Owner: Jim Jaques
Employees: Eight
Type of business: distributor of specialty industrial abrasives, and coil processing equipment
Location: Minnesota Avenue, Warwick
Year founded: 1982
Annual revenues: $3.6 million
HAPPY WITH HIS COMPANY is Jim Jaques, president of Massasoit Tool.
Beyond Cash Donations: How New Forms of Giving Are Transforming Not-for-Profit Accounting
Evolving Funding Landscape for Not-for-Profits Not-for-profit organizations are being asked to do more with less,…
Learn More
Jim Jaques has to demonstrate value.
By industry standards, his company is small. But he likes it that way. Jaques does not dream of being a mega-distributor for the metals industry. His focus is on finding niches — and servicing customers.
Often, the products he distributes are more expensive than those of his competition. It’s up to Jaques to prove their worth. It is his key to success.
Jaques recalls that one of his salespeople recently visited a business hoping to sell an abrasive belt that was five times as expensive as the belt the company was using at the time.
“That belt was five times more expensivebut we changed the whole finishing process,” said Jaques. “The savings on the production side were huge. The price on the abrasive side became meaningless.”
So did the company appreciate the advice?
“Well, they’re our customer now,” he said.
Jaques tells that story without a trace of cockiness. That’s not his style, even though his company’s revenues are up by 20 percent this year. There is reason to swagger.
But Jaques keeps things at an even keel. He remembers when he had $100 in his pocket and he was starting a distributorship, Pilgrim Supply, back in 1969. Massasoit Tool would eventually grow out of that.
The road has been long. In fact, said Jaques, it was just five years ago that the company really started to take off. Three years ago he purchased the company’s current home on Minnesota Avenue in Warwick. It has given him the room and workspace his employees need.
“It takes a long time to be recognized,” he said.
That recognition is coming on strong. Massasoit Tools distributes to a wide range of industries, including metal fabricators, woodworkers and the aerospace industry.
The company also provides machine shop services such as the manufacture of polypropylene tanks, covers and fume exhaust systems; repair of journals and shafts for all kinds of rolls; and the manufacture of corrosion and abrasive resistant liners.
The product lines it distributes include Scotch-Brite brushes, 3M Imperial Microfinishing Film, or 3M Floor Matting and Slip-Resistant Products. There are thousands of products in total.
During the past 10 years, the company has also ventured into specialty product lines, distributing 3M mill rolls – used by manufacturers to either apply or remove oil from strips of metal. It is primarily that mill business that allowed Massasoit Tool to expand to the Mid-Atlantic region.
The success with the mill rolls led the company to taking on a line of coil washing equipment. It has been another successful venture. And being a 3M distributor is also a plus, said Jaques, who has been with the international giant since his early days in business.
“3M has always been the best supplier – they have the new products,” said Jaques. “They put so much money back into research and development.”
That approach benefits 3M distributors like Massasoit Tool. New products mean new customers. In reality, said Jaques, the customer base for what he does is strong.
“You can go into almost any industry and find customers with large abrasive usage,” said Jaques.
The typical usage for abrasive products, he said, is in grinding, polishing and finishing.
“You don’t realize the extent of it unless you are in the business,” said Jaques.
Massasoit Tool’s abrasive business is focused in New England. It’s coil processing products find business from North Carolina to Maine. The company has started doing business overseas and has an informational web site (www.massasoit.com). E-commerce, said Jaques, is likely in its future.
“E-commerce is the next thing we are going to do on the Internet,” he said.
Massasoit Tool now uses the Internet to track orders and communicate with customers. It’s a new thing for Joe Bagley, the company’s general manager and Jaques’ “right-hand man” for 23 years. But he’s enjoying every second of it.
“We always try to stay one step ahead of the technology,” said Bagley. “You have to.”
But don’t expect Massasoit Tool to grow too fast. Jaques sees a benefit in being a relative little guy.
“In this industry, you can be a mega-distributor or a small distributor,” he said. “The mid-size distributors are going to have trouble down the road. It is going to be difficult for them to compete.”
Jaques sees Massasoit Tool as having an advantage when it comes to flexibility and innovation.
“We can change rapidly with the needs our customers have,” he said.
And it’s the needs of the customers that drive his business, he said.
”Our customers have been instrumental in us getting to this point,” said Jaques. ”They make you stay on your toes. When they want something done a certain way, you have to provide those services. That’s all there is to it.”
So Jaques will remain at an even keel. He’s talking about purchasing a second lathe machine. And he’s always got an eye out for skilled workers.
But Jaques is most concerned about servicing his customers and finding those niches where he can be most successful. It takes time and patience. But they are definitely out there: those places where he can demonstrate value.
