APR Supply passes century mark, plans ambitious growth track

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Only 13% of family-owned businesses survive long enough to get passed on to a third generation, according to Business Week.

To a fourth generation? Just 3%.

North Lebanon Township-based APR Supply Co. is one of the few.

The company also occupies the rarified air of being more than a century old.

A wholesale, full-service distributor of heating, ventilation and air conditioning; plumbing; hydronics; pipes, valves and fittings; and irrigation products, APR Supply started out as Lebanon Plumbing Supply in 1922.

Decades later, APR Supply Co. was created from the merger of Lebanon Plumbing Supply and Environmental Equipment Engineering Co., according to its website

The letters APR stand for air conditioning, plumbing and refrigeration, said Teri Rogers, vice president of marketing.

Today, the business has 450 employees and 42 branches in three states – Delaware and New Jersey as well as Pennsylvania. Its primary customers are residential, commercial and industrial contractors, she said.

The company ranked 51st in The Wholesaler magazine’s annual Wholesaling 100 listing, based on 2022 annual gross sales, and came in at 56^th in the Supply House Times Premier Top 150 Sales Rankings.

APR Supply is a member of the Affiliated-Distributors buying group, which has achieved $46 billion in collective purchasing power across nine industries, three countries and with more than 5,000 branches from 800-plus independently owned members. “This partnership allows us to provide better pricing, increased supplier support, and offer additional value-added programs to our customers,” the website said.

Since Scott Weaver took over as CEO about 20 years ago, APR Supply has doubled in size every five years, Rogers said.

And doubling in size is the goal going forward, she said, whether that comes by organic growth, new markets or acquisitions.

“It’s always on the docket,” Rogers said.

In 2021, APR Supply bought a 350,000-square-foot distribution center on North Lebanon Township’s Joel Drive to accommodate its rapid expansion. This warehouse is more than twice as large as the one it occupied previously in Lebanon – the former San Giorgio pasta-making plant.

In the last year, the company made three significant acquisitions, Rogers said.

The most recent was Industrial Piping Systems, a wholesale distributor of industrial pipe, valve, fitting and related products in central Pennsylvania and northern Maryland. The IPS branches were already existing joint venture locations with APR Supply, in Lancaster, State College, Williamsport and York.

APR Supply also acquired a new branch in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, the former Barton Supply.

And the company added three more New Jersey branches – in Vineland, Bridgeton and Ocean City – by purchasing them from the Wallace Organization. The transaction expanded APR Supply’s service area to South Jersey.

Rogers said APR Supply works with many manufacturers to show its contractor-clients the latest in cutting-edge products. The business operates 11 Oasis Kitchens and Showrooms – in addition to its 42 branches – throughout Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey.

APR Supply also is committed to supporting the local community. One example is Manheim Township High School, which was able to install new media production studios with help from contributions by APR Supply.

Since 2018, APR Supply has been able to grant Manheim Township Educational Foundation more than $250,000 through Pennsylvania’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit program, including a $40,000 donation this spring. That went toward two new studios fully equipped with new audio and video equipment, which opened this spring.

In addition to the new media production studios, APR Supply has also supported Manheim Township’s SkyLab, an astronomical observatory on the Neffsville campus, artist-in-residence programs, guest speakers and STEM learning opportunities.

Paula Wolf is a freelance writer