Growing, flourishing at 75: R.D. Abbott celebrates milestone anniversary with service projects

GARDEN GROVE, Calif.—Just as the calendar was preparing to flip into 2024, R.D. Abbott was turning over a milestone of its own, marking the 75th anniversary of its founding.

And it celebrated in perfect R.D. Abbott fashion.

"When we thought about our 75th anniversary, the first thing that our team surfaced—and how we wanted to celebrate—was with 75 acts of kindness in the communities we serve," company CEO Keith Thomas told Rubber News. "I think that speaks to the heart of the company; they didn't think about cakes and balloons, they thought about service projects."

That didn't surprise Thomas, not really. And he contends it shouldn't surprise the industry either. Because R.D. Abbott isn't just any rubber industry company. It's a full-service distributor, one that adds depth to its offerings with its technical expertise and service.

But R.D. Abbott is even more than that, Thomas said. Because it is a company built on passion—for the industry itself and for the people in it.

"Technical services have always been a part of our product offering. … That certainly hasn't changed," Thomas said. "I think one of the more fundamental things that hasn't changed is our focus on people. We've always been a people-focused company."

R.D. Abbott was founded Dec. 14, 1948, by Robert David Abbott, following his retirement from C.P. Hall, a company that later would become Hallstar. The newly formed R.D. Abbott first represented the C.P. Hall lines.

And oh, has it grown.

Today, the company offers a strong portfolio of products from more than a dozen partners such as Arlanxeo, CanCarb, Dow, Hallstar and Parker Lord. And Thomas is also quick to point out that, as R.D. Abbott grew, adding more suppliers to its offerings, it never lost sight of the rubber industry.

"As we're thinking of our 75th year, what stands out most is what has not changed," Thomas said. "In that time, we primarily focused on serving the rubber industry. We did not participate in plastics or personal care products. We do not follow the products. We follow in the industry."

One of the most transformative moments in the company's history came in 2017 with the purchase of Novation Solutions, an Ohio-based dispersions manufacturer. Better known industrywide as NovationSi, the manufacturing subsidiary of R.D. Abbott has strengthened the company's silicone roots with modifiers, additives and colors for silicone. It also offers custom liquid silicone rubber compounds and highly specialized elastomer products.

Having the NovationSi presence in Ohio also gave R.D. Abbott a footprint in the heart of the rubber industry, allowing it to open a second service center that was better located to the serve the Eastern United States.

Since its founding, R.D. Abbott has been headquartered in California and maintained strong connections to The Los Angeles Rubber Group Inc. (TLARGI). Those connections were important to Robert Abbott and they remain critical for the company today.

And it's thanks in part to those connections that Robert Abbott's legacy lives on.

Robert Abbott, along with TLARGI, helped to establish educational courses that would become a foundation for polymer science curriculum at the University of Southern California.

"But it wasn't just Robert Abbott," Thomas said. "The industry was the centerpiece of it. He got companies to donate equipment. He got input to put together the curriculum. It was a bachelor's and master's program in rubber technology that existed on the USC campus until the mid-80's."

That's when interest in the program eventually waned, forcing USC to remove it from its offerings. But the curriculum itself lives on thanks to the passionate folks at R.D. Abbott and those at TLARGI. The R.D. Abbott team has helped to lead 20-week polymer courses in the decades since its removal from the USC offerings.

This may be where R.D. Abbott's commitment to education begins, but it is far from where it ends. The company routinely offers training that spotlights its product offerings and capabilities and provide programs to expand general industry knowledge, according to Thomas.

Chat with anyone representing R.D. Abbott and their passion for the industry will shine through. Because the firm is as passionate today about the rubber industry and its possibilities as it was 75 years ago at its founding.

That passion also is evident in the fact that R.D. Abbott has had just seven leaders in it 75-year history.

Carl Hoglund, Robert Abbott's right hand man, led the company from 1958 to 1979 before handing the reins to Johnny Arensmeyer, who served as the company leader from 1966 to 1979. It was Arensmeyer who extended ownership of the company to Bob and Eloise Baatz. They and Arensmeyer led the company from 1979 to 1992, when Jerry Wicker took the lead.

He led R.D. Abbott until 2001 when Thomas was named CEO.

And the R.D. Abbott legacy is one Thomas is proud to uphold.

"One of my key job functions is to be a shepherd of our culture," Thomas said. "I didn't create it, but my job is to sustain it. (It's) something I zealously protect. So I would say that by virtue of the culture we enjoy, it attracts like-minded people. I do think we attract people that have a service-like heart and that are very engaged by nature."

The proof, he said, is in the acts of kindness that R.D. Abbott set out to do this year.

The Barberton, Ohio, location helped by unloading pallets for Common Threads Closet, a non-profit organization that distributes shoes, clothing and household items to those in need.

Employees in Ohio, California and Washington donated much-needed items to food pantries, senior centers, the Salvation Army and Lighthouse Missions. Other acts of kindness included assembling snack boxes for children, helping neighbors with heavy bags of groceries, snack bags for freight drivers, and donating pre-paid laundromat gift cards.

And in true R.D. Abbott fashion, the acts of service inspired others, including Akron Rubber Development Laboratories and Wooster Steel to get involved in service campaigns of their own.

Thomas, for one, isn't surprised.

"The company has always been people-focused," Thomas said. "Not only our people, but our customers, too. We are a compassionate, caring and highly engaged company."