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Thanedar's grit: From one-man outfit to budding conglomerate

Ela Dutt
India Abroad Correspondent in Washington

There was a time in 1990, when Shri Thanedar, chief executive officer of Chemir/Polytech Labs of St Louis, Missouri, had to put a sign on his door saying when he would be back, each time he stepped out of his office.

Now he talks of revenues of $6-million for 2001 and is buying up a chain of labs around the country to provide state-of-the-art testing of pharmaceutical products.

"When I bought the company in October 1990, I inherited one chemist and he left me in 3 months. There I was in a brand new business with a two-year-old baby, with no fax, no copier. I had to go across to the mall to make copies and stick a note on my door saying when I would be back," says the 2001 Small Business Excellence Award winner for the St Louis region.

From that one-man show, Thanedar's lab has grown to 45 employees, a dozen of them PhDs.

He wanted to be in plastics, and the University of Akron, Ohio led in this field. But, "Plastics are not always popular, so we diversified into pharmaceuticals, testing new drugs," he said.

His father worked as a clerk in a civil court and this did not give him any opportunity to develop any entrepreneurial acumen. But after finishing his degree at Akron, he realised that he was full of ideas, though the company was not ready to implement them.

"I wanted to be in an organisation where I could make a difference and see my work impact the company's growth," he told India Abroad. He went for an interview to Industrial Testing Labs, where they thought he was overqualified and told him about a smaller company led by a highly respected scientist Clara Claver, a specialist in infrared spectroscopy, solving very tough problems, and running her company since 1959.

She said she could not give him a job because she was planning to sell the company. Thanedar's mind immediately grasped the possibilities.

He told her he could buy it, but Claver was not convinced that he could deliver the quality of commitment she gave to the work. "She was not concerned about the money - so I worked with her during lunch hours and she paid me $15 an hour and I proved to her that I understood the technology. Price was not an issue. She sold it to me in October 1990."

Thanedar immediately began the gruelling task of convincing her long-time clients that he could deliver the goods. He did, and he grew.

This March, he bought Industrial Testing Lab, a competing lab in St. Louis with annual sales of $1.5 million and 18 employees. "Our plan is to grow through acquisitions, and we are planning to acquire labs in other major cities - New Jersey, Chicago - to make it convenient for our clients."

Born in Belgaum, Karnataka, Thanedar, 47, now has more than 4,000 clients from around the country and a few in India, Korea and Japan. He was named Ernst & Young 1999 'Entrepreneur of the Year'.

His company has featured in the 'Top 50 fast growing companies' for St Louis region for 4 consecutive years since 1997. He also made the India Abroad list of top 100 Indian-owned businesses in 1999 and 2000.

When he bought the first lab, its annual sales were around $150,000. By year 2000, Thanedar took those sales to over $4 million. Thanedar anticipates further dramatic sales increase through internal growth and acquisitions. He says he expects sales to reach $30 million by year 2005.

Chemir/Polytech conducts chemical and plastics analysis and testing. Its specialties include material identification, polymer analysis, failure analysis, 'good versus bad' product comparisons, custom synthesis and deformulation. Deformulation or reverse engineering, involves separation and identification of ingredients of complex formulation.

"While many labs do environmental or quality control testing for routine analysis, very few deal with customised troubleshooting to help solve problems related to manufacturing of pharmaceuticals, paints, adhesives, coatings, inks, plastic parts, medical devices, etc.," he said.

Thanedar came to the United States in 1979. After obtaining a PhD from the University of Akron in 1982, he worked for two years as a post-doctoral scholar at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and held senior chemist and project management positions at Petrolite Corporation for six years. He also earned an MBA from Fontbonne College in St Louis.

Thanedar, a Bombay University gold medallist, is married to Shashi. He has two children, Neil (13) and Samir (9). He is currently serving as a director of Mahatma Gandhi Cultural Center and India Association of St Louis. He was also the founding president of St Louis Marathi Mandal.

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