Business

Businesses Celebrate a Century of Success

James Russell’s family farm has been a Maury County mainstay since 1840.

Businesses tend to thrive in Maury County‚ and that’s nothing new. For a prime example‚ look no further than Porter-Walker‚ which celebrates a century of successful operation in Columbia in 2007.

Launched as a local supply company serving the agricultural community‚ Porter-Walker’s extensive inventories grew through the years‚ prompting an expansion in the 1970s that made the company a leading Southeast distributor of industrial tools and safety and maintenance supplies. Today‚ Porter-Walker’s president and chief executive officer‚ Doug Venable‚ says the company is poised for another growth spurt that will expand its customer base and add to its workforce.

“I’m very ambitious about trying to make Porter-Walker grow in the right way and expanding our opportunities here‚” Venable says. “But Columbia is definitely our base‚ and it’s going to remain our base.

Venable headed south from Michigan and bought the company in 2001 after its owners‚ preparing to retire‚ offered him the opportunity.

“The former owners of Porter-Walker contacted me one day by telephone and introduced themselves‚” Venable says.

They had read about the savvy businessman and his hands-on management style in a trade magazine‚ and they believed he would grow the company while retaining its employees. They were right.

Porter-Walker is a major supplier for the Tennessee Valley Authority‚ and the company expanded into medical and health-care supplies in 2006.

“This economy is strong and growing‚” Venable says. “We look forward to continuing to build our company and to being a contributing member of the community.”

Another Columbia company with a rich heritage is Oakes & Nichols Funeral Directors‚ founded by Mr. A. Barr in 1856. The partnership of John A. Oakes and Robert E. Nichols was forged in 1900.

Frank F. Sowell associated with the firm at age 7 and became sole proprietor in 1967. The Sowell family incorporated in 1971. With the able assistance of several long-time‚ dedicated associates‚ the eldest children‚ Tony Sowell and Jane Gray “Bunny” Sowell‚ have continued operation since their father’s death in 1997.

“Oakes & Nichols has had the opportunity to serve the community in a unique way for 150 years‚ from the horse-drawn era to the age of the Internet‚” Jane Gray Sowell says. “Maury County has been good to the firm‚ and it is our constant endeavor to continue to be worthy of that confidence to future generations.”

While Oakes & Nichols is known as “Maury County’s oldest continuing business‚” James Russell says his family farm may take that prize – at least for now.

The farm was established in 1840 by his great-grandfather‚ Madison Monroe Russell‚ just south of Williamsport on the Duck River. In its heyday‚ the Russell venture included the family’s 800 acres‚ plus leased land that brought the total acreage under production to just short of 2‚000.

“We raised just about everything in the agricultural line‚” Russell says‚ including cattle‚ hogs‚ mules‚ and crops such as corn‚ wheat‚ soybeans‚ tobacco and alfalfa.

But this longtime business may go the way of many family farms. Neither of Russell’s two daughters wants to take over‚ and Russell‚ 77‚ plans to sell the property.

“I’m selling to anyone who will bring the money‚” he says‚ making way for a crop of new business ventures in Maury County’s fertile soil.

Story by Sharon H. Fitzgerald
Photo by Greg Emens

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