TED Magazine - May 2017

www.tEDmag.com May 17 • the ELECTRICAL DISTRIBUTOR 69
into the Springfield Electric culture.” Dungan himself joined Springfield Electric as a relative outsider. He pre- viously worked in commercial bank- ing but faced a career dilemma when he married his wife, who is part of the company’s family ownership. “I had this opportunity to join the business, and it sounded interesting, but I’m a cautious guy. Joining a family busi- ness has challenges, especially com- ing in as a son-in-law. I wanted to make sure I understood the business, that it was a growth industry.” Dungan took the leap and worked at a distributor in Texas, learning what he could about the industry. “I got a good feeling for how a distribu- tor works and learned about distribu-
tion, which I saw had huge upside,” he said. After a few years, Dungan and his wife moved back to Illinois and he joined Springfield Electric. Dungan worked his way up the ranks, holding a variety of positions, including outside sales, industrial automation sales manager, vice president of sales, and senior vice president. He was named executive chairman in 2014. His tenure over- lapped with significant changes in the industry, and he has kept Spring- field Electric on top of, if not ahead of, those changes using a leadership style that combines in-depth knowl- edge with a semi-hands-off approach to managing. “He’s dedicated and very knowl- edgeable about the industry,” ex- plained Greg Lutchka, CFO. “Back in the 1980s, he started our auto- mation groups, and he has a wealth of under- standing of our products, our customers, and the way to go to market. He also stays very involved in the numbers. While he is not hands-on, he has the right perspective for an owner: He stays in touch and knows what’s going on but isn’t a micro- manager.” “I started working here as a branch manager, and Dan was my direct super- visor,” said Scarbrough. “One thing I have always enjoyed about Dan is that he constantly chal- lenged me, but also allowed me to come up with solutions and ideas on my own. He wants to know how he can support his employees and then lets them do their thing.” During his time at Springfield Electric, Dungan has also continued to uphold and strengthen the compa- ny’s culture of being a good corporate citizen. In practice, that means signif- icant reinvestment in its associates (including supporting the introduc- tion of the ESOP), as well as active involvement in a number of commu- nity organizations by the company, its associates, and Dungan and the rest of the leadership team. “He truly wants to help other peo- ple be successful and he wants to con- tribute to the success of not only the individual in the organization, but also the company,” said Barthel. “He truly cares about the associates and the company. He doesn’t manage or lead from his desk; he’s approach- able, he gets out to the branches, and he’s accessible to the associates. They feel comfortable giving him their opinion whether he agrees or not.” A Look Forward Dungan’s intrinsic desire to help peo- ple (and companies) succeed bodes well for his upcoming year as chair of NAED, where he will have a chance to address some of the challenges facing the industry. “The challenges distrib- utors face change some- what depending on the kind of distributor it is, where it is, and what mar- kets it serves,” he said. “But in general, it goes back to people—recruiting is a big issue throughout the industry. It’s especially challenging for smaller distributors to recruit, but most companies are work- ing on it and have plans in place. There are so many Baby Boomers re- tiring every day and it’s hard to trans- fer the knowledge they are taking with them to the next generation. We need to have educational tools in place to help replace that knowledge. “Additionally, we really want to make sure that distribution is provid- ing the sales growth that manufactur- ers need—in some parts of the coun- try, sales growth has been anemic for the past few years, and other areas sales growth has been robust,” he By all accounts, Dungan’s vision of success is one that lifts all boats.