ABOUT BRUCE
Whetter purchased the assets of the old Americhem Corporations 19 acre site
in 1998 and renamed the company Americhem Sales Corporation. The
previous owners of the old Americhem Corporation were not responsible
chemical distributors and thus, contaminated a portion of the site. Whetter
negotiated a Covenant Not To Sue (CNTS) with the State of Michigan, as
well as the AGs office, and then finalized the purchase of the assets of
Americhem Corporation.
Whetter and the MDEQ immediately began a comprehensive long term plan
to clean up the site, managed by the MDEQ. The employees of the old
Americhem Corporation would have lost their jobs, the company would have
been closed and the City of Mason left without tax revenue, had the CNTS
not been granted to Whetter. With the CNTS in place, Whetter then had the
protection he needed to go forward with purchasing the assets of the old
Americhem Corporation without assuming any environmental liability, thus a
win-win situation was created. The old solvents tank farm was removed,
USTs were removed and the beginning of the new company was under way.
A new bulk solvents state-of-the-art 500,000 gallon tank farm was built, a new,
totally under roof 500,000 gallon oils tank farm was also constructed, totally
enclosed and heated. A new scale house was built in 2011 with two (2)
200,000 pound state certified scales totally under roof and locked at night for
security, as well as a safe house for employee safety.
Through Whetters chemical experience and his involvement with the National
Association of Chemical Distributors (NACD), an organization made up of
other chemical distributors of all sizes throughout the country, Whetter
brought Americhem Sales Corporation to new heights. He then guided the
company through NACDs Responsible Distribution Process (RDP) quality
program and obtained ISO-9002/QS-9000 registration. Americhem Sales Corporation is currently registered to the ISO-9001/2008 standard. Whetter has chaired the NACDs Professional Development Committee, served on its Membership Committee, served on the Responsible Distribution Process (RDP) Committee, served as the NACD Central Region's Treasurer, Secretary, Vice President and President. Whetter has also served on the NACD Board of Directors.
As reflected in the August 2000 edition of the Chemical Distributor magazine, Americhem Sales Corporation may have been the only single site chemical distributor in the country to achieve registration to QS-9000, merge RDP, ISO-9002, and the QS-9000 process into one Quality Management System.
Whetter gave a Keynote Presentation at the NACDs 2004 annual meeting in California outlining the environmental accomplishments of Americhem Sales Corporation, saving jobs in a small community and how the old company was rebuilt. More importantly, the dedication provided through a constant quality management effort, the dollars dedicated toward cleaning up the site to initially contain the contaminants, then eliminate and remove the contamination created by the previous owners irresponsible chemical handling, has been an on-going story in itself.
ASC was paid the highest honor in September of 2006 at the annual NACD OPSEM meeting by being named the first award winner of the NACDs Responsible Distribution Process (RDP) Excellence Award for demonstrating outstanding performance in chemical handling and distribution. The NACD has over 250 member companies throughout the United States and other parts of the world. This was quite an honor. Americhem Sales Corporation is also a proud member of the Independent Lubricant Manufactures Association (ILMA) and the Chicago Drug and Chemical Association. Whetter routinely attends annual and semi-annual meetings.
Bruce has also worked with the NACD's RD workshops giving several presentations to further enhance Responsible Distribution, sharing ideas with operational staff members from other NACD companies throughout the country, based on successes obtained and operational enhancements at Americhem Sales Corporation.
During the NACD annual meeting in Palm Springs, CA in December of 2010, Americhem Sales Corporation/Bruce Whetter was named the 2010 Distributor of the Year, a coveted award voted on and determined by all other NACD member companies. Bruce Whetter's thank you to the NACD and the NACD member companies can be read in the January/February 2011 edition of the Chemical Distributor magazine. Bruce recently presented the NACD owners and members at the Western Region's Annual Meeting with a successful speech titled "Safety Is More Than a Priority".
