Tag Archives: David Hood

Story of this Photo: Induron Design Centers

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By David Hood, Induron CEO

In the early 1960s, Indurall (now known as Induron) stores were updated from just painter-oriented stores to more retail-friendly decorating centers. The original idea came from my dad, William Hood, who was also one of the founders of Induron. He wanted to differentiate our company from the approximately 1,100 other paint companies around the country. I can remember that there were at least 10 in Alabama alone. Continue reading Story of this Photo: Induron Design Centers →

Why We Still Do Things the Old Fashioned Way (with a little help from technology)

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David HoodBy David Hood, Induron CEO

I have said before that Induron has old buildings. We do. And in thinking about the history of this company, I’m reminded of something else we have that’s old – our “batch books,” which is a log of production batches.

We actually still have our very first batch book. The original batch (batch No. 1) of paint we made was for 10 gallons of TT-P-86 Red and was recorded in pencil by my dad, Induron founder William E. Hood. We still keep batch books today, but now they are in electronic form. Continue reading Why We Still Do Things the Old Fashioned Way (with a little help from technology) →

Story of this Photo: Frogmen and Indurall at the State Fair

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frogman cheesecakeBy David Hood, Induron CEO

This photo is one of the more interesting ones in our archives. It shows a publicity stunt that took place at the Alabama State Fair in ca.1955. Before scuba diving was popular as a hobby, the Magic City Frogmen set a record for surviving underwater. There was not much scuba gear around at that time, so it got a lot of attention! Continue reading Story of this Photo: Frogmen and Indurall at the State Fair →

Peeling Back the Layers of the Evolving Coatings Industry

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By David D. Hood, President, Induron Protective Coatings

I have been a full-time participant in the protective coatings industry since 1969. Your perspective on how long that is depends on when you started in the industry, but my guess is that most would agree that I have been involved a long time.  I have participated in a lot of change in the business and observed even more. Continue reading Peeling Back the Layers of the Evolving Coatings Industry →

The REAL Santa Claus in Birmingham’s History

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By David Hood, Induron CEO

It’s December, 1947. It has been six years since the “day that lived in infamy,” the war is over and mankind is beginning to return to “normal.” The Industrial Paint Company, Inc. (which would later become Induron Coatings) is about six months old.

Christmas is approaching, and my dad decided to put lights on the house to celebrate — something not conceivable during wartime. He was on the roof of our 3-2 frame house on a 50 foot lot wearing a red jumpsuit when someone drove by and exclaimed, “That looks like Santa Claus!!!” Continue reading The REAL Santa Claus in Birmingham’s History →

Striving for Zero Defects

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David D. Hood, President, Induron Coatings

“Zero Defects!” So proclaimed a huge sign over the entrance to Lockheed Martin‘s production facility in Marietta, GA. It was 1966, and I was a newly minted junior engineer doing structural analysis on the forward bulkhead of the C-5A Galaxy. It seemed pretty obvious that defects in manufacturing an aircraft capable of lifting 800,000 pounds into the air were not well tolerated. Continue reading Striving for Zero Defects →

Why Industry Involvement Makes Induron Better

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By David Hood

I was four years old when my dad William Hood and Louis Prosch started The Industrial Paint Company, Inc. – now Induron Coatings, LLC – in 1947.  That was a long time ago!

Some of my earliest memories of “the business” (not “the factory” – that fascinated me from the first day I saw it) are dinners at home with paint industry people from faraway places like Atlanta, Louisville, Madison and Washington, DC. I thought they were amazing, the most worldly people I ever saw. My mom and dad seemed to enjoy the relationships and the conversations went on long after my bedtime. Many years later, I discovered what had been going on. Continue reading Why Industry Involvement Makes Induron Better →

The Learning Curve

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By David Hood, Induron CEO

Junior AchievementBack in the 1990s, I taught a Junior Achievement class to eighth graders at Tarrant Middle School, here in the Birmingham area. This was not the “project” many people associate with Junior Achievement, but an actual 50-minute class once a week for an entire semester with curricula offered by Junior Achievement. The regular Social Studies teacher remained in the classroom to help, but it was truly a “teaching experience” for me.

Tarrant is a “working class,” mixed-race suburb of Birmingham, and my classes consisted of boys, girls, black, white, motivated, not-motivated kids, just as you would expect. Some were from single-parent homes and some were from homes with both mom and dad. But many of them hadn’t had the advantages that other kids their age have had.

I started teaching this class not knowing what to expect, but soon found that most of these kids were bright, inquisitive and really interested in economics and “home business” (how I described balancing a checkbook, creating and sticking to a budget, paying taxes and getting and keeping a job). Continue reading The Learning Curve →

True Investment in Infrastructure – It’s Worth the Effort

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By Davies Hood, Induron President

As we approach the November elections in our politically-charged atmosphere, we’ve been hearing a lot about “investing in infrastructure” from one side and “debt reduction” from the other. In this article from Water & Waste Digest magazine, Benjamin Grumbles makes some suggestions that those in power should at least consider.

Although Mr. Grumbles speaks as the president of the Clean Water America Alliance (and when I hear that, I immediately think both “bureaucracy” and “lobbyist”), he writes in favor of such radical ideas as charging customers the true cost of water, promoting public/private partnerships in the water industry, and planning both water and wastewater infrastructure projects as part of the larger integrated community planning process. Not too radical when you think about it, right? Continue reading True Investment in Infrastructure – It’s Worth the Effort →

The Good Old Days are Still Here at Induron

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John Snow (left) & Willie Brown

by David Hood, Induron CEO

An old friend came by the other day and I really enjoyed seeing him. He reminded me of old times and the funny stories which run throughout Induron’s history. I won’t bore you with any of them here, but they are an important part of who we are as a company and as a group of friends.

John Snow, the gentleman on the left in this photo, worked here from 1956 until he retired in 1994. He clearly has good feelings toward his experience or he wouldn’t come by just to talk and re-live old times. Now, 38 years is a long time to be with one company. But the guy to John’s left is Willie Brown, who has been at Induron for 40 years. (We did a profile on Willie a few months ago on this blog.) And Willie’s dad, John, worked here also. Continue reading The Good Old Days are Still Here at Induron →