Ted and Beth Bunton bought Troy Chemical Industries from Lee Imhof in 2020, but their history in the chemical industry and with the Imhof operation goes back a number of years.
Ted and Beth Bunton bought Troy Chemical Industries from Lee Imhof in 2020, but their history in the chemical industry and with the Imhof operation goes back a number of years.
The three told the audience at the Geauga Economic Leadership breakfast Dec. 2 about their mutual business interests and their histories.
They also shared some words of advice that have carried the long-term operation on Rapids Road in Auburn Township through some very rough patches.
TCI was started in 1971 by Lee’s parents, David and Joyce, working with investors Bob Bunton, Joe Feldott, Bruce Jensen, Bob Lindemann and Joe Nascone, according to the company website.
Five years later, they built a plant to manufacture products for metal pretreatment and powder coating, toll blending and general industrial use.
Lee grew up, worked around the plant in the labs and mowed the lawn, then attended Ohio University and came home to learn more about the family business.
He recalled when the steel mills in the region closed and he had to find other markets for TCI’s products.
As the years passed, Lee took over the operation, but the next generation of Imhofs had plans that didn’t include TCI, he said.
Retirement was looking good, but Lee felt responsible to keep the business going. He started thinking about selling.
“We felt the company needs to go on. Ted and Beth were interested,” Lee said of his decision to sell to the Buntons and his concerns for all the employees’ futures.
Ted had been working at TCI since 1992 in the metal pretreatment area. Beth helped found Bunton Industrial Solutions in 2014 and now is part owner of TCI, making it a female-owned company.
As such, buying TCI products can earn customers valuable minority purchases that satisfy government regulations, according to the website.
The couple’s history and that of Ted’s father have rooted Beth and Ted in the industry and in TCI.
“My dad was one of the original five (TCI investors). I had the pleasure of knowing the Imhofs,” Ted said, adding he and Beth had just become empty-nesters when the opportunity arose and she was ready for a challenge.
“It was just a kind of a natural thing,” he said.
They had owned the company a few months when COVID-19 hit and life changed abruptly, he said.
“Some industries were impacted more than others,” Ted said.
From taking the temperature of each employee every day to trying to sell a product without meeting with customers, the Buntons were stretched thin.
“I asked Lee if he’d buy it back. He said ‘NO,’” Ted said, adding Lee urged them to “just go compete.”
It was a trying time for all industries and Beth credited Geauga Growth Partnership for helping the dazed and confused couple through the next year. But Lee did help by referring the Buntons to GGP where the networking and resources were invaluable, especially when they needed more workers.
“Bonnie Troyer put me in touch with human resource companies. GGP’s resources have been amazing,” she said.
The couple worked their way through 2020 even though they couldn’t get into customers’ plants.
“We had to pivot,” Ted said, noting there were fewer new prospects than a year before. It was one thing after another.
Just as they were thinking, “Now what?” they got a call from a large company and started making products for them.
The partnership grew and so did the orders until TCI could invest in a new filling line, Ted said.
“We were not made for that kind of volume, but it helped sustain the business in 2020. Now, we are back to our core set of principles,” Ted said, adding they are adding salespeople and growing their toll blending program.
“COVID crystallized for us what our core strengths are,” said Beth.
Their employees are one of those strengths. Many TCI workers have been with the company for more than 20 years. The Buntons drew on GGP to help them figure out what the next generation of workers wants and to train up their current employees so they feel vested in the company.
“Get the right people in the right spot and let them go,” Ted said, adding they make sure those employees know the business relies on them to show up and do the job they have been prepared for.
“You never know when an opportunity will turn into a career,” he said.
Going from being an employee to being the boss has required a different outlook and some inward contemplation, as well.
“It’s fun, scary, rewarding,” Ted said, noting Beth’s job changed the most, but she found her stride.
“What the transition taught me was when there’s a challenge in front of you, you can problem solve. You need to get your hands dirty — be a sponge,” she said. “Understand what you are trying to accomplish and go for it.”
