future of Thombert. "We see more opportunities than ever and have the right team to develop those," he said.

"I am very lucky that the most exciting time of my career is now and I know the team following me will lead Thombert to continued growth and success."