May 2010 Entrepreneur of the Month

(L to R): Paducah Chamber Board Chair Helen Sims; Gayle McLeod, Petter Supply VP-Sales; Terry Reeves, EntrePaducah)

This month’s Entrepreneur of the Month is best known for a "Blue Book".
Looking toward the foot of Kentucky Avenue at the riverfront,many people have fond memories of a building that was not only a thriving business, but a part of Paducah’s history. You can actually read a few sentences of that history on one of our beautiful murals along the floodwall.
The company’s current CEO is a fourth generation member of its founding family…the family that founded Petter Supply Company on the banks of the Ohio River in 1890. Today, Bob Petter serves as Board Chairman and Robert Petter is the CEO.
Petter’s early focus was on the Marine Industry. Since that time, Petter Supply has become a full line Industrial Distributor. Petter Supply now focuses on Marine supplies, MRO supplies, material handling, and supplies for various industrial and manufacturing industries.
In 1997 Petter Supply moved their headquarters to their current location at 5110 Charter Oak Drive, Paducah, Kentucky. If you haven’t visited their beautiful facility, it’s endearing to see they took a piece of downtown with them …as one of the concrete steps is located right outside their front door.
Petter has six branch locations (Mt. Vernon, IL, Hopkinsville, KY, Owensboro, KY, Statesville, NC, Decatur, AL, and Channelview, TX).
They have three affiliate companies, Petter Packaging, also known as Apex Packaging of St. Louis, Hapsco Beltservice, and Petter Business Systems…which was formed in 1990…100 years after the Petter Supply was founded.
Unfortunately neither Mr. Petter nor company president John Sircy could join us for the presentation…instead they sent someone who they knew would be familiar to the marine industry.
Gayle McLeod is the VP of Sales for Petter and has a long history of serving the marine industry. Specifically, his history with Petter Supply dates 41 years this month.
We asked Gayle to please convey to the Petter family how much the Chamber and the community appreciate their entrepreneurial companies…and we thank them for calling Paducah “home.”