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American City Business Journals Jul 07, 2000Ralph Anderson, the 77-year-old founder of the Blue Ash engineering firm, Belcan Corp., plans to retire at age 120.
"See, I have a lot of fun, you know. That's what fife is all about," said Anderson, with a glimmer in his eye that tells you he might be joking.
Then again, those familiar with Anderson's rags-to-riches tale concede he might be serious.
"It's like the old Reagan joke about the pile of manure," said Joseph Massie, who wrote Anderson's biography in 1995. 'The optimist is digging around in that pile, saying, 'All this manure, there must be a pony in here someplace. "That's not too far from Ralph Anderson."
Born on a Harrodsburg, Ky. farm in 1923, Anderson traces his family roots to the Wright brothers and Daniel Boone. He has maintained the pioneer spirit of 'us ancestors. In the eight years after graduating from the University of Kentucky with a degree in mechanical engineering, Anderson worked for four different companies before launching Belcan.
His daughter, Candace, was a toddler then. His wife, Ruth, handled the bookkeeping, but she had little to keep track of in the company's early years. Anderson said Belcan produced only $200 in revenue its first three years. He borrowed $6,000 from a former neighbor to keep the company afloat.
Forty-two years later, Belcan is a $400 million enterprise that derives most of its revenue from hiring out engineers as temporary employees for manufacturing and consumer products companies, including Procter & Gamble Co., General Electric and GE Aircraft Engines. Two other Belcan divisions specialize in technical and clerical staffing.
Much of Belcan's revenue comes from large companies, outsourcing their engineering functions to the Blue Ash company. In the mid-1980s, P&G hired Belcan to revamp its diaper production system in plants around the world. More recently, Belcan set up an automated manufacturing facility for GE light bulbs. Often Belcan hires engineers from its largest clients, who downsize their engineering functions as Belcan takes them over.
Belcan's growth also has come front a series of acquisitions, starting with the 1987 purchase of Cincinnati-based Lodge and Shipley and the purchase of smaller engineering and technology firms in the 1990s.
But Belcan occupies only part of Anderson's energies. Since 1967, he has acquired 5,000 acres in the county where he grew tip. Anderson Circle Farm maintains a herd of 2,000 Black Angus cattle and produces 300,000 pounds of tobacco annually.
In recent years, Anderson has been an active philanthropist, donating $2 million to UK which is building a $22 million mechanical engineering building that will bear Anderson's name.
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