[Market Watch] A Player to Watch

While the number of basic manufacturers serving the pest control industry has shrunk due to mergers and acquisitions and the skyrocketing cost of developing new active ingredients — requiring a certain "economies of scale" to remain competitive — the same can't be said for the number of product suppliers that have entered the marketplace in response to this macro-economic trend. In fact, there have been so many new companies eager to meet the product needs of PMPs — often led by executives with extensive basic manufacturer experience — that's it's becoming increasingly difficult to identify the "players" without a program.

One player to watch, by all accounts, is Randy Canady, founder and CEO of Envincio, a supplier of post-patent and select branded products for the pest management and animal hygiene markets. A 20-year veteran of the specialty chemical industry who has held various management positions at Ciba-Geigy, American Cyanamid, Novartis and BASF, Canady launched the Cary, N.C.-based company in 2010, his second foray as an entrepreneur. (Canady, 41, was co-founder and chief operating officer of Etigra, a North Carolina-based supplier of pesticide products, which was purchased by Nufarm in 2008.)

After introducing several new products and hiring industry veteran Mike Tweedy to serve as vice president sales, Envincio generated headlines in March when it was announced SantoLubes, owner of Prentiss Inc., had acquired the firm and named Canady chief operating officer (COO), responsible for strategic direction and day-to-day management of the combined organization.

"The combined Prentiss business offers a well-rounded platform poised for growth with a solid portfolio including fully integrated positions on key active ingredients," observed George Garrison, president and CEO of SantoLubes. "From synthetic chemistries to botanical alternatives to 25b exempt product offerings, we look forward to offering pest management professionals and customers across all segments, multiple tools to meet their customer needs."

"We are excited about where our vision will take this next phase (of the business)," Canady added. "We have a passion for the industry," a passion that is readily apparent when interacting with the high-energy executive with deep roots in the specialty chemical industry.

Exhibiting an entrepreneurial spirit from an early age, Canady grew up on a family hog farm, working summers from an early age in his father's typewriter repair business, where he cleaned typewriters for 25 cents per unit. "I started working with my Dad as soon as I could crawl up on a stool to break the typewriters down for cleaning," he remembers. "My Dad told me later in life that I was filled with initiative and he saw an entrepreneurial spirit in me from a young age."

Executive Spotlight Name: Randy Canady Company: Envincio Title: President and CEO Career Highlights: Intern, Ciba-Geigy Corporation; Marketing Manager, United Agri Products; National Sales Manager, Novartis Professional Products; Business Development Manager, BASF; Co-Owner and COO, Etigra; Founder and CEO, Envincio. Industry Mentors: Jim Oblinger, former Chancellor, North Carolina State University; Gene Little, District Manager, Ciba-Geigy Corporation; Leo Bontempo, retired president, Ciba-Geigy/Novartis; J.J. Grow, business partner, Etigra. Personal: Grew up on family hog farm in Fayetteville, N.C.; worked on the farm and for his father’s typewriter repair business, Hiram’s Typewriter Service, while a teenager; graduate of North Carolina State University, majoring in agriculture; married 11 years, wife Erika; two daughters, Addison (5) and Reagan (8); enjoys mountain biking and spending time at Lake Norman, near Charlotte, N.C., with family.

Once he was old enough to drive, Canady was hired as an "expediter" at a local restaurant — Beaver Dam Seafood & Steaks — where he worked throughout high school to earn extra spending money and fund his college education. While attending North Carolina State University (NCSU), Canady continued to drive back and forth between Raleigh and Fayetteville to work at the restaurant. Shouting orders to cooks, helping waitresses get food out to customers, and serving as the final quality control check between the kitchen and the dining room was an "exhilarating" experience that taught him the importance of teamwork. "It was a very intense environment and an all-consuming experience, but during that four-hour period I felt a great sense of satisfaction achieving a common goal with a team of people."

Never one to shy away from a challenge, Canady's initial application to NCSU was rejected due to a mediocre SAT score. Undeterred, he took the test three more times, with varying degrees of success, ultimately being accepted into the school and earning a degree in agriculture four years later, eager to embark on a career in the specialty chemical industry.

Driven by nature, Canady has taken a circuitous route to his most recent position. After graduating magna cum laude from North Carolina State University in 1992, Canady was hired by Ciba-Geigy, where he worked as an intern his senior year, rising through the ranks as a field sales representative, sales trainer, district manager, national sales manager, product manager and marketing manager when the company merged with Sandoz to form Novartis.

Following a short stint with United Agri Products, where he learned the distribution side of the business, Canady joined BASF as marketing manager for vegetation management and forestry, eventually being named business development manager. "This is a position where you work in a strategic capacity with what I call 'co-petitors' to manage third-party relations, the non-branded business," Canady said. "There I learned even more about the post-patent game."

That laid the groundwork for Canady's riskiest career move to date, joining as an equal owner Gro-Pro LLC, a post-patent supplier of pesticides, which was later renamed Etigra and subsequently purchased by Nufarm. While at Nufarm, Canady served as executive vice president of marketing and operations until December 2009, when the "entrepreneurial itch" returned and Envincio was born, he said.

PCT recently had a chance to catch up with Canady, to learn more about his plans for Envincio and the pest management industry. Excerpts of that interview follow.
 

PCT: What has been the most gratifying aspect of your career to this point?

Canady: By far, building Etigra. I learned so much and was so very fortunate to have been surrounded by an incredible team of talent who pursued a common goal with a level of passion that quite simply would not be denied. We no doubt hit a very unique window in our industry with respect to patent expiration, but we also caught an industry in transition that needed a breath of fresh air that we provided.
 

PCT: What has been your biggest disappointment?

Canady: My biggest disappointment is bundled together with a personal reflection, thinking back to my Mom. She never had a chance to see what I really became and I never had a chance to give back to her as she gave and sacrificed for me. However, I am fortunate to do that for Dad. On a career note, I was devastated when I made a rash career move within a month of my Mom passing in January 2000. I had invested in an Internet company while serving as a district manager for Novartis and living in Amarillo, Texas. The investment was not going well and I embarrassingly succumbed to others wanting to invest behind me. I resigned as national sales manager of Novartis Professional Products to join the Internet company as vice president of sales. I sacrificed an unbelievable career at a company that I was incredibly proud to be employed by only to be fired as VP of sales from the Internet company two weeks later. I was extremely fortunate to rebound back in our industry and went to work with United Agri Products serving a marketing capacity reporting to the home office in Greeley, Colo., while covering the Southeast and Carolina's independent operating companies. I was wed that April and learned within two hours of my rehearsal dinner that the COO and board of the Internet company was going to buy my shares out so I was able to get my — and the investors' — money back. Whew! I went on the honeymoon and when I returned, I went to work for UAP. I would never proactively put myself through something like that but, in retrospect, I would not trade that experience as it did so much to humble and shape me.
 

PCT: You've worked at very large organizations and small, start-up businesses. What is the single most important thing you've learned from those very different work experiences?

Canady: Large organizations know how to successfully move teams of people forward. They develop employees very well and have processes in place that allow them to overcome many obstacles. The very thing that makes larger organizations successful, however, also leaves them vulnerable to smaller, faster entrepreneurial companies that can be more flexible and customer-focused. However, there is much to learn and adopt from larger corporations. 
 

PCT: How do you think you impacted the corporate culture at each of your previous positions?

Canady: I felt like my experience finally kicked in to make a difference while at BASF serving in the business development manager role for specialty chemicals. All of my experience and creativity was allowed to come together. At Etigra, I feel like I was so consumed by the vision and passion for the business that it radiated to potential employees and customers. I felt like we created something that no one wanted to miss.
 

PCT: Why did you decide to become an entrepreneur?

Canady: I think that it dates back to childhood and what Mom and Dad instilled in me. However, I can promise you this, being an entrepreneur is not easy and no two businesses or opportunities are the same. It takes a lot of hard work. It can be gut wrenching and it requires the ability to surround yourself with talent better than yourself, and to never confuse brains with luck and the reality that both most likely led to your success.
 

PCT: How would you describe your emotions upon co-founding Etigra?

Canady: I have never worked with a better team of talent and when we announced that we were selling the business, I could not stay in the room. I miss what we had every single day.
 

PCT: How has that experience informed how you approached your new role Envincio?

Canady: As stated earlier, every business and opportunity is different. I do not intend to approach this business in a "cookie-cutter" fashion or attempt to overlay Etigra on Envincio. However, I am already finding several parallels while also flagging some drastic differences. 

A main driver of our success at Etigra was our never-ending thirst for knowledge and the desire to know the answer to the question behind the question. Assume nothing and verify everything if you want to be the best. Reviewing, reshaping and rebranding a business dating back to 1919 (Prentiss LLC) to a fast-paced, growth organization is a real challenge that has tapped and stretched my experience. I am having a blast and have a lot of confidence in what this business can become. Similar to Etigra, what will ultimately make us better is talent and that is exactly what has consumed my initial focus, creating the structure, staffing and discipline necessary to succeed. Entering 2012, I want us to be a well-organized and managed team that is image-conscious and consistently performing at a high level of professionalism.
 

PCT: Why do you believe you're uniquely qualified to lead Envincio?

Canady: The work ethic and initiative that has benefited me so well over the years is now supported by experience. I have rediscovered my passion and I love what I do every day.
 

PCT: What is your strategic vision for the company?

Canady: We would like to offer a dedicated focus on the pest management segment. We want a team of professionals representing a portfolio of reputable products that will allow us to build a significant and sustainable business that is welcomed by our customers and respected by our competitors. Segmenting the business into brand families — Essentria (former EcoEXEMPT products); Envi (former EcoPCO products); Elite (traditional pyrethrum pre-mixes), Equil ("me-too" products); Evo (differentiated product offerings); and Prenfish (the fish toxicant business) — affords more focus to grow the business in a balanced and disciplined manner.
 

PCT: How does SantoLubes' acquisition of Envincio fit into that strategic vision?

Canady: The acquisition served as a significant step to reposition the legacy Prentiss business under a new brand committed to growth.
 

PCT: How do your strategic partnerships with SipcamAdvan and Nufarm fit into that strategic vision?

Canady: Our goal is offer a dedicated focus in the pest control segment which may attract marketing and product opportunities that otherwise may have been denied from our segment. There are active ingredients and products that fit our segment and we aim to provide a professional platform to attract and bring those products to market. Even better, our dedicated focus allows us to focus on the details of labels to make sure the uses and language are best suited for our customer base. Our most recent example is with the Adonis registration that we acquired from Nufarm that we have updated and are in the process of re-launching.
 

PCT: Why is the timing right in specialty markets like the pest management industry for an organization like Envincio?

Canady: As stated previously, there are not too many professional alternatives to service the pest management industry and, in fact, it seems that more and more are actually redirecting resources away from this segment. This segment requires a higher level of service and commitment than I have experienced in other segments, and companies thinking that they can or can continue to opportunistically harvest sales from this segment with no commitment may be surprised at the professional, dedicated focus that this segment requires to define success. Envincio is being built to be that professional alternative.
 

PCT: What will the immediate challenges and opportunities facing Envincio be in the next 6 to 12 months?

Canady: The immediate challenges are coordinating a newly formed team, creating the desired culture, defining roles and responsibilities and establishing the Envincio and brand family names. The opportunities are the very process of attacking the challenges described previously, being sure to provide the necessary focus and energy that will be required to invigorate the passion of our staff internally, which will hopefully radiate externally where customers can feel the change, welcome it and want to be a part of it.

PCT: Without sharing too much proprietary information, what are Envincio's plans for the pest management industry in the next six months?

Canady: We have to address the items listed previously in order to brace for growth. We do not want to prematurely start developing products and launching from an unstable platform; 2011 is the year to get our house in order.
 

PCT: Where do you see Envincio in 2015?

Canady: I see Envincio as a welcomed alternative that has established a clear and sustainable position in the pest control space. We want to be a company that is sought after for new product launches in the pest control space while our portfolio of products helps our distributor partners and pest management professionals achieve their business goals.
 

PCT: How would you describe the corporate culture you're trying to build at Envincio?

Canady: A fast-paced, buttoned-up, image-conscious team of professionals with the business acumen, creativity and customer-focus to earn the position of the welcomed alternative.
 

PCT: How will your personal relationships in this marketplace benefit Envincio moving forward and why?

Canady: I do feel that the Etigra experience affords a level of credibility but I do not think that anything should be taken for granted, and I do not like over-borrowing from relationships, but rather, making every interaction a positive one that builds on that relationship vs. borrowing from it.
 

PCT: What would your colleagues and co-workers say you bring to the table from a personal/corporate perspective?

Canady: Passion…plain and simple!
 

PCT: Why did you select Mike Tweedy to serve as the company's vice president of sales?

Canady: He blackmailed me! Seriously, Mike has defined himself well in this segment. He and I worked together at BASF as marketing managers where I had the chance to experience Mike's depth firsthand. He loves this segment and wants to focus his career in this segment. He has made a successful transition from a large basic manufacturer to a smaller, entrepreneurial company where Envincio is now, benefiting from his years of professional training that has evolved and adapted nicely. He is in touch with this segment, interacts with customers and co-workers well, is a very effective communicator, and remains open-minded and seems to get more and more creative by the day. He has broadened his understanding of business since we have been together and it is an honor to work with him.
 

PCT: What do you like most/least about working in the pest management industry?

Canady: It feels like a much tighter group than other segments. It is filled with more entrepreneurial distributor partners and especially entrepreneurial pest management professionals. I feel much more at ease with this family and find myself getting overly excited in meetings because there is so much opportunity. As I hear distributors and/or PMPs tell "their story" I just get completely engulfed. This industry makes me better and want to be better…seems like a self-inspiring industry! What I like least is not really about the industry, but more about my lack of time to get out and spend more time in front of this unique group. There's nothing like sitting at a customer's place of business and experiencing it firsthand. I wish I could do that every day.
 

PCT: What are your hopes and aspirations for both your Envincio family and your immediate family?

Canady: That answer is actually intertwined a bit because they both deal with people. I want our employees to be happy and to feel that they are part of something special and that they are making a real impact on our success. At the same time, I want to earn our customers' respect where they appreciate what we are doing and what we have to offer. Sure, we are going to stumble here and there, it is almost unavoidable in business, but just know we have set out to be the best and we intend to strive every single day to accomplish that goal. As to my family, I want our girls to be proud of their Mom and Dad and the difference that we have attempted to make in the lives of others. Ultimately, that's what is important in life.

FOR MORE INFORMATION...
To download a Q&A Fact Sheet about the rebranding of the Prentiss product line to Envncio or to learn more about the company, visit www.envincio.com.