T’bonne levee district inks LDWF agreement for J-2
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A day in a soldier’s life
February 25, 2010
Young Johnny Conrad was working for his family’s business, Conrad Industries, in 1963 when he first came up with the idea for his new company. That idea started small, but has grown into what some say is the largest business of its type in the nation.
Now in its second generation, Johnny’s Propeller Shop is poised for the future.
“It all started when my dad had realized that a lot of the boats and vessels were sending their propellers elsewhere to get the propeller work done,” said Johnny’s son, Glenn Conrad. “That’s what gave him the idea to get into it.”
Thirty years after the company’s inception, Glenn entered through the warehouse doors with big ideas and plans for improvement and growth.
“I was living in Houston and I moved back to the Morgan City area in ’93,” Glenn said. “That’s when I made the proposal to my dad for me to come in and take over the company. It was time and he was ready.”
While Johnny successfully sustained his propeller shop for the first 30 years, he also managed to maintain a position at his father’s ship building business. When Glenn returned to the area with the intention of becoming the president of the propeller company, Johnny welcomed the help.
Glenn, who grew up welding, banging and grinding around the factory as a kid, returned to the company ready to restructure the business from the ground up.
“We made a lot of changes in personnel and some of our procedures changed,” he said. “The equipment was updated to make us more efficient. We had a pretty good growth at that time.”
Glenn took the company’s reigns and steered it in a new direction. Within the first few years of his take over, the propeller company saw a growth of nearly 40 percent.
“We’ve grown to be probably one of the largest, if not the largest, propeller repair companies in the United States, with two facilities – one here (Morgan City) and one in Houma – and 31 employees,” he explained.
He attributes the growth to the company’s high level of quality and service.
“We are big on quality and service and we don’t skimp or cut corners,” said Glenn. “We have a lot of repeat clients, not only from this area, but also from out of the country and from the east coast and west coast. They know our name. That shows the kind of quality and service we provide.”
Glenn also ascribes much of the present and future success of Johnny’s Propeller Shop to his reliable crew, and his alternative approach to management. When it comes to the repair shops staff, he prefers to be thought of as a co-worker instead of a boss man.
“I brought in a different mentality, and I don’t like people saying, ‘Hey, I work for Glenn,’ when it should be, ‘We work together,'” he continued. “I have an excellent crew here from the top to bottom. Everybody works well together, everybody helps each other out, everybody does their part and that’s why we are where we are.”
The president of the company also welcomes input from his staff.
“We all make decisions based on what’s best for Johnny’s Propeller Shop. I have an open door policy, where they can come in and bounce things off of me. They have a lot of ideas that I may not have thought of,” Glenn said.
Part of his crew includes his brother, Ken Conrad, who manages the Houma facility.
His other brother, Daniel Conrad, is presently the director of sales for the family’s other business, Conrad Industries, while their father, Johnny, and grandfather, S. Parker Conrad, both still serve as co-chairman there. Johnny also holds the title of Conrad Industry’s president.
Business seems to be in the Conrad blood. Glenn credits his grandfather, whom he called “pretty amazing,” for his father’s unique ideas and great business sense.
“When I came back, I enjoyed working alongside my dad because he was involved in quite a few different businesses, and I really got to see and learn so much from him and how he operates,” Glenn said. “It’s just amazing some of things he thinks of, stuff you would never ever dream of yourself. I guess he got that from my grandfather.”
With the different modifications and the massive amount of growth that Johnny’s Propeller Shop has experienced over the past 17 years, it is safe to say that Glenn also inherited that extraordinary knack for business. The propeller shop is in good hands, and the president believes that the business’s future is bright.
“I can see nothing but good things for the company down the road,” he said.
Johnny’s Propeller Shop in Morgan City was the brainstorm of Johnny Conrad. It is one of the nation’s largest businesses of its type, according to the family. * Photo courtesy of JOHNNY’S PROPELLER SHOP
