As I recall, Bob did have a reputation for technical incompetence

I was acquainted with Bob Wiley and Tom Bannach.

They came into the picture about the time I left, so I did not know them well.

As I recall, Bob did have a reputation for technical incompetence, although customers often spoke highly of him and ask for him back.

Nobody could figure that out, other than to assume that he had a very good “bedside manner.”

Tom was the night shift tester after I left. He never impressed me as having a lot on the ball technically, but seemed personable and willing at the time.

I assumed he was learning, and night shift testing didn’t amount to much more than running the chambers anyway.







I also expected that the day shift and Mark Briggs probably signed off on everything before anything shipped.

Ken Russell was Chuck Conrad’s brother-in-law, as I recall. Chuck started out as a refrigeration mechanic in Ludington, and then went to work for Ken in Holland.

From there he moved on to start Conrad Corporation and build environmental test chambers. They were, at the time, only hot/cold and humidity boxes.Needing to expand, Chuck sold off some stock.
Up to that point, Conrad was privately held. Chuck made the mistake of selling more than half the stock, thinking he was safe since it went to three people, evidently on a 20/20/20/40 basis, with him holding twice as many shares as anyone else.

He soon found out that the three new stockholders were in league with each other, and they quickly made things so uncomfortable for him that he sold off the rest of his shares and left.

Gulf & Western eventually took over Conrad Corp.Chuck launched Thermotron reservedly at the request of Norm Pongey, Conrad Corp’s former sales rep for the east coast technology corridor.

Chuck always claimed that he started Thermotron with a meager $1,500 investment. Once having launched, he became obsessed with the goal of killing Conrad Corp, featuring his name and photograph under the Thermotron logo on everything the company published, even its letterheads.
Conrad Corp was quickly subdued.

After struggling near the bottom for a few years, they eventually sold out to Bemco in California, and the brand disappeared.