Porter Pipe & Supply Co. was founded in 1976 by Nicholas Porter’s grandfather and father and the two built the business on exceptional, superior customer service, growing the business to a $75 million firm by 2008. Porter joined the business fulltime after college and worked throughout the operations side.
“In 2015, I had the opportunity to present a 10-year vision plan to grow the business to $200 million by 2025 while also building a 30-year plan that would take us through 2045,” said Porter. With continued success and growth, Porter took on the helm of the family business in 2021, closing out the 2022 fiscal year at $222 million.
Porter Pipe & Supply Co. focuses on commercial and industrial PVF and plumbing with a purpose to build lasting partnerships to build America.
“I’ve focused on bringing people to the table who can help develop the strategies to get us to our vision plans and who can drive those strategies for results,” said Porter. “When you give great people a clear destination, and you give them the freedom to figure out how to get there, big things will happen consistently over time.”
Over time, Porter said the firm seeks to continue working toward the vision he established while adapting to the technical, developmental and predictive approaches available to use. “For us, we’re embracing AI/ML capabilities to enhance our efficiencies and we’re actively seeking ways to automate processes – everywhere from physical warehousing and logistics processes to back end processing functions,” he said. “No matter what we do, the focus on people stays critical because our people are the heart and soul of our business.”
Continuing what his father and grandfather started, Porter said God has gifted him with a clarity in vision that can be rare. “I can see the company I want to build 20 years from now,” he said. “When you can see a destination clearly in the future, you can work back from there to build a path to get there.”
It’s the culture and the team that Porter is most proud of. “Our commitment to people first, being values-driven and culture focused will continue to provide tangible competitive market advantages,” Porter said. “Partnership and loyalty mean everything and I know that we must always be aiming to exceed our customers’ expectations and not simply to meet them – succinctness is an important part of good communication.”
For his vision in the industry, Porter has been named a titan.
