The Fonda Blog

Distributor Profile: John Day Company

Thu, 03/19/2015 – 8:00am
Mike Hockett, Associate Editor

If there’s one word that describes what has allowed John Day Company to remain a successful, family-owned company for 106 years, it’s stability.

That comes from the Omaha, NE-based industrial and agricultural supplier’s management, where its top four members have a combined 144 years of experience with the company. CEO John Fonda, great grandson of founder John Day Sr., has been there for 35 years, 20 of those as president. Current president and CFO, Nancy Kurtenbach, has been there 29 years. COO and Inside Sales Manager Duane Chamberlain is 37 years in, while Outside Sales Manager Steve Regan is at 43 years.

That wealth of experience is what drives success at John Day today.

“It’s our level of technical support and our knowledge base,” says Kurtenbach. “We have a lot of long-term employees who have been in the business and the industry. Someone can call one of them and they won’t need a part number. We know our products. We know where to get products. There’s a lot of depth and resources there that really set us apart.”

“We’re 106 years old, and none of us look that age,” Fonda says with a laugh. “I think it’s given us a really strong base in our region. We’ve build a good reputation out here. Our customers know who the John Day Company is and we’re going to stand by the products that we sell.”

The Personal Touch

Being an independent company of around 100 employees, many have to wear multiple hats for JDC to provide its myriad of services besides just product supply. Given the rapid escalation of merger and acquisition activity in the market, the company says its stability is what has attracted new hires. “I think a lot of people – they work for someone who gets bought and they get laid off, and maybe hired back – I think our applicants see John Day Company as a very stable company, and family-oriented,” says Kurtenbach.

Part of the appeal of working at JDC is also its accessibility. With many employees taking on multiple roles, they get to see and touch and have a hand in many operations. That, and they can contact Nancy by just stopping by her office when need be. That’s a luxury most wholesale chains can’t offer. “They know who Nancy is as the president of the company. She’s there every day,” Fonda says. “If you’re working for XYZ and at a branch, you may never meet the president. Our employees have developed personal relationships with all of the management team over time, and it’s a value that they can talk to anybody at any time about pretty much any subject.”

Value-Added

John Day Company can technically be classified as a distributor, but that wouldn’t give justice to what the company is really about. JDC is just as invested, if not arguably more, in its value-added services. It’s those services – nearly two dozen that the company promotes – that make JDC stand out from other independents, as well as their wholesale competitors.

Some of JDC’s most well-known services include power tool repair, hose fabrication, bandsaw welding, chain sling fabrication, and tool regrind, along with a number of safety solution audits, inspections, and product training.

A look inside John Day Co.’s industrial warehouse space.
“We have continued to make ourselves known and unique enough in the marketplace to be different than the catalogue houses,” Fonda says. “When you see the large corporate-managed distributors, they have a huge amount of resources to decide one day they want to get into this, into that – things that 2-3 years later may not be the focus of where they’re going. I think the things we’re doing we believe are going to be long-term in nature for our customers. The things we continue to support were not built on a whim.”

JDC has been offering many of those services for 15 years or more. Step in the tool repair department and you’ll find specialist Jim Katzer at work on something, a service he has led for 10 years. In the re-grind room, JDC can drastically extend the life of something like a carbide steel gear cutting hob by sharpening it 16-20 times. Regan estimates a brand new high-quality hob can cost between $2,500-4,000 – whereas JDC charges only $250-300 per re-sharpen. That makes such a service extremely valuable.

Fonda says JDC initially got into power tool repairing when customers said it was taking 9 months for them to get some tools back that they sent for repairs to other sources. JDC does it within a month.

While he knows his customers appreciate those services, they still tend to be thankless jobs. “They really enjoyed that when it happened, and kind of forget it over time,” he says. “They just sort of expect it in the future. Then we have to meet those standards.”

Kurtenbach says a lot of the positive feedback the value-added services get aren’t so much from the end user, but from the managers of customers who want to see their associates do what they do best and have a resource to have tools repaired, or made. “A lot of manufacturers – the maintenance people like to do these things, but you see their upper management say, ‘no, you’re busy keeping our equipment up and running. Let’s outsource some of these services to John Day,’” she says. “I think the feedback we’re getting sometimes is at a higher level.”

What’s New?

Fonda and Kurtenbach emphasized that JDC always has a project on the table to increase the company’s efficiencies. Two years ago it purchased new software that was needed to move ahead in its e-content. JDC has a full e-commerce website and is in the process of revamping it to improve its content. “Customers who use it are giving us feedback. We realized there are areas for improvement and that’s why we’re tackling it,” says Chamberlain. Less than 5 percent of JDC’s sales came through e-commerce in 2014, but Chamberlain noted that would be a narrow definition of the company’s online orders since it doesn’t account for EDI sales, of which all of JDC’s integrated supply sites use.

Speaking of EDI, John Day is working on improving automation payables, aiming to allow invoices from vendors to come in EDI right through its ERP system. Kurtenbach says that will eventually help eliminate overhead in the accounts payable department, and make transactions more accurate.

On the CRM front, JDC finished implementing Android Tablets at the end of 2014 for its outside salespeople. The tablets can be operated audibly and transcribe spoken dialogue making it easy to update customer information and call reports. The devices and the CRM software speed up and simplify when the salesperson needs to pull up customer quotes, open orders, and product information.

Fighting the Independent Fight

The Omaha region certainly hasn’t been immune to the industrial distribution merger & acquisition landscape. Midwest Industrial Tool was acquired by DGI Supply in April 2011, and Fuchs Machinery was bought by Blackhawk Industrial one month later. Now, John Day is left as one of the few independents left in the area.

“At one point you’re used to competing with other independents that have a select group of suppliers, and some of those suppliers crossed over and some didn’t. So you each had some uniqueness back in the day,” says Fonda. “Somebody had Greenfield (Manufacturing), one would have 3M, one would have Norton. So we were the last of the Mohicans.”

Suddenly having to compete with DGI and Blackhawk made Fonda and JDC re-examine its role in the industrial business. Along with developing a management team, Kurtenbach took over Fonda’s role as president in June 2014. Fonda says his focus today is more on vendor relations and marketing in the area.

Overall, the focus for JDC, now more than ever, has been on how it can leverage its value-added services to set itself apart. “How does John Day Company now go into a marketplace when you have MSC, DGI, Grainger – those who have everything, and then ask how you are going to stand out?” Fonda says. “The new focus for us has to be to add value to the suppliers we determine are going to help make our future tomorrow.”

As one of the region’s last independent distributors, JDC has partnered closely with its top suppliers. Fonda said JDC has been determining what key suppliers it wants to market with, and hopes customers can see the difference between a company like John Day as opposed to a large wholesaler.

“I think, really, the suppliers do see us as a business partner,” Kurtenbach says. “Even on the customer side, they are more open to working with us and our suppliers because of the long-term relationships.”

Kurtenbach notes how at larger companies, there are still a lot of local employees who have always been there, but buyouts have deteriorated the relationships with customers that John Day maintains. A lot of the business relationships JDC currently has go back 50 or 60 years – the same companies John’s dad and grandfather worked with.

So has Fonda and John Day Company been approached to be acquired? Indeed. Fonda said some of the wholesalers who have contacted JDC are ones mentioned above. But given the history of JDC, he has no intention of giving in. Fonda says he relishes the unique opportunities that being an independent offers – like flexibility, having resources in-house and always ready, and not being tied down to having to work with someone in different locations for different projects.

“We’ve always been a family-owned business,” Fonda says. “We have a hundred associates, and my dad used to always say you could take that times four, so there’s 400 people out there we’re feeding. And we have a good legacy in this marketplace of 106 years.”

Fonda also has some words of wisdom for independent distributors who may be in the same boat as JDC.

“You can’t be looking over your shoulder at what everyone else is doing,” he says. “You see the capabilities that the major players have today – they certainly outweigh what you can do. So you have to figure out what you can be good at, what is your core business, and what you are able to have your people focus on. And then you have to run your own race.”

written by admin \\ tags: Achievements, Business, Midwest

Women in Business 2013: Geneva Fonda, Bear

Owner, Geneva Fonda Photography

By Mark Nardone // Photos by Luigi Ciuffetelli – Delaware Today / December 2013

 

Geneva Fonda
Bear
Owner, Geneva Fonda Photography

When have you arrived? Perhaps when you’ve been invited by Arianna Huffington to write for the Huffington Post. Fonda’s career as a photographer began when, as a teenager, she shot a wedding. From there, her work evolved into a true business that provides portrait photography and other services. That business continues to evolve, as Fonda becomes an author. Her book, tentatively titled “Her Brilliance,” relates life lessons she has learned from other women. It should be available in the spring. The dream: “I would love to create a philanthropic initiative that supports financial education, provides emotional encouragement, and inspires clients to elevate others as they have been elevated.”

Also see: Website, Huffington Post

Geneva Fonda is a professional portrait photographer, author, speaker, and writer whose work has appeared in national and regional publications such as Ladies’ Home Journal and Delaware Today. She is a proudly born and bred New York City gal, who lives in Northern Delaware with her family. When she’s not managing the family home, Geneva meditates, does yoga, and makes crafty things. She advocates fairness for others, is very passionate about giving back and is an active and supportive member of community events while managing her portrait photography business, Geneva Fonda Photography.

written by admin \\ tags: Arts, Business

Couple Married After Meeting On VH1’s ‘Dating Naked’

Pop Minute – August 29, 2014

When VH1 first ordered ten episodes of its ‘Dating Naked’ reality series, few expected much to come out of the unusually open way to date.  Now, the series, which features people go on dates in the nude, has its first married couple.

After a date that included naked surfing and conversation, 27-year-old artist Ashley Fonda is married to 36-year-old yoga instructor Alika Medeiros.  “We really deeply connected and he taught me things,” Fonda tells People magazine. “We realized we both have the flower of life tattoo. I told one of the producers, ‘I’m going to marry this man.'”

Since she had already released her fears, Fonda even opted for a naked wedding.  “We undressed for the ceremony!” says Fonda. “As a little girl, I definitely didn’t picture having a naked wedding, but this was such a liberating experience.”

Another contestant, Jessie Nizewitz, sued the VH1 show earlier this week after an unblurred shot of her aired on the series.

‘Dating Naked’ Cast Members Wed. Marriage A Publicity Stunt For VH1 Series?

Kpopstarz.com – August 29, 2014 – by Toby Robboy

Reality TV dating shows are infamous for their general failure to set up successful relationships, but it looks like the newest kid on the block, VH1’s Dating Naked, has already managed to beat the odds and send one couple down the aisle. Participants Ashley Fonda and Alika Medeiros tied the knot earlier this month, in what was, naturally, a naked ceremony. The Wedding was filmed to be aired on the VH1 in September, raising the question; is this all a publicity stunt to generate viewership for the network’s newest franchise?

The couple met during the filming of their first date in May. For the episode, they went on a naked surfing adventure, and apparently really hit it off. Fonda says of the experience, “We deeply connected and he taught me things,” adding that “we realized we both have the flower of life tattoo,” and that she “told one of the producers ‘I’m going to marry this man.’ ”

The couple wed on August 6, in a ceremony officiated by a shaman. Before stripping down, the blushing bride walked the aisle in a custom Nicholas Anthony gown.  Neither the bride’s nor the groom’s family attended the the ceremony, which will air on September 18.

Both the rapid pace at which the couple went from first date to wedding bells, and the presence of a camera crew make it impossible not to question whether this whole thing just a clever PR move. VH1 has already come under fire for the series – they are being sued by contestant Jessie Nizewitz after accidentally airing an uncensored shot of her vagina. True, all publicity is good publicity for reality TV, but maybe the producers wanted to convince viewers that they can facilitate true love, and not just scandal. Or maybe they wanted to convince potential future participants to give the show a try. Fonda, for her part, denies that any such scheme is taking place: “I’m truly in love with Alika,” she insists, “I’m so excited to see where this relationship goes and grows.”

written by admin \\ tags: Achievements, Entertainment, West Coast

Cross country: Lodi’s Blake Fonda, Tokay’s Alec Hastings to clash in realigned Tri-City Athletic League

Lodi’s Fonda, Tokay’s Hastings to clash in realigned TCAL

Posted: Wednesday, August 27, 2014 12:00 am, By Mark Godi/News-Sentinel Staff Writer

Blake Fonda and Alec Hastings are well aware of each other and will be even more so this fall. As the high school cross country season begins, both will be racing in the Lodi Flame Invitational at Lodi Lake at 5 p.m. Friday.  The girls go at 4:30 p.m. It will be the first time they meet this year, but not the last as league realignment has the rivals in the new Tri-City Athletic League.

Fonda, a senior, helped the Lodi Flames win a share of the San Joaquin Athletic Association last year behind standout Phillip Kruse. Kruse has graduated and now Fonda is the front runner for Lodi’s top boys spot. It’s natural then that he’s entered in a bit of a rivalry with Tokay’s Alec Hastings, the Tigers’ top boy. He led Tokay to an outright TCAL title while winning the individual championship.  Both have worked hard in the offseason and are eager to see who currently has the edge.  “We are friendly rivals and it’s like a chess match out there,” Fonda said. “He got me a few times last year and I got him a few times. He knows where I am out there and I know where he is.”

Friday’s race should be an exciting one between the two considering how last spring ended. Both did track and field then and had their last meeting in the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Meet in Elk Grove. There, Fonda was 13th in the 1600 meter at 4 minutes, 28.67 seconds and Hastings 23rd at 4:40.03. Just a week earlier, it was Hastings who bested Fonda in the event at the Division I Section Championships. Hastings ran a 4.26.28, edging Fonda by just under a second.  Since then, both have had busy summers. Hastings went to a running camp at Stanford and ran between 60-65 miles per week. Fonda, meanwhile, says a shorter week was around 50 miles and a longer week closer to 70 in the summer.  Both would like to compete in college with Fonda eyeing Santa Barbara’s Westmont College, an NAIA program. Hastings has a bit more time to decide, but says Long Beach State is a place he really likes at the moment.  Both earn high praise from their cross country coaches, with Fonda a runner that Lodi’s Greg Wright says has grown up quite a bit.

“He’s really blossomed into a good work ethic and become a leader,” Wright said. “Two years ago and even a bit last year he could only see how the race affected himself. Now he sees the big picture and is thinking about how the others are coming along.”  Karen Harty is in her seventh year in charge at Tokay and describes Hastings as one that is fun to watch.  “You wouldn’t know it in practice but he’s a fireball when it comes to competition,” Harty said. “He just comes alive when he gets to that starting line.”  Neither runner will have it easy this year with the reigning SJAA champion returning to Lincoln.

Zach McKeever is a senior now and edged Kruse for the league crown last year. He’ll lead a formidable Trojan squad.  “It’s going to be harder to win (league) this year,” Hastings said. “The new leagues means faster schools.  “I’d say my biggest goal this year is to just make it to state and see how far I can go.”

written by admin \\ tags: Achievements, Sports, West Coast

Jane Fonda: Hollywood Royalty Gets AFI Life Achievement Award And Follows In Father Henry’s Footsteps

By Pete Hammond – Friday June 6, 2014

It didn’t take long to bring up the controversial side of Jane Fonda during AFI‘s Lifetime Achievement Award tribute Thursday night. AFI Board Of Trustees Chairman Howard Stringer addressed the elephant in the room almost immediately upon taking the Dolby Theatre stage: “What not a lot of people know is that Jane Fonda attended the very first AFI tribute in 1973 to director John Ford. She didn’t actually make it into the ballroom that night because she was out front picketing. That’s right, she was there to protest the appearance of one of that night’s presenters, Richard Nixon. Jane, what are we going to do with you?” he said to much knowing laughter and applause. A little while later, AFI CEO and President Bob Gazzale picked up on the theme. “Yes, Jane picketed the AFI Life Achievement Awards. But it wasn’t the first time that she’d marched on AFI,” he said. “Some years earlier outside the gates of the AFI conservatory there was a protest led by Jane and another Life Achievement recipient, Shirley MacLaine. They were there to draw attention to the lack of women in roles in the AFI Conservatory and they were right. Their effort led to the establishment of  the AFI Directing Workshop for women which this year is celebrating its 40th anniversary. And they also helped to ensure women were admitted to the AFI Conservatory where women have flourished over the years.”

But as it became abundantly clear this evening was much more than about Fonda’s well-known activism. It was about a film career that has brought her two Oscars from seven nominations — that started in 1960 with Tall Story and is still going strong all the way up to next September’s This Is Where I Leave You. Both are from Warner Bros and both show the remarkable career journey this daughter of a very famous star, Henry Fonda, and sister of another twice-nominated actor/writer/producer Peter Fonda, has taken. Among studio heads that included 20th’s Jim Gianopulos, Sony’s Amy Pascal and Michael Lynton and Disney’s Alan Horn, Warners’ Kevin Tsujihara was also there. As Fonda was introduced and took the traditional march through the crowded room of stars, friends , executives and industryites, she seemed genuinely touched and teared up. Shortly afterward I caught up with her and asked if she was actually crying. “Do I look like I was crying? You bet I was.”  she told me. It made a later clip they showed from her 1965 Western Cat Ballou even more prescient. “You won’t make me cry. You’ll never make me cry,” Cat Ballou says. It clearly didn’t apply to Fonda on Thursday night as she appeared overwhelmed by it all.  And actually a couple of weeks ago in Cannes she told me she burst into tears when she got the phone call saying she received this award. “They asked me to present to Bette Davis and I did. They asked me to present to Barbara Stanwyck (her Walk On The Wild Side co-star), and I did. And of course my father, and I did. But I never dreamed I would be getting this award, ” she told me. Well she did, and in a ceremony that was a rich as any of these has ever been — and I’ve been coming to them since Frank Capra got one in 1982. It was a special night as Fonda became the only daughter of a previous winner to receive the same award. Father and Son Kirk and Michael Douglas and brother and sister Warren Beatty and MacLaine also have made the family connection for AFI in previous years.

The room was decorated with lots of iconic magazine covers featuring Fonda but the most interesting was a Time magazine cover featuring all the Fondas: Henry, Jane and a silhouetted Peter from his Easy Rider days. “I am not so sure about that cover,” Peter Fonda told me as he stared at the blowup during a break in the proceedings. “I remember that interview very well. They had three different writers interview us separately and then we did one together. I recall the writer told me ‘the little brother with the big mouth might take it all’,”  he said, recalling that he dominated the conversation. But then he added that he was so proud of his sister. “She has achieved so much for so many.”

A few tables away, Sandra Bullock told me she was excited to be there. “She’s the real thing, a good egg,” she said of Fonda. She later presented a tribute from the stage. The first onstage after the dinner break though was Meryl Streep, who made her film debut in Fonda’s 1977 Best Picture nominee Julia, where she had a small role but really bonded with the star, who gave her sage advice about hitting her mark. “If you land on it you’ll be in the light and then you’ll be in the movie,” she recalled that Fonda told her. Cameron Diaz also appeared to talk about 9 To 5, a landmark comedy in which Fonda not only starred but produced. Diaz talked about how it showed inequality for women in the workplace and might have changed things forever.

Among others comedian Wanda Sykes showed up in full Barbarella (a campy 1967 movie that got as much attention at this gala as any Fonda has made) regalia to let loose some zingers, as did Eva Longoria whose only reason for being there she said was that they both worked in a L’Oreal commercial. And Sally Field showed up to talk about their 35-year friendship that started when Fonda barged into her 20th Century Fox office to offer advice on how to be a producer and make meaningful films. She talked about Fonda breaking through in the male-dominated world of producing films and then coming up with Coming Home and 9 To 5 among others.

Perhaps the most emotional moment of the night came when Vietnam war veteran and the inspiration for Tom Cruise’s Born On The Fourth Of July, Ron Kovic, showed up onstage after an emotional clip from Coming Home (another film he inspired) was shown. It was one of two films, including 1971′s Klute, for which Fonda won Oscars. He praised her and the courage she showed in her early activism against the war. Her Newsroom co-star Jeff Daniels also appeared and played guitar and sang a special song written about her, celebrating her “abs, buns and thighs” in a reference to her famous workout tapes. 9 To 5 co-star Lily Tomlin was lovably loopy in detailing her experiences with Fonda. “She transcends her ego, which in my view is worthy alone of receiving a life achievement award,”  she said. Fonda and Tomlin begin a new Netflix comedy series shooting in August. I am hearing talk of Martin Sheen and Alan Alda as possible co-stars but that’s still to be determined.

Fonda spoke throughout the tribute in pre-recorded clips, many of them very touching and raw.  But among the most interesting tidbits was  her admission that her most calculated career move came when she chose to make a comeback opposite Jennifer Lopez in Monster-In-Law. A hilarious clip was shown where the pair engage in an endless slap-off. Fonda said she suspected fans would come to see Lopez and re-discover Fonda in the process. She was right on the money as that is exactly what happened.

Perhaps best of all was Troy Garrity, her son with activist Tom Hayden. He brought the house down. “So many stars have spoken tonight it leads me to believe I only got this gig because I was Jane Fonda’s son,” he said. “But if my mother thinks it was difficult being the daughter of Henry Fonda, you should try being the son of Hanoi Jane. That was a lot of fun. My first 13 birthday parties were fundraisers. We had a different life than other Hollywood families. My mother never hired a nanny to watch out for me. That’s what the FBI was doing. And if they weren’t available, I could always stay with the PLO or the Vagina Liberation Organization.” Then he spoke of his mother’s real challenge, “a journey that began when she lost her own mother at a young age and was left believing that she had to fight for her father’s affection.”

Michael Douglas, who received this award in 2009  and who is also the offspring of a major star, presented the award at Fonda’ s request. They co-starred in The China Syndrome. “You are the rare combination of a movie star and a great actress. You are true film royalty, not through birth but through talent,”  he said in bringing her to the stage to the theme from On Golden Pond, the movie she made with her father and which brought him his first Best Actor Oscar just months before he died. He asked that she accept it, one of the most emotional moments of her life as she explained.

“I’m so happy to add another woman’s name to the list,”  she said as she became only the eighth woman in 42 years to receive the AFI honor. “In preparing for this experience it required me to do a lot a thinking. What I’ve realized is I’ve been blessed to know many geniuses, real geniuses in our business. I have been blessed to know them and so many are gone now. I had to ask myself, ‘Why didn’t I ask them more questions?’,”  she said, adding that she wished she had indeed queried the likes of Bette Davis, Barbara Stanwyck, Katherine Hepburn , even Lee Marvin. She said the only person who actually asked her for advice on movie-making was Streep, who was seen laughing in the audience. “And I gave her all my tips. She has me to thank ….  Seriously I just want to leave you with this: When you’re with people who have been at it a long time ask questions. Stay curious, stay interested. It’s much more important to be interested than to be interesting,”  she said.

Like I said, a special night indeed.

written by admin \\ tags: Achievements, Celebrity, Hollywood