A FAMILY-DRIVEN LEGACY: PORTER PIPE & SUPPLY
Porter Pipe & Supply has built a reputation as a vital supplier of pipe, valves and fittings to the commercial and industrial HVACR industry. As the company celebrates nearly half a century in business, an unwavering dedication to core values continues to fuel its success.
Porter Supply Co. was established in Addison in 1976 as a hydronic and radiant heating supply business by 50-year-old hydronic design engineer Ralph Porter. When Ralph retired in 1996 his sons Jim and Bud Porter purchased the business, renaming it Porter Pipe & Supply to reflect the company’s expanded product offerings. In 2021, Jim’s son Nick Porter took the helm as CEO of the company, passing the proverbial torch to the third generation. The company remains 100% family owned and operated, and Porter Pipe & Supply’s headquarters remains in Addison, with branches in Chicago, Rockford, Hammond, Indianapolis, Milwaukee and Madison. Porter Pipe & Supply employs a team of roughly 400 people.
Stephanie Porter-Bodziach, Porter Pipe & Supply’s director of marketing and branding says the company’s goal is to remain 100% family owned through 100 years of business. With 49 years down and 51 to go, so far so good — much more than most businesses can say!
“Porter Pipe & Supply ensures that its core values — faith, family, integrity, safety, excellence and fun — are at the forefront of every customer interaction that larger competitors can’t match,” Porter-Bodziach said. “We’re big enough to successfully supply large volume work, but small enough to still give a personalized touch to every customer.”
Sometimes when you hear things like “family values” and “personal touch” you can’t help but imagine an old-fashioned business that may be behind the times in efficiency and technology. This is most assuredly not the case at Porter. Prime example: The company developed its own app, “Pipeline,” to help customers monitor orders, track deliveries and more.
Porter Pipe & Supply’s efficiency drove the development of the Pipeline app — the company has a 98.6% daily order fill rate. And that efficiency came from adhering to one of founder Ralph Porter’s maxims: “You have two ears and one mouth for a reason. Listen to your customers more than you talk and they will tell you everything you need to know to be successful.”
Other Porter Pipe & Supply offerings that came from listening to their customers include delivery by boom truck at no extra charge and optional customizable mobile warehouse trailers that allow customers to keep all the materials they need on-site, wherever their project takes them.
Speaking of projects, the Addison-based company has supplied more significant projects around the country than we can list in this newsletter, including large-scale commercial and industrial projects like data centers, high-rises, hospitals, Ford Blue Oval EV battery plants and more.
“We really do stand by our slogan ‘Partnership with Purpose’ and take a customized approach to each project,” Porter-Bodziach says. “It’s not a one-size-fits-all solution; we work closely with our customers to ensure we meet their unique needs every step of the way.”
With family and community values so clearly at the core of everything Porter Pipe & Supply does, it should be no surprise that the company is committed to supporting the communities in which it operates. Porter Pipe has partnered with Marklund, an Illinois-based nonprofit serving individuals with developmental disabilities, since 1997, sponsoring various events year after year.
The Porter Pipe team also regularly volunteers with Feed My Starving Children, a nonprofit providing nutritious meals to children worldwide, and hosts a Christmas in July car show every year at their Addison facility to support Toys for Tots.