amarillo chamber of commerce - HPN Books

AUSTINDISTRIBUTINGAbove, left to right: Chief Executive OfficerTom Scherlen, Chief Financial OfficerBonnie Gwin, with owners, Dennis Clounchand Jim Cramer.Below: Austin Distributing has four regionalwarehouses to provide the best service totheir customers.Jim Cramer believes in Amarillo and thinkssuccessful businesses should be headquarteredin Amarillo. In 2004, he and co-ownerDennis Clounch bought Austin Distributingwith a group of investors thirty-eight yearsafter Fred Austin, Sr., founded the hydraulicparts and accessories company. AustinDistributing has had a presence in Amarillosince 1967 after moving from Earth, Texas.Amarillo continued to be the headquarterswhile the Austin family built the companyand expanded across Texas and into Kansasthroughout the years. The retirement of FredAustin, Jr., launched Cramer’s desire to ensurethat the longtime Amarillo based companyremained in the city.Today, Cramer and Clounch, the tworemaining partners and experienced staff atAustin Distributing, work to provide thesame superior products and services that builtthe company. They striveto maintain the principlesderived from the company’ssmall town roots and continuethe focus on one-ononeservice started by theAustin family.Driving past the company’sunassuming corporateoffice at 4018 SouthwestFiftieth Street and largewarehouse located onForty-Ninth Street, onewould never realize AustinDistributing makes a majorcontribution to keeping machinery movingand at work in the Amarillo area. Their salesterritory is generally located in Texas,Oklahoma, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas,Nebraska, and Missouri, although their customerbase extends nationally and globally. Theeconomic impact Austin Distributing has onAmarillo is remarkable in that the thrivingcompany is one of the largest distributors ofits kind in North America, probably rankingin the top two to three in the industry. It isvery unusual for a company to have annualsales of over 20 million dollars in a townthe size of Amarillo. The Amarillo EconomicDevelopment Corporation recognized thegrowth potential of Austin Distributing and in2008 granted a small business interest rebate toassist them in expansion.Austin Distributing is primarily a wholesaledistributor of hydraulic hose, fittings, andaccessories. Their wide variety of product linesenables them to provide the best quality partsfor the best prices and exceptional service.They offer high quality products from majormanufacturers including Gates, Goodyear,Pioneer, and Dixon. They are a source for highpressure hose, couplings, belts, and clampsfor automotive, industrial, and agriculturalequipment. Austin Distributing providesindustrial manufacturers with customizedhose kits for use in their manufacture ofequipment. Another specialized service iscustom order work when a customer requiresa uniquely designed hose or hose assembly tosuit their needs.AMARILLO - Faces, Places & Open Spaces286