For Seattle-based chemical distributor and trader, TRInternational, it’s all about relationships
Written by Anne-Frances Hutchinson Produced by Lorraine HeistWhat’s one word you should never say to a rugby player? “Never.” In 1994, with only a handful of years in the chemical trading business, Tony Ridnell found himself at a crossroads.
The former member of the US National Rugby Team (and West Point graduate) was about to walk away from a highly combustible business partnership, and was faced with a number of career decisions – including launching his own business. “My ex-partner said, ‘You don’t understand the market, you don’t understand finance. You’ll never make it’,” Ridnell recalls. “I made my decision right then.”
That decision led to the formation of TRInternational, an international chemical distribution and trading firm with more than $58 million in annual revenues. A full-line chemical distributor, TRInternational leverages a broad national distribution network and strong global logistics supply chain relationships to link customers with products.
“In this business it’s all about supplier relations,” Ridnell points out. To effectively build those relationships, Ridnell literally taught himself the business. In the years before launching TRI, says Ridnell, “I started making some calls and asking questions. I went to the bank and asked to learn about international trade finance. I networked, went to trade shows and did whatever I could to meet people.”
Today’s TRInternational team boasts extensive product knowledge, industry experience, and a proven track record in international trade. Renowned for offering creative sourcing solutions, TRInternational connects customers to highly specialized and difficult-to-find products. A trader/distributor hybrid, TRI purchases bulk chemicals directly from producers and distributes them to end users. On the trading side, TRI purchases low-cost chemicals from international producers and sells them domestically. TRI holds extensive inventory in stock, and provides domestic and import sources for the majority of their product offerings.
Problem solving prowess
The company’s ability to source product rapidly and reliably grew out of problem solving. After helping a customer with a difficult request, Ridnell knew there had to be other clients with similar needs.
“I call it filling in the checkerboard. Once you do business with someone on a particular product, you should be able to sell the product somewhere else. You should also be able to sell additional products to that same customer,” he says. “Additionally, an industry-wide reputation for integrity and creativity has resulted in a nice slate of exclusive agencies.”
TRI finds lucrative potential in broken supply chains and supply-demand imbalances. “We like to get involved in those types of products because if you’re well networked you know where to look for supply. And if you get that supply, it’s easy to sell because customers have to have the product,” Ridnell says.
Suppliers are conscientiously audited through a series of personal visits, interviews and references before becoming part of the network. “We work very hard on our supplier relations,” he asserts. “Our Vice President of Purchasing, Shondra Garrigus, has done a superb job for us in terms of supplier relations, collating information and procuring products and creating new opportunities.”
Today, TRI has five sales offices in the US, offices in Shanghai and Pakistan, a domestic warehousing network, and chemical blending operation. ChemBlend of America complements TRI’s trading and distribution network with a custom turnkey manufacturing and blending operation and warehousing facility. It’s a far cry from the early days, when Ridnell and a handful of sales reps would sit in an open bullpen and take phone calls on the fly.
“We’re at the fledgling stages of implementing CRM technology right now,” Ridnell adds, noting that they chose Bellevue, WA-based Altriva Solutions for their accounting, logistics and sales and marketing CRM packages.
Character counts
Ridnell’s experience as a professional rugby player defines his management style and his passion for connecting the right people to do the best work. “We have a great sales team of highly ethical, very smart, very aggressive and personable team players.”
It’s no surprise that four full-time staffers and two interns are rugby players. “Rugby players understand ‘team.’ There is no room for selfishness. When I hire reasonably top-level rugby players, they understand all this. These are people that know how to win humbly, know how to lose, and know how to get up and try to win the next day. And that’s what salespeople have to do. Guys that knew nothing about the industry five years ago are doing $750,000 to a million in gross profit for us.”
As a self-taught manager and industry executive, Ridnell places great value on bringing up the next generation of team players, and views the company’s intern program as one of their greatest successes. TRI works with several schools, including Seattle University’s Albers School of Business.
Clearly, his passion is working: in addition to ranking 56th on Purchasing Magazine’s Top 100 Chemical Distributors of 2008 list, the firm has also been named as one of Washington State’s fastest growing privately-owned businesses two of the past three years.
Despite a profoundly risk-averse economy, with chemical industry giants shuttering factories and choking opportunities on the trading and distribution side, Ridnell remains itching to take the field.
“It may not be tomorrow, it might not be the next day, but in the next few months business will pick up again. We just need to survive through that,” he says. “Once business picks up we believe there’s going to be such supply shortages that it could be one of the most prosperous times in the chemical distribution industry.”
View Digital Corporate Profile of TR International in Supply Chain Digital June 2009