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Service Corps of Retired Executives

Amy Pieh Supplies the Tools Workers Need

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Business owner carries on family tradition.

Missing the collapse of the San Francisco Bay Bridge by seconds during the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake is just a shadow of the blessings, hardships and successes of Pieh Tool Company President Amy Pieh’s remarkable life.

“I was on the top of the Bay Bridge and I didn’t feel anything, but the second I got off, the bridge was swinging,” she said.

Brought up in a maze of tools in Burlington, Wisconsin, Pieh’s parents, Bill and Bonnie, owned an internationally known tool company, Centaur Forge, that served blacksmiths and farriers all around the world since 1960. “When my dad died in 2000, it was such a loss to the industry.  People came from all over; it was amazing.” Amy lost her mother 18 months later.

Caring about others was the No. 1 priority for her parents, says Pieh, and through the business, they made a lot of friends. “Their goal was to provide a vast selection of products for the best value,” she said.

Joining the U.S. Air Force after high school, Pieh landed in the San Francisco Bay area. “I couldn’t fly due to a depth perception issue, so I became a metallurgical inspector.  In this assignment, I did non-destructive inspection, where I inspected every part of aircrafts, all the way down to the oil. After separating from the military, I continued as an inspector in aerospace and gravitated to inspection at power plants, nuclear and fossil fuel.”

For a short period, Pieh returned to Wisconsin to help her mother with the business. “I realized there was more to my returning home than just helping out. I was preparing to carry on a 40-year family [business] tradition.” Blacksmithing itself is a 61-year Pieh family tradition.

A visit to Sedona clarified her future. “I was coming into the Village of Oak Creek and just around the first bend by Bell Rock, a vision of my mom and her wonderful smiling eyes came about and I could hear her voice saying, ‘Do it right here.’ So I got an [real estate] agent and found a building in Camp Verde.”

Seeking help from the Small Business Administration mentoring program, Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE), Pieh was able to move forward. “They were a great help developing my business plan and gave me direction to continue my parent’s legacy.”

On May 17, 2003, she says people came from near and far to attend her grand opening, a big event that she hosted five months into her pregnancy.

Down the line, hardship ensued and Pieh almost lost the business, but as a single mother, managed to pull through. “The towns of Camp Verde and Cottonwood embraced me and helped me and my son, William.”

Along with her main office in Camp Verde, Pieh has another retail location in Cave Creek and a third tool mail order business in Anthem.

“I met Amy in Wisconsin through my daughter, Sara, who was also in the Air Force,” said Pieh Tool Company Graphic Designer and close friend, Ann Jackson, who works at the Camp Verde shop.  “Amy is one of the most incredible women I’ve ever known and to do what she has done is incredible.  She continues to amaze me!”

A walk inside Pieh Tool Company in Camp Verde is a well-stocked and immaculate menagerie of blacksmithing and farrier tools, a full wall of horseshoes, anvils, swage blocks, abrasive tools kits, stands, forges, hammers, art supplies for blacksmiths, patinas and everything from aprons and books to beginner blacksmith kits.

There’s even a line of tools under the Pieh Legacy Collection, including a series of blacksmithing tongs named Billy to honor her late father.  “I have my own line of hammers, too, and hoof knives called Billy and Bonnie, also named after my parents.”

“I love working for Amy,” said new employee, Pieh Tool Company Accounting Manager Jackie Bonney. “She is a brilliant woman and as a woman and single mother, she has done everything on her own. Sometimes I have to laugh because it’s such a whirlwind around here, but I have so much admiration for Amy and I can’t believe she’s done so much, especially going through COVID. People don’t realize the impact of not being able to get products and the cost of freight that changes hourly. It’s very difficult but she’s kept people working through all of that.”

Blacksmithing and knifemaking classes are popular at Pieh Tool and are held monthly, nine months out of the year. Master Bladesmith Raymond Rybar, one of 150 Master Smiths registered worldwide by the American Blacksmith Society, is an instructor, along with Prescott-based Oso Blanco Ironworks owner Dylan Cook.

“Amy has done a great job creating a resource for blacksmiths in tool distribution and educational opportunities,” said Cook, who has taught beginning blacksmithing classes for six years at the Camp Verde location.

Currently, customer accounts have totaled more than 50,000. Annually, they produce a 180-page blacksmith and farrier supply catalog.

“I believe my mom and dad would be very proud that I was able to establish Pieh Tool Company and carry on the traditions that they practiced for most of their lives.  I could not have done any of this without their inspiration, motivation and incredible example. QCBN

By V. Ronnie Tierney, QCBN

To contact Pieh Tool Company visit their website at pieltoolco.com or call 888-743-4866.

Imagining a World Beyond the Pandemic

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To survive now and in the future, businesses must create an operational environment that can flex to future challenges.

Events like the COVID-19 pandemic can turn the world upside down. The immediate impact of this turmoil creates sometimes insurmountable challenges to small businesses. But it is nearly impossible to predict the long-term effects on those small businesses that have somehow managed to survive the initial blow.

Small businesses may have a narrower margin with which to withstand the upheaval of a global pandemic, or an economic downturn, but these businesses do possess one advantage over the large enterprise. If a “mom and pop” or small business recognizes the need to engender agility, there are fewer team members to convince and it is easier to turn the ship quickly. That does not mean that a business can avoid the commitment to continuous improvement. There is still a need to look at how things are done, and to comprehensively analyze what customers wanted last year, versus what they want this year.

Understanding trends, patterns and changes, and responding to those changes, is crucial to success. During the pandemic, local businesses struggled with issues involving in-person buyers vs. online presence. A tour company could no longer count on visitors to the area, and the very immediate issue was how to generate revenue. A retail store owner could not count on an influx of shoppers walking through the door.

During this time of change, the wise business owner tried to reimagine his products and services and find ways to connect with customers online and to create a flexible business environment that could carry him through the uncertain times and be agile enough to survive what might come next. To survive now and in the future, businesses must create an operational environment that can flex to future challenges. Managers must cut expenses and have a detailed understanding of what products and services to keep, what to change when business falls off, and how to prepare for continuous improvement and business reinvention.

Books and workshops can help, but the business owner must truly engage and change the management approach, the way team members are trained, how involved the team is in the day-to-day operation, and how team members can contribute to and adapt to change. Every aspect of the business – from location to hiring and training, to business investments, to product and service choices, to the competitive landscape, the efficiency of ordering, supply networks and day-to-day operations – must reflect a culture of team involvement, fact-based decisions and solid analysis of how to prepare for, and adapt to, change.

While small businesses may need support and advice to enable this kind of change and to create a foundation for agility, most cannot afford the expense of a business consultant. That’s where SCORE comes in. SCORE provides free counseling to small businesses. SCORE (the Service Corps of Retired Executives) was founded in 1964, and it is a non-profit arm of the Small Business Administration (SBA). Today, the SCORE team is comprised of active and retired business professionals who volunteer their time to provide free and confidential business advice to start-up businesses, businesses wishing to expand and small businesses facing the challenges of the COVID-19 economy and trying to prepare for the future.

These services are available to all small businesses, and SCORE provides subject matter experts and mentors who focus on all types of issues, challenges and business problems and opportunities. If you wish to explore these services, you can contact the team at 928-778-7438, via NorthernArizona.SCORE.org, or on social media at facebook.com/SCORENorthernArizona. QCBN

By Susan Obijiski

Susan Obijiski is a business consultant and Certified SCORE Mentor. Obijiski has more than 40 years of experience as a business executive and manager, and has worked in retail, in the arts, and for large and small corporations in software development, product development, quality management and other disciplines. She serves on the Sedona Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and has served as board chair for Simmons Graduate School of Management. She manages content for software companies creating articles, white papers, web content, blogs and technical content and has published four novels.