Corporate Overview
PRESIDENT: Michael R. Gallagher
CFO: Alan Waxler
FOUNDED: September 1970
OFFICES & BRANCHES:
3315 Overton Crossing; Memphis, TN 38127 Tel. 901-357-1261
7600 Hardin Drive; North Little Rock, AR 72117 Tel. 501-835-2193
321 Hill Ave.; Nashville, TN 37210 Tel. 615-255-2220
6800 Bert Kouns Industrial Loop; Shreveport, LA 71129 Tel. 318-221-2347
102 Ashley Lane; El Dorado, AR 71730 Tel. 870-881-8383
3794 Abigail Drive; Theodore, AL 36582 Tel. 251-626-0100
2423 1st Ave S; Birmingham, AL 35210 Tel. 205-703-9810
320 Nancy Lynn Ln, Suite 7; Knoxville, TN 37919 Tel. 865-588-7473
102 EMPLOYEES: 22 Field Based Technical Sales Personnel
40 Inside Technical Sales Personnel
6 Division Sales Managers (Product Specialists)
9 Branch Managers
SALES AREA: Alabama
Arkansas
Florida Panhandle
Mississippi
Northern Louisiana
Northeastern Texas
Tennessee
Kentucky
WHO WE ARE:
MISSION: To be regarded by our customers and community as the best supplier of control and automation product solutions to industry.
Markets & Purpose: Centro is a specialty distributor and sales representative company focused on customers in industries where manufacturing process flow control of fluids, solids and gases is a critical success factor. The company is organized into six divisions:
- Valve, Actuation & Engineered Products Division;
- Instrumentation, Measurement & Control Division;
- Automation & Robotics Division;
- Filtration & Process Systems Division;
- Process Equipment & Sanitary Division;
- Pump & Seal Division
Each of these divisions provides specific services and expertise to customers to control or monitor different parts of a manufacturing plant process.
History: Centro was founded in 1970 by Hollis Henson and Walter Rotenberry as a specialty distributor focused mechanical instrumentation and valves. The company grew consistently from its founding. The partnership ended in 2000 when Mr. Henson bought out Mr. Rotenberry. Mr. Henson operated the company on his own until December 13, 2001, when Michael Gallagher and David Forell, with the support of First Tennessee Bank and Mr. Henson, acquired the company. Gallagher and Forell both had corporate experience and complimentary skills in sales (Gallagher) and finance (Forell) that they thought were a good match with the needs of Centro.
On April 1, 2002 Gallagher and Forell reorganized Centro and launched a process of building the company that has been ongoing since 2002.
- On October 30, 2003 Centro acquired the assets of Green Controls Inc. of Jacksonville, AR. This transaction improved our ability to serve customers with high technology products such as Foxboro instrumentation and increased the size of our customer service team by 25%.
- On March 31, 2006 Centro acquired the assets of Pelican Industrial Equipment Co. of Shreveport, LA and Longview TX. This transaction improved our ability to serve flow control customers in Northern Louisiana, Southern Arkansas and opened up a new territory in East Texas. Also as a result of this acquisition, Centro reorganized into four operating divisions adding the Pelican employees and vendors into the company as the Compressor & Pump Division.
- On October 31, 2006 Centro acquired BAT Pump & Supply Co. of El Dorado, AR. This transaction added a number of important product lines to the Compressor & Pump Division and established a Centro branch in the important Southern Tier of Arkansas. In February of 2007 the El Dorado location was relocated to a larger facility to expand the company’s services in instrumentation, valve automation and process filtration along with valve and compressor sales and service.
- On December 15, 2008 Centro acquired the Memphis operations of Trigon Engineering Company. This transaction added a number of important product lines to the company and as a result Centro divided the Compressor & Pump Division into two new divisions: Pump & Seal Division and the Compressed Air Division.
- On February 1, 2012, the three persons who operated Clements & Associates, a manufacturer’s representative firm joined Centro. As a result of the products they were able to move to Centro, such as Lightnin mixers and Waukesha industrial pumps, Centro launched the Process Equipment & Sanitary Division.
- On May 24th, 2012 Centro was selected as the 2012 Small Business of the Year in the 21 to 75 employee category by the Memphis Business Journal.
- On June 1st, 2012 Centro acquired Meredith Air Controls which added to the capabilities and solutions set of the Compressed Air and Instrumentation Divisions and expanded Centro’s geographic presence to the rest of Tennessee.
- In November 2012 Centro acquired the assets of the House of Pumps in Northern Louisiana. This transaction added a number of important pump and seal product lines to the Centro Shreveport location.
- In November 2012 Centro acquired Hydragear of Shreveport LA, a distributor focused on the compressed air controls market. This acquisition complimented the earlier acquisition of Meredith Air Controls and continued the company's expansion into the compressed air control and associated MRO sales in the process market.
- In December 2012 Centro acquired the assets of Action Fluid Power of Memphis completing the build out of the compressed air control division of Centro and creating product and application capabilities across the Centro served geography.
- In late December 2012 Centro acquired the assets of Technical Specialties Company in Mobile AL. This acquisition added service and sales capabilities for Centro in the Southern MS, Southern AL and Panhandle of FL for key Centro product lines.
- In April 2014 Dave Forell retires.
- In June 2014 Memphis Business Journal named Centro one of the 100 largest privately held businesses in Memphis.
- In August 2015 Centro selected by the Memphis Business Journal for their Pacesetter award for high growth in 2012, 2013 and 2014.
- In April 2016 Centro opened Birmingham Branch.
- In May 2016 Mike Gallagher, president of Centro Inc, was selected by the Memphis Business Journal as Executive of the Year.
- In December 2016 Centro selected by the Memphis Commercial Appeal as one of the 50 Best Places to work in Memphis.
- In April 2017 Centro appointed by TVA to EnergyRight® Solutions Preferred Partners Network.
- In January 2018 Centro rebranded and expanded the Compressed Air Control Division into the Automation & Robotics Division snf added key product lines like Denso, Dorner, Rethink, Rollon and others in the first half of 2018.
- In June 2018 Centro acquired Advanced Industry Support and combined it with the Automation & Robotics Division to create integrated mechanical and electrical automation solutions.
- In February 2019 Centro acquired Machine Automation of Knoxville, TN, a distributor specializing in automation and robotics products.
Business Strategy & Mission: Our mission statement is “To be regarded by our Customers and our Community as the Best Supplier of Automation and Control Product Solutions to Industry.” This mission statement reflects our company strategy and guides the decisions we have made to expand Centro geographically and in terms of our product capabilities.
The company motto, “The Best Solutions flow through Us,” defines how we use highly trained personnel and world class products to help customers reduce operating costs, optimize their factory operations and improve plant reliability.
Training Investments: Centro is unique in our commitment to training at all levels of the company. Each month we spend a day training our field sales and select support people at “Centro College.” We invite our major vendors to present their latest products and solutions so that our people are ready with new ideas for their customers.
Our inside staff are also trained in our branches by our vendors during the course of the year. We are also committed to customer training and have presented numerous product and process training sessions to our customers and engineering firms in our served geography. Our total commitment to training on an annual basis exceeds $100,000.
We believe we are one of few companies in our market to be designated by the US Department of Energy as an Industrial Energy Star provider which establishes our credentials as a solutions provider in the field of energy management/cost containment.
People Make the Difference: The real secret to Centro’s success is our people. Our retention rate on our employee base exceeds 95% and the average tenure of our employees is well over 15 years. Our workforce is experienced, knowledgeable and dedicated which adds up to exceptional customer service and makes Centro one of the leading industrial flow control companies in our region.