Upon graduation from Central High School in downtown Columbus, Art tried desperately to get a job.  No one would hire a draftsman with no experience.  At one company, J.T Edwards, Art volunteered to work for free just to gain experience.  Still nothing doing.  Out of a sense of desperation, he finally applied to the Kroger grocery chain, and went to work as a stock clerk.  All of Art's brothers worked in the sheet metal and air conditioning trade, and after some manipulations by his brother Herman, he was hired on as an apprentice.  As an apprentice, you were required to go to night school and work during the day.  The night school instructor, Dorman Dills, a sheet metal mechanic himself, saw the quality of Art's layouts.  Back then, everything had to be drawn on craft paper and the formed to make a fitting.  One night, Dorman, asked Art if he would like to work for the same company he worked for, as a draftsman.  Art explained his previous attempts to gain entrance in that field, at which, Dorman gave him a phone number to call and ask for James McGill.  Mr. McGill, was at that time Vice President of United Sheet Metal Co., Inc. (now known as United McGill).  An interview was arranged and Art was hired on the spot.  Art rapidly progressed with United Sheet Metal, and one of Jim McGill's favorite sayings was:"Someday you'll be Vice President of this company". 

After an eight year stint with United, Art went to work for The Kuempel Company, who had offices in Columbus and Cincinnati, Ohio, as Superintendent of the newly organized Sheet Metal Department.  Art was advanced through this company, first as Superintendent, then Project Manager and as General Manager of Sales and Engineering.  He was the only non-officer ever elected to their Board of Directors.

It was during this time, a Chicago Mechanical Contracting firm recruited as Art Vice President of Operations.  While visiting Chicago, at an A.S.H.R.A.E. exhibition, his old boss, John Kuempel called and Art invited him to dinner at his Barrington Hills residence.  During dinner, John told Art, the company was in the process of purchasing another company and wanted to know if Art would be interested in rejoining the company, if this deal went through, to which Art replied: Yes, but we need to talk about it.  In 1973, Art went to work for the company the Kuempel's had purchased, Terry P. Smith, Inc., another mechanical contractor, located in Lima, Ohio.  The Terry P. Smith operation concentrated mostly on commercial projects, such as schools, etc.  Art's responsibility was to build the company into an industrial giant.  Six months after joining the firm, a competing company, Boughan Brothers, Inc., already well established in the industrial market, requested a meeting with Art, at which time they asked if our parent company would be interested in buying their company.  On October 19, 1973, the deal was consummated and the name of the company was changed to Smith-Boughan, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of The Kuempel Company.

The merger was not without complications and problems.  Floyd Smith, a former owner of Terry P. Smith, was named President, and Art was Manager of Sales and Engineering.  Because the two companies had duplications in some of the positions and because the economy was not faring well, the merged companies had an excessive amount of overhead which could not be supported by the revenues being generated.  In early 1974, the parent company, relieved Floyd of his position and named Art as President of this subsidiary.  The company grew under his leadership and became one of the top 100 mechanical contractors in the United States, as determined by Engineering News Record.

In late 1980, the parent company changed its name to Kuempel Consolidated and began buying up other mechanical contracting firms.  This proved to be their demise.  In early 1981, Art was called to corporate headquarters in Cincinnati and was told the company was going to file bankruptcy.  Since Smith-Boughan, Inc. was their most profitable division, Art was asked if he would buy out that particular operation.  Art put together a group of investors, including several key employees and completed the purchase that same year.  As part of the purchase, a large amount had to be financed through the local bank,  and this was at a time when interest rates were 20%.  In spite of this, Smith-Boughan retired that debt in less than five years.  After 10 years, Art sold his majority ownership back to the company. 

After selling Smith-Boughan, Inc. in 1991, Art stayed on for four more years and he and his wife, Jan, they decided to move to North Carolina in 1995.  In anticipation of the move, Art designed a large addition to the cottage they had purchased in the mountains. Their home in Lima, Ohio sold more quickly than they anticipated so when they moved to Blowing Rock in October of 1995, construction was not quite complete, but they moved anyway, storing their furniture until construction was completed.

In the meantime, Art agreed to a consulting position with an HVAC contractor in Tennessee, who had offices in Asheville, NC, some two hours west of Blowing Rock.  When he signed on, he was told the LINC franchise they had extended to the Boone, Lenoir, Hickory area of NC, but the company soon discovered that area was under another franchisee in Charlotte, NC.  This resulted in Art spending considerable hours behind the windshield of the SUV they provided.  After several months, Art decided he had made a bad deal and started looking for a business to buy.

In April of 1997, after several weeks of negotiating, Art and Jan signed the papers to purchase an on-going successful flooring business, New Lifestyles, Inc.  In early 1998, the company decided that becoming part of a buying group made sense, so when Carpet One approached them, they decided to accept their invitation to become part of their co-op and thus New Lifestyles became New Lifestyles Carpet One.  While slowing down considerably from the first years of owning the business, Art has finally turned much of the day-to-day operation over to a store manager. Visit their website at: newlifestylescarpet1bannerelk.com

In November of 2005, Art & Jan purchased a condominium in Little River (near North Myrtle Beach), South Carolina.  Although Art would like to spend the entire winter there, Jan's activities in Blowing Rock have prevented them from spending but a few weeks at a time at the beach.  Jan has been very active in the church where they are members, Rumple Memorial Presbyterian Church.  As an Elder of the church, Jan has served on the Session (Presbyterians equivalent of a Board of Governors), served as chairman and co-chairman of a Congregational Care Committee, and in September of 2006, was presented with an Honorary Life Membership by the Presbyterian Women and named Woman of the year.  Even though she resigned her co-chairmanship of Congregational Care, it hasn't kept her from caring for the congregation.  She routinely(almost daily) phones or visits those individuals who are elderly or in hospitals. Most recently, she is serving on the PNC (Pastor Nominating Committee) which is responsible for reviewing hundreds of applications, interviewing and visiting candidates for the Senior Pastor position of our church. She now serves on the Board of Directors of the Hunger & Health Coaltion where she is Chairman of the Board. The organization is responsible for providing food and prescription drugs to needy families in a tri-county area.

Needless to say, these activities, while immensely important, have occupied a great deal of Jan's free time.  Meantime, Art was not satisfied with the direction the management of their condo association's Board of Directors was taking the Association, he ran for the board, along with others who shared his disgust and low and behold they were elected and became the majority on the board.  The board then elected Art as President and Chairman, a position he has held now for almost two years.  During this time the Association has made a remarkable turnaround from nearly bankruptcy to a vibrant organization with reserves unequaled by similar size associations in the Grand Strand, all the while still making vast improvements to the appearance of the complex.  You can go online to the website he has created for them at: thelittleriverresort.tripod.com.

Up

Upon graduation from Central High School in downtown Columbus, Art tried desperately to get a job.  No one would hire a draftsman with no experience.  At one company, J.T Edwards, Art volunteered to work for free just to gain experience.  Still nothing doing.  Out of a sense of desperation, he finally applied to the Kroger grocery chain, and went to work as a stock clerk.  All of Art's brothers worked in the sheet metal and air conditioning trade, and after some manipulations by his brother Herman, he was hired on as an apprentice.  As an apprentice, you were required to go to night school and work during the day.  The night school instructor, Dorman Dills, a sheet metal mechanic himself, saw the quality of Art's layouts.  Back then, everything had to be drawn on craft paper and the formed to make a fitting.  One night, Dorman, asked Art if he would like to work for the same company he worked for, as a draftsman.  Art explained his previous attempts to gain entrance in that field, at which, Dorman gave him a phone number to call and ask for James McGill.  Mr. McGill, was at that time Vice President of United Sheet Metal Co., Inc. (now known as United McGill).  An interview was arranged and Art was hired on the spot.  Art rapidly progressed with United Sheet Metal, and one of Jim McGill's favorite sayings was:"Someday you'll be Vice President of this company". 

After an eight year stint with United, Art went to work for The Kuempel Company, who had offices in Columbus and Cincinnati, Ohio, as Superintendent of the newly organized Sheet Metal Department.  Art was advanced through this company, first as Superintendent, then Project Manager and as General Manager of Sales and Engineering.  He was the only non-officer ever elected to their Board of Directors.

It was during this time, a Chicago Mechanical Contracting firm recruited as Art Vice President of Operations.  While visiting Chicago, at an A.S.H.R.A.E. exhibition, his old boss, John Kuempel called and Art invited him to dinner at his Barrington Hills residence.  During dinner, John told Art, the company was in the process of purchasing another company and wanted to know if Art would be interested in rejoining the company, if this deal went through, to which Art replied: Yes, but we need to talk about it.  In 1973, Art went to work for the company the Kuempel's had purchased, Terry P. Smith, Inc., another mechanical contractor, located in Lima, Ohio.  The Terry P. Smith operation concentrated mostly on commercial projects, such as schools, etc.  Art's responsibility was to build the company into an industrial giant.  Six months after joining the firm, a competing company, Boughan Brothers, Inc., already well established in the industrial market, requested a meeting with Art, at which time they asked if our parent company would be interested in buying their company.  On October 19, 1973, the deal was consummated and the name of the company was changed to Smith-Boughan, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of The Kuempel Company.

The merger was not without complications and problems.  Floyd Smith, a former owner of Terry P. Smith, was named President, and Art was Manager of Sales and Engineering.  Because the two companies had duplications in some of the positions and because the economy was not faring well, the merged companies had an excessive amount of overhead which could not be supported by the revenues being generated.  In early 1974, the parent company, relieved Floyd of his position and named Art as President of this subsidiary.  The company grew under his leadership and became one of the top 100 mechanical contractors in the United States, as determined by Engineering News Record.

In late 1980, the parent company changed its name to Kuempel Consolidated and began buying up other mechanical contracting firms.  This proved to be their demise.  In early 1981, Art was called to corporate headquarters in Cincinnati and was told the company was going to file bankruptcy.  Since Smith-Boughan, Inc. was their most profitable division, Art was asked if he would buy out that particular operation.  Art put together a group of investors, including several key employees and completed the purchase that same year.  As part of the purchase, a large amount had to be financed through the local bank,  and this was at a time when interest rates were 20%.  In spite of this, Smith-Boughan retired that debt in less than five years.  After 10 years, Art sold his majority ownership back to the company. 

After selling Smith-Boughan, Inc. in 1991, Art stayed on for four more years and he and his wife, Jan, they decided to move to North Carolina in 1995.  In anticipation of the move, Art designed a large addition to the cottage they had purchased in the mountains. Their home in Lima, Ohio sold more quickly than they anticipated so when they moved to Blowing Rock in October of 1995, construction was not quite complete, but they moved anyway, storing their furniture until construction was completed.

In the meantime, Art agreed to a consulting position with an HVAC contractor in Tennessee, who had offices in Asheville, NC, some two hours west of Blowing Rock.  When he signed on, he was told the LINC franchise they had extended to the Boone, Lenoir, Hickory area of NC, but the company soon discovered that area was under another franchisee in Charlotte, NC.  This resulted in Art spending considerable hours behind the windshield of the SUV they provided.  After several months, Art decided he had made a bad deal and started looking for a business to buy.

In April of 1997, after several weeks of negotiating, Art and Jan signed the papers to purchase an on-going successful flooring business, New Lifestyles, Inc.  In early 1998, the company decided that becoming part of a buying group made sense, so when Carpet One approached them, they decided to accept their invitation to become part of their co-op and thus New Lifestyles became New Lifestyles Carpet One.  While slowing down considerably from the first years of owning the business, Art has finally turned much of the day-to-day operation over to a store manager. Visit their website at: newlifestylescarpet1bannerelk.com

In November of 2005, Art & Jan purchased a condominium in Little River (near North Myrtle Beach), South Carolina.  Although Art would like to spend the entire winter there, Jan's activities in Blowing Rock have prevented them from spending but a few weeks at a time at the beach.  Jan has been very active in the church where they are members, Rumple Memorial Presbyterian Church.  As an Elder of the church, Jan has served on the Session (Presbyterians equivalent of a Board of Governors), served as chairman and co-chairman of a Congregational Care Committee, and in September of 2006, was presented with an Honorary Life Membership by the Presbyterian Women and named Woman of the year.  Even though she resigned her co-chairmanship of Congregational Care, it hasn't kept her from caring for the congregation.  She routinely(almost daily) phones or visits those individuals who are elderly or in hospitals. Most recently, she is serving on the PNC (Pastor Nominating Committee) which is responsible for reviewing hundreds of applications, interviewing and visiting candidates for the Senior Pastor position of our church. She now serves on the Board of Directors of the Hunger & Health Coaltion where she is Chairman of the Board. The organization is responsible for providing food and prescription drugs to needy families in a tri-county area.

Needless to say, these activities, while immensely important, have occupied a great deal of Jan's free time.  Meantime, Art was not satisfied with the direction the management of their condo association's Board of Directors was taking the Association, he ran for the board, along with others who shared his disgust and low and behold they were elected and became the majority on the board.  The board then elected Art as President and Chairman, a position he has held now for almost two years.  During this time the Association has made a remarkable turnaround from nearly bankruptcy to a vibrant organization with reserves unequaled by similar size associations in the Grand Strand, all the while still making vast improvements to the appearance of the complex.  You can go online to the website he has created for them at: thelittleriverresort.tripod.com.