Wally Brant shares how history is repeating itself for Indiana Oxygen.<\/p>\n
As the oldest gas and welding supply distributor in the US, Indiana Oxygen (Indiana) has been serving the State of Indiana and surrounding areas with high quality service and expertise since 1915. As a family-owned-and-operated business, it prides itself on the core values of quality and integrity, while being committed to treating everyone \u2013 suppliers, customers, and employees \u2013 like family.<\/p>\n
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Indiana\u2019s succession plans are now seeing the fourth generation of the Brant family take over its operations. We were lucky enough to sit down with Indiana\u2019s now former CEO, Wally Brant, during his last week in the role, to discuss the company\u2019s history and succession plans, as well as gain his personal reflections on his career as CEO.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m certainly not retiring \u2013 let\u2019s be clear about that,\u201d Wally laughs. \u201cI\u2019m just stepping away from the overall running and management of the company, with my son, Jay, and daughter, Anne, handling those areas. I will instead be \u2018re-deployed\u2019 to customer and employee relations, while of course being there to advise or assist when they need.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, before we delve deeper into Indiana\u2019s succession plans, Wally shares the company\u2019s history and an overview of its current operations. \u201cIt all started when my grandfather and his brother had an idea to set up an oxygen company,\u201d he explains. \u201cThe process began by bombarding water molecules with electrons, then separating the molecules into oxygen and hydrogen gases.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey continued that process and gradually built the business up until around 1930, when they recognized they couldn\u2019t keep up with demand. So, to increase our production capabilities, they built an air separation plant to cool atmospheric air to the point where it becomes liquified.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe continued that journey for the best part of 30 years, but World War II caused tremendous technological advancements in the air separation field and changed the direction of the business. It became much cheaper for us to buy from a larger producer of liquid gases, rather than produce it in-house. While we\u2019re still responsible for manufacturing acetylene gas, we\u2019ve been buying other gases from external sources since 1960.\u201d<\/p>\n
Diverse customer base<\/strong><\/p>\n Today, the business boasts a portfolio of around 12,000 active customers. \u201cOur customers vary from corporations that consume large volumes of liquid gases, down to farmers who might have just one pair of oxygen and acetylene cylinders,\u201d Wally details. \u201cAround half our business comes from the sale of gases, while the other 50 percent comes from selling welding supplies, including cutting torches, regulators, safety equipment, and electric welding machines.<\/p>\n \u201cWe service a tremendously diverse range of industry players from construction companies, sheet metal manufacturers, and beverage processors to medical and research laboratories. During the pandemic, for example, we sold a lot of gases for producing ventilators, as well as gases for scientific and medical research.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s worth mentioning that around 20 percent of our overall sales come from online spaces, where we sell welding equipment, not gases,\u201d he reveals. \u201cWe were at the right place at the right time when it comes to our online presence. We had an employee that was fascinated by the internet before it was a mainstream interest. He was able to crack the code that we still use today to sell large volumes directly from the manufacturer to the customer.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWithin three days I\u2019d changed my mind and I wanted to help my father in the business; coming home and making a difference was the main attraction,\u201d Wally reflects. \u201cAs a side note, I then panicked once I\u2019d had my last day in the Air Force, as the thought that I was returning to a job I would have for the rest of my life was overwhelming. So, I took the long way home, traveling through the Philippines, Southeast Asia, and crossing North Africa, and I finally popped up back home four and a half months later, ready to take on the responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n Decades later, history repeated itself, with Wally then anticipating the future of the business in terms of his children taking over. \u201cI felt like a steward for our company in the same way my father had been,\u201d he explains. \u201cWhile I had always hoped Jay and Anne would take an interest in the business, the most important thing for me as a father is that my kids do what they genuinely want to do, rather than feel pressured to join the family business.<\/p>\n \u201cI required them both to work four-to-five years outside the family business. However, when I approached them in 2010 with offers to join the business, they jumped at the chance. Nine years later, they became Vice Presidents and in April 2023, they approached me with the confidence to officially take over.<\/p>\n \u201cAs I said, I\u2019m not retiring, but rather taking a backseat,\u201d Wally reminds us. \u201cI still have a lot of passion and energy for this business, but what I don\u2019t have is a library of fresh ideas required to keep the company relevant \u2013 and they do.\u201d<\/p>\n Honesty and integrity<\/strong><\/p>\n As of August 2023, Jay is Indiana\u2019s new CEO, while Anne, with a background in law, is the new Executive Vice President, looking after the financial, HR, administrative, and legal sides of the business. Wally heavily contributed to the succession process, by transferring 90 percent of the company stock (all \u2018non-voting\u2019) to Jay and Anne while keeping the other ten percent and voting control. \u201cAlthough eventual equal stock-ownership can create an awkward stalemate, Jay and Anne have always cooperated and respected one another, even as teenagers,\u201d Wally recalls.<\/p>\n \u201cAs CEO, everyone looks to you, but you shouldn\u2019t make a statement of separating yourself as different from all the other employees. I believe that the most important thing for anyone to do, whether in professional or personal life, is to be straightforward, approachable, and empathetic.<\/p>\n \u201cThey have an obligation to exercise honesty and integrity while trying to grow the business,\u201d Wally concludes. \u201cWe\u2019re easily on track to reach $100 million in revenue this year, for instance, as opposed to $2.1 million when I joined in 1979. I\u2019m excited to see Jay and Anne move the company forward, and I\u2019m sure that whatever direction they choose to take will bring them every success.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/manufacturing-today.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/09\/Inset-2-1.jpg\")
Turning to Wally\u2019s personal involvement in the business, he recalls: \u201cI entered the business at the end of the 1970s, after I\u2019d completed two tours in Southeast Asia on a B-52 combat crew with the US Air Force. I\u2019d had little interest in joining my father\u2019s company, but he called me with a proposition one day while I was on the island of Guam, and I flew back to Indiana.<\/p>\n